Grip and grow!
Almost every interaction you have with your child is preparing them to become a reader and writer. Your child has been learning to write since before they could hold a pencil or crayon!
Remember when, as a baby, your child first discovered their toes, trailed their fingers through their food, or scratched marks in the ground? These are all early writing skills.
Before your child can become a confident, legible and fluent writer they need to have lots of experience in developing large and fine movements.
Threading, posting, pulling, pushing, hanging, twisting and rolling are all movements that develop finger muscles which are later used for writing.
Finding everyday resources around the house that your child can use to practise with, will strengthen their finger muscles that are needed for holding a pencil.
Top tips:
- Pegs: a fantastic, readily available resource that can be used for pinching and attaching – your child can do this by attaching pegs around baskets, to each other, or helping to hang out the washing
- Coloured pegs: these can help your child recognise patterns of colour and learn to match colours (these are skills that will support both early reading and writing) – for example, encourage your child to attach the green peg to something in the garden that is green, or arrange the pegs in a certain order such as pink yellow blue, pink yellow blue, and so on
- Playdough: a wonderful resource that you can make with your child for pushing and moulding – adding extra items to the playdough will create variety such as children’s scissors, twigs, pipe cleaners, rolling pins, cutters, pegs and so much more
- Hair scrunchies/bobbles: these are great for pulling and stretching – you can also use them for threading alongside items such as jewellery
