Pre-writing Development at Home

Pre-writing is an essential foundational skill for the development of motor skills needed to write letters of the alphabet, form words, or compose numbers. Pre-writing is an important skill to develop and a key predictor in future academic success as it contributes to: fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, spatial awareness, hand strength and endurance, visual perceptual skills, cognitive skills, and overall confidence and independence. Practicing these skills at home is vital to a child's success because it allows for consistency, reinforcement, and skill generalization. 

Examples of fun, low-cost, and non-time-consuming activities to help support your child's pre-writing development at home:

• Playing with play dough or putty 

• Completing dot-to-dot mazes

• Playing with beads and “O” cereals 

• Threading and lacing activities

• Finger painting

• Completing puzzles 

• Playing with building blocks

• Playing with stickers 

• Coloring and drawing

• Catching and throwing balls

RESOURCES

Despain, M. (2023, January 23). Strengthening pre-writing skills at home. Kids Village. https://kidsvillage.com/strengthening-pre-writing-skills-at-home/ 

Therapy & Wellness Connection. (2023, May 10). Occupational therapy tips to practice pre-writing skills at home. https://therapyandwellnessconnection.com/occupational-therapy/occupational-therapy-tips-to-practice-pre-writing-skills-at-home/ 

Therapy, L. C. (2023, August 3). Line up: Pre-writing skills to start at home. Lumiere Children’s Therapy - Chicago’s Best ABA Therapeutic Preschool. https://www.lumierechild.com/blog/line-up-pre-writing-skills-to-start-at-home/