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.
Being able to hold and control drawing equipment to create controlled marks takes head to toe effort. Let’s take a look at what this means:
Gross motor skills – muscles in the shoulders, elbows and wrists are needed for writing; your child will especially need upper arm strength to control their hand. To draw and write when standing and sitting, they'll need good postural control and core strength.
Fine motor – once they have good control of the larger pivots, your toddler can develop the smaller joints, muscles and tendons in their hands, fingers and thumbs. This will help them develop precise movements.
Cognitive – they’ll need an understanding that their marks carry meaning. This will help them become aware of what symbols like numbers, shapes and letters are and what they represent.
Social and emotional – drawing and writing carry emotion, whether it be drawing a cow stomping or a smiley face, your toddler will start to explore feelings through their work. Over time, they’ll learn how to write for various purposes and use different tones in their writing.
Sensory – when your toddler draws or writes, they will be exploring how their body moves in the space they’re in. Providing opportunities to write in various places helps them learn how to keep their balance and adapt their movements based on the position they are drawing in.
Language – you might start to hear your toddler describing what they’re drawing. Even if the drawing doesn't resemble what they say to you at this time, they’re beginning to understand they've drawn something and are able to share their thoughts with someone else.
When your child begins writing it can be so exciting, but it needs gentle nurturing to mature.
Building these skills now will help them when they are ready to write. It’s a process that should be taken at your toddler’s pace, and not rushed. As their muscles grow stronger, the rest of the developmental areas will fall into place, and moving too quickly in one area could affect another.
Don't put too much emphasis on the meaning at this point
Drawing and writing is much more fun when it occurs naturally. Reducing suggestions for what your toddler should draw will allow their linguistic and cognitive skills to seep into the writing process, giving them the confidence to make decisions and feel proud of their work.
Drawing online and on different surfaces
Apps for drawing and writing can be fun for your toddler. Although, however entertaining they find it, mixing up drawing activities with large drawings on both horizontal and vertical surfaces, inside and out, will help them better develop all the necessary skills by using more muscles.
What can you do to support your toddler?
- Draw in lots of different places and use a variety of equipment. Large work can be done by using paint or chunky chalks on old wallpaper rolls, windows or paving slabs.
- Visit a park with climbing apparatus to help strengthen their upper body and arms, wrists, hands and fingers.
- Draw together – this could encourage your toddler to think about what they are doing. Hearing you talk about your drawings helps them understand that their marks can carry meaning too.
- Playing with dough, threading or posting large buttons will support their fine motor development.