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Setting up a young child for success in handwriting

By Rachel McMinn, Early Childhood Educator, Buckle My School Preschool October 28, 2020

This time in the school year, almost halfway in, is always really exciting as we see the young twos transition from rapid, seemingly random line making to purposeful and controlled shape creation as they draw. It is sometimes referred to as the “amoeba” stage because most of the creatures contain a large circle with many wiggly lines poking out of it. All of the activities that we have designed and created during the beginning of the school year have prepared their growing hands and fingers for this big milestone. 

There is something so inviting and irresistible about a crisp white sheet of paper. In fact, the children in my class often find it impossible to leave a mark on just one piece of paper at a time. The desire to make marks and fill the space drives them to leave lines and shapes wherever there is white, open space. I encourage this! In fact, I have been known to create silly games that engage and encourage children to continue using and holding writing materials (crayons, pastels, pencils, markers) when they have previously shown little interest. Why? Early mark-making becomes the foundational building block for strong, clear handwriting. Without experience using art materials, children often have a hard time having the stamina and strength to hold pencils and pens properly and get discouraged as they are learning how to make letters and numbers properly. Their muscles aren’t ready, even if they are cognitively ready to write. 

Fine motor muscles in the hand and fingers need fine tuning while children are very young. Waiting until pre-k to get a child ready for writing will start them at a deficit. There are so many simple and fun ways to get a child using their fingers and building muscle memory for writing. Almost everything that we prepare and set out in the two’s program is in preparation for pre-writing and strong fine motor coordination. Activities that don’t readily scream “writing practice” are actually really important in preparing the hands for handwriting. Some of my favorites include: a water table set up with sponges to squeeze, glue bottles with small materials to collage (like buttons, sequins, or mosaic tiles – the pinching motion to pick up these small parts is also strengthening), twisting open different cans and jars, unlocking different types of locks, child safe tweezers with pom-poms to sort, a colander with pipe cleaners to push through, and blocks of clay to poke, pinch, pull, pat and roll. 

If a child doesn’t seem to have a strong connection to drawing, sometimes all it takes is changing the location of where it happens. Bring a clipboard outside to draw. Try moving the paper down to the ground, or onto an easel for a vertical surface. In my classroom, we turned a tall box into an easel and have absolutely loved being able to make large sweeping lines up and down the length of the box. Drawing inside a large box is often very engaging as well. Use tiny pieces of scrap paper, or old rolls of calculator/register tape. Let children draw on aluminum foil and saran wrap. Experimenting with the unexpected may finally hook a child that is having a hard time connecting to drawing/writing. 

And, of course, it’s important to offer a variety of writing and creating tools each day. We always have the following on hand in the classroom: colored pencils, oil pastels, chalk, solid tempera sticks, crayons (skinny and thick), markers of varying thickness, paintbrushes with watercolor or tempera paints, playdough and clay, plastic tweezers and chopsticks connected at the top, plastic pipettes/droppers, plastic scissors, and squeezable glue bottles. We also try to provide different types of writing surfaces to see what is most compelling for each child: white paper, colored paper, cardboard, whiteboards with dry erase markers, chalkboards, large poster board, easels, clipboards – I find that there is always a way to get a child interested in drawing if the “right” materials are presented! 

Giving a young child creative freedom to express themselves through the unstructured activity of drawing will help to grow a strong writer. Providing materials for fine motor muscle develop will aid on this journey toward school preparedness. Mark making is a very important step, and should be encouraged without judgement. I find that asking a child what they are creating instead of asking them to create something specific that comes from me allows them to work without feeling anxious. Drawing and early writing should be expectation-free, which is hard as a grown-up! We want to guide gently and not discourage a child as they make their way from scribbles to amoeba to representational drawing and finally into writing. Have fun with your child and try not to model too much at first (seeing “perfect” drawings of objects can make children feel inferior and frustrated and they will just ask for you to do it, since you already know how). Most importantly, let your child use his or her hands and fingers as much as possible, it will set them up for future writing successes!


Rachel McMinn is an early childhood educator at Buckle My School Preschool in Tribeca, who has taught the young 2-year-olds for almost nine years. She holds a Masters in Early Childhood Education from Hunter College and a Writing degree from Pratt Institute. She lives in Brooklyn with her infant daughter, post-production & screenwriting husband, and two attention-seeking cats. 

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