Pre-Writing Activities for Toddlers With Shape Themes

Pre-writing activities help to strengthen children̵7;s visual and fine motor skills in anticipation of learning to write. These types of activities help to prepare children for writing by getting them used to scribbling, drawing and using their hands for careful work. Allowing your toddler and preschooler to scribble, draw, tear paper, paint and do other fine motor activities will help to ensure that she is ready to write down her thoughts when she is older.

  1. Tracing

    • Using her pointer finger to trace shapes helps your child to internalize them while strengthening the muscles in her hands. You can draw a shape in pencil and have her trace over it in crayon, paint or marker. Start with easier shapes like circles and squares, and progress to shapes that have more sides and angles. Cover the bottom of a container or jelly roll pan with salt or flour and have your child use her pointer finger to trace different shapes. Have her finger paint different shapes, perhaps by following your outline.

    Modeling

    • Use a variety of materials to form shapes. Roll modeling clay into long snakes and use them to form triangles and rectangles. Place hook and loop fastener dots on the ends of craft sticks and link them together to make shapes. Bend pipe cleaners into different shapes and hang them up around your home. Forming shapes from concrete objects allows your child to handle and examine them, which helps her to better understand their features.

    Scribbling

    • Scribbling is a precursor to writing. Between the ages of 15 months and 3 years, children̵7;s scribbling changes dramatically. It begins as random marks on paper and gradually progresses to resemble letters, shapes and things in your child̵7;s environment. You can model scribbling in circles for your young child, or give your older child cutouts of different shapes to scribble on. Gently encouraging her to color in her shape will help give her a sense of each shape̵7;s boundaries.

    Gluing

    • Help your child to glue cotton balls, cotton swabs or other objects around the outline of a particular shape, or to fill in that shape. Spread the glue yourself and help her to stick objects onto the paper. Supervise this activity closely to make sure it is safe for your child. Pressing objects into the glue develops hand strength while filling in the shapes gives her a sense of their proportions.

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