There’s so much more than drawing happening here
Learning to write is a complex process that requires a combination of skills. Your toddler is in a fabulous stage of their development right now and we would encourage you to embrace and enjoy it because it will benefit them tremendously when they begin to learn handwriting. To understand more about how what they are doing now will serve them well later, we need to look at the wider picture.
Writing relies on skills in a variety of development areas.
Fantastic fingers – why crayons and pencils can wait!
When you think of your toddler learning to write, you probably think about them using a crayon or pencil – not their finger! But using their finger to make a few squiggles is great for their fine motor development and will help them as they begin to understand how moving in different ways makes new marks.
Why might a finger be better than a pencil or crayon at the moment?
Do you want to help your child start writing? Here are some things to think about
When your child masters writing the first letter or their name, they’ll feel extremely proud to have made (and left) their mark. And rightly so. It’s not a process that can be hurried. Writing recognisable letters is a very complex skill to master – one that involves many streams of development, including language, cognitive, emotional and gross and fine motor skills.
At first, when we are learning to write, forming each letter can take great concentration and effort, as we plan and carry out the combination of movements. Over time, with practice, writing can be performed almost automatically and without thought.
Mark Making – seeing beyond the scribble
If your child goes to nursery or a childminder you might have come across the phrase ‘mark making’. But what does it really mean – isn’t your toddler just scribbling?
Learning to write is complicated – your toddler will need to understand that letters and words can be used to share meaning; they will need to hear the sounds in words and know which ones to use; they need the physical skills to write the letters and the sensory skills to combine information from what they see and feel to adjust their writing as they go.
The best (and surprising!) way to build writing skills
We know every child has their own individual interests and skills, which means every child’s path to mastering skills is unique. But it can still be difficult to keep calm if their friends seem to have got to grips with a skill that your child hasn’t yet. Sometimes it can help to think about the progress your child has already made, and the skills they have mastered, and remember that one skill builds on another as your child develops.
Skills like writing and drawing might start to feel really important, as your child gets closer to starting school or simply as they move into a pre-school room at nursery. And many of us have been tempted to try to get our child to master these skills a bit more quickly, perhaps by getting them to trace over pictures or shapes.
Harnessing your child’s interests is the most powerful way to inspire their learning
Children are far more likely to engage in activities that are linked to something that interests them. And this can be used to your advantage, especially when you’re trying to encourage them to learn a skill they've not seemed very bothered about so far.
This might be anything, but one of the questions we are most often asked by parents is how to get children interested in writing when they simply don’t want to hold a pencil or learn about letters.
Just a scribble? Why your toddler’s early marks are important and three ways to encourage them
Your toddler might be eager to draw, or be more interested in making lines and circles with their finger or a stick in soap, food or mud. When you’re given a piece of paper with their various colourful lines and squiggles you might find it hard to be enthusiastic – but these early marks are an important step towards writing and drawing.
Why are first marks important?
