Reading as a Prerequisite to Writing
One of the classroom resources I prepared as soon as the kids began to connect visual letter symbols with letter names and sounds were a few sets of magnetic uppercase and lowercase letters. On their own, kids enjoyed matching the letters to a picture that has the same initial sound.
Warm-up activity for strengthening kids’ pencil grip
Before we start any writing activity, we play games aimed at building students’ fine motor skills and strengthening their pencil grip. One such activity is “Pass Around the Playdoh” (or any other sculpting material). Kids sit in a circle so that they can easily pass the playdoh around. One member is holding the playdoh and when the music starts, he begins passing around the playdoh. When the music stops, the student holding the playdoh is instructed to build something (some object) out of it within a minute.
Next, we spend some time tracing dashed lines and circles.
We solve mazes not only in an effort to draw straight or curved lines but also as a way of building our critical thinking skills. Learning is in bloom with this fun maze. For more fun and engaging preschool activities, go to Education.com!
Offer memorable writing experiences
Alligator’s mouth pencil grip trick
Kinesthetic and tactile activities
I’ve already mentioned in one of my previous posts how I capitalize on children’s desire to experience sensorially the world around. I give students the opportunity to become familiar with the shape of every letter by incorporating 3-dimensional letter models.
Another example, students make three-dimensional letters, such as creating playdoh letters.
