Developing Pre-Writing Skills for Children Under 5 Years of Age

Between the ages of 3 and 5, children are in a position to start to learn pre-writing skills, thus building up their knowledge and strength of holding a pencil, understanding how to use paper etc. This removes the common problem of children attending school and finding themselves needing to write before they are readily equipped to use writing materials and exercise pre-writing skills.

Hand skills, and wider sensory skills are needed to develop pre-writing skills. They relate to how people use the muscles in their hands. As tiny babies, children learn to grip and pick things up. They learn how to use their muscles to take things, hold things and move things. This is a crucial pre-writing skill. Control of these muscles is also important, and as children get older, they find that they can control how long they grip a button, how they move their train around the train set, how long they pull their mother's hair, etc.

Dianne Saunders provides some ideas of how to develop pre-writing skills in children before they start learning to write at school.

1. Teach your child how to sit correctly at a table in a chair.
2. Teach your child a new skill. This skill does not need to be writing related. Use a show, repeat, try, show, repeat process and encourage the child to keep practicing and to keep their attention on the task in hand.
3. Play and draw on vertical surfaces to get them used to working on tables in a controlled way. Place the toy or piece of paper at or above eye level as this will bring the wrist and hand into a better position and it will strengthen the movements and control that they will need when it comes to writing.
4. Think about how play time can be undertaken in such a way that their arms, shoulders and wrists will be strengthened. Write on an easel, lie on the floor to complete a puzzle, and use play equipment such as monkey bars etc in the local park.
5. Develop hand skills and encourage the use of fingers in play. This could be through finger painting, playing with Lego, putting pennies into a piggybank, playing with finger puppets, or lacing beads onto string.
6. Develop hand / eye co-ordination. This could be through playing catch with a soft ball, drawing, helping with cooking or baking, colouring shapes in colouring books, and painting.
7. Undertake some activities that are directly writing-related such as tracing letters, shapes or numbers with fingers, creating letters and numbers out of finger paints, cookies, Lego, string, shaving foam, whipped cream...the list is endless.
8. Recognition games to start to learn letters and numbers are also great activities. Snap card games, singing the alphabet or playing with magnetic letters and numbers are all very useful.

Above all, children should have fun when they are developing their pre-writing skills, as this will hopefully encourage an enjoyment of writing and a positive attitude towards learning to write as they begin their first year at school.

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