Get kids on the "write" track and with this awesome roundup of writing readiness tips!
Looking for activities to prepare your little one for writing readiness and school success? Then you’ve come to the “WRITE” place! Today, we’re sharing ideas for strengthening your child’s emerging writing skills using crafts, activities, and toys specially designed to enhance and promote dexterity, hand strength, hand-eye coordination, and fine-motor development.
So what are you waiting for? Let’s get “write” to it, starting with a quick overview of our Skills at Play initiative! Designed to help parents and caregivers identify the toys that will promote the skills they want their kids to develop, Skills at Play adds colorful, informative callouts to our website and toy packaging on which skills those toys target for development.
For example, If you want your little one to develop their writing skills, you'd want to look for Skills at Play callouts that target PHYSICAL (Fine Motor) and COGNITIVE (Letters) development. Look for the individual Skills at Play callouts (below) on our website and in-store toy packaging.
“Angling” for Writing Success
Want to know a trick for teaching little ones correct hand positioning for writing? Use an easel! The angled surface naturally aligns and guides little ones’ wrists and hands so their creative scribbling becomes pre-writing practice. Drawing on an easel will have your child strengthening their hand muscles, improving their grip, and refining their hand-eye coordination — building the foundation for writing success!
5 Tips to Get Preschoolers Ready to Write
You probably already know that you need to develop your child's fine motor skills so that they have both the strength and the dexterity to properly grip a pencil. But writing also relies on sensory awareness (noticing sights, sounds, smells, textures, and tastes) and visual-spatial awareness (perceiving the distances between and the relationships among different objects). In writing, we have to be constantly aware of our hand’s position in relation to the paper, the relative position of letters and words and more. It’s a lot to coordinate! Strengthen this important skill with action songs like “The Hokey Pokey,” playing Follow the Leader, drawing an object in the room and playing with pattern blocks.
Kids Get Fine-Motor Skills Practice . . . and Grandma Gets Jewelry
Stringing beads is a great activity for building important fine-motor skills needed for writing — like hand–eye coordination and small-muscle control. Beading also presents an educational opportunity to work on counting, creating patterns, and understanding symmetry. Create beautiful wooden (not plastic) beaded bracelets or necklaces that Grandma will surely treasure as a gift from your little one.
Strengthen Hands With Scissor Skills
Maneuvering a scissors to cut along straight and wiggly lines is heaps of fun for kids AND great for developing fine motor skills. Challenge your child with this scissors skills activity book.
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So there you have it—our “WRITING READINESS” ROUND-UP! Be sure to check out our Back-to-School board on Pinterest. It’s always FULL of educational ideas and activities for both parents and educators.
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Click through the links below for more great toy content from Melissa & Doug:
Shop All Melissa & Doug Learning Toys
Explore Melissa & Doug Skills at Play
Shop Melissa & Doug Toys by Age
Explore Melissa & Doug Living Playfully Blog
A Teacher's Favorite Toys for Learning & Building Life Skills
Skills at Play: Learning Fun for Summer
