Preschool Writing Activity

A good preschool writing activity is one that is enjoyable for the child, and helps develop the fine motor skills necessary for preschool writing.

Fine motor skills are the small muscle movements of the hands and wrists that are used in activities like handwriting. Be patient with your child, as these muscles can tire easily. Fine motor skills vary greatly from child to child, and according to some, by gender. They will develop as your child's nervous system matures.

Here are our favorite Preschool Writing Activities:

Let your child draw with markers, crayons, pens, pencils, colored pencils and sidewalk chalk. Finger painting and painting also develop fine motor skills, as does cutting with safety scissors.
Here are some other ideas for preschool art.
Lacing is a fun and inexpensive preschool writing activity. Cut cardboard into an interesting shape, and punch holes around the edges. Wrap tape around one end of a string of yarn. Have your child lace the yarn through the holes in the cardboard.

Playing with food is our favorite preschool writing activity. Let your child string cheerios, fruit loops or beads onto yarn to make a necklace or bracelet.

Let your child play with a dry erase board or chalkboard. Or buy window markers and let your child have a field day on the sliding glass door. Tub crayons are also great for budding artists.

Encouage those who are hesitant to use writing utensils to practice writing in sand, oatmeal, rice, pudding or shaving cream.

Kitchen activities such as sifting flour, squeezing a ketchup bottle, using a spatula beating eggs, spreading butter, rolling dough, screwing/unscrewing lids, pouring and using measuring spoons are great for developing hand strength.
Here are some fun kids cooking activities.
Make playdoh by mixing 1 cup of cold water, 1 cup of salt, 2 teaspoons of oil, 3 cups of flour and 2 tablespoons of cornstarch. Let your child squeeze, pinch, press, cut and use cookie cutters to make shapes in the dough. Or roll dough into snakes to form the shapes of letters.

Additional Activities for Fine Motor Development:

You can also encourage fine motor development through everyday activities like:

putting together puzzles,
playing with legos or blocks,
using an knife and fork,
putting coins in a jar,
using keys,
turning book pages,
opening and closing buttons, snaps and zippers, and
assembling nuts and bolts.

Preschool Writing Resources

Here are some ideas for using books to build fine motor skills:

	There's a Mouse About the House comes with a little cardboard mouse that children move through slots and flaps in the book as they listen to the story. In addition to strengthening your child's fine motor skills, this book improves hand eye coordination and builds pre-reading skills by encouraging left to right movement. Set those workbooks aside - this is a preschool writing activity your child will want to do again and again!
	I Can Draw Animals is a drawing book that even the youngest in your home will enjoy. Each page contains step by step instructions for drawing an animal, along with more complex ideas for older preschoolers and kindergartners. Your children practice drawing shapes and lines while creating a finished product that is easily recognizable.
	Sticker Dolly Dressing Dolls helps children build finger control as they use stickers to outfit the book's characters with cute costumes and accessories. This book is a great quiet activity for long car rides and doctor's waiting rooms.