Building skills for writing

We’ve listed lots of different ideas. Please pick the ones that match your child’s abilities and what they enjoy. Always watch your child while they do these activities to keep them safe. These activities work best when done in short, fun sessions a few times a day—at home, school, or nursery. 

Try these activities for 10–12 weeks to see if they help. If they do, you you can keep using them as part of your child’s daily routine.

Hand and Finger Activities

These activities help children use their hands and fingers to draw and write:

• Make patterns in shaving foam, sand, or finger paint (even yogurt or jelly!)Use different paper like foil, sandpaper, or paper bags
• Try racetrack drawing: follow two lines like a road with a toy car or finger
• Play “Simon Says” with drawing shapes in the air
  Make shapes with string or pipe cleaners
• Copy shapes drawn in the air with a ribbon or stick
• Draw shapes on someone’s back with your finger—guess what it is!
• IPad/tablet drawing games (World Health Organisation recommends no more than an hour a day of screen time for 2-4 year olds)
• Move hands while singing songs like “The Wheels on the Bus”: “Round and round”, “Up and down” or “Side to side”
• Draw with chalk outside and watch it wash away in the rain