Author: Preschool

Pre-writing
Stay & Play
4 May 2022
0900 - 10.15

There are fundamental skills that children need to develop before they are able to write.
These skills contribute to the child’s ability to hold a pencil, the ability to draw, write, copy and colour.
A major component of pre-writing skills are the pre-writing shapes. These are the pencil strokes that most letters, numbers an early drawings are comprised of.

To be writing ready children need to develop:
Hand and finger strength
Cross the mid-line
Pencil grasp
Hand-eye co-ordination
Bilateral integration
Upper body strength
Object manipulation
Visual perception
Hand dominance
Balance
Hand division

Developing Upper Body Strength
Washing outside walls with soap and brushes
Painting with mops
Playing swing ball
Painting trees with shaving foam
Big digging in sand and soil

Proprioception and balance
Children are developing their sense of proprioception alongside their upper body strength. This is where the brain uses all sorts of information from different parts of the body to help it move effectively within a given space. An essential part of this is movement is being able to maintain balance whilst being still and when moving.

Bilateral co-ordination
We all need to be able to co-ordinate both sides of our bodies at the same time in a controlled way. This means using both sides to do the same thing for example jumping into a puddle. We also need to be able to use alternate movements when both sides of our body are doing the same thing, but not at the same time eg walking. However, the most complex level of bilateral co-ordination is where the body has to do two completely different movements on each side but at the same time eg cutting with scissors whilst holding paper with the other had.

Fine motor strength

Pincer Grip—this enable children to pick up small items using their thumb and index finger
Palm arches—There are several arches within the palm of your hand that enable the hand to grasp a range of different objects of various shapes and sizes. These arches direct the skilled movement of your fingers and control the power of your grasp. They relate to your ability to manipulate a mark making implement.
Finger isolation—to do this you need to be able to move each finger one at a time. This is the mechanism that will allow children to hold and manipulate
Hand-eye co-ordindation—Visual motor intergration this is one of the fundamental skills which holds the key to so many of the things children need to do. Not only to be successful at mark making, but to be successful in virtually every aspect of their life. It’s the ability to control hand movement guided by vision. We use this skill to paint, thread, cut, pour, eat and build to name a few.

Fine Motor Activities
Drawing and painting
Cutting and tearing
Threading
Popping bubbles
Using tweezers to pick up balls, pompoms, pasta
Puzzles

Basic Play Dough Recipe
2 cups pain flour
1/2 cup salt
Up to 2 cups boiling water
2tbs oil
2tbs cream of tartar
Few drops of glycerine
Method
Mix flour, salt, cream of tartar and oil in a large mixing bowl.
Add the boiling water
Stir continuously until it becomes a sticky combined dough
Allow to cool, take it out of the bowl and knead the play dough quickly until all the stickiness has gone.

For the following recipes follow the Basic play dough recipe then add the dry ingredients when you add the flour to your dough.

Chocolate dough
You will also need:
1 cup cocoa powder
Method
Add the cocoa powder with the rest of the dry ingredients
You could also add chocolate chips for added texture, but dough will need to have cooled down.

Lavender dough
You will need:
2tbs of dried or fresh lavender
2 drops of lavender oil
Purple food colouring
Method
Mix the dry lavender in with the other dry ingredients
Add the lavender oil and purple food colouring and stir well
For added texture you can knead in lavender flowers once the dough has been formed.

Thank you for coming to our Stay and Play session. We hope that you enjoyed yourselves.
The session and leaflet should give you some idea of what skills the children need to develop before they can become confident writers. There is so much more they have to achieve than just holding a pencil.
Our aim to help the children to develop all the skills required before they transition to Primary School, where they will continue their journey and be ready to pick up a pencil and write.
If you have any questions please do ask.

References
Getting ready to write—Alister Bryce-Clegg

Chirton Pips Pre-school
March 2022