Winter Writing & Pre-Writing Activities

I have an eager early writer here! S was not always interested in writing. It was an activity I always offered up in many (creative) ways, but until this school year, he had yet to really have a desire to sit and work on proper hand position or forming and tracing letters. I also have an eager little brother here who is very keen on doing anything his older brother is doing! To support them both in their developmental stages as they grow as young writers, I keep our Writing Center stocked with a variety of tools and materials they can access in our living room. I also set up a variety of Table Time activities in the morning for "Morning Work" that encourage pre-writing/early writing. Lately, S had been asking me to use our Writing Desk upstairs in the boys' bedroom. Thanks to Y's busy "naptimes," it had become somewhat of a storage and dumping grounds for a variety of things unrelated to its initial purpose. One day while the boys were out with my husband, I managed to get it cleared off and stocked again (only this time I have everything stored in a drawer during nap and sleeping times). When we do have a play theme going on at home, I tailor our writing materials and centers to be theme related. Here's a peek at some ways we've incorporated pre-writing and writing opportunities into our Winter theme. They are great activities to encourage at home if your children are interested and also easily adaptable to classroom use (if you're a teacher spending winter break planning for next month).

There are a lot of resources for free and for purchase on websites like Pinterest and TeachersPayTeachers. I love the Winter Math and Literacy Centers from Pocket of Preschool. The printable writing paper is perfect for our Writing Center and stocking the boys' Writing Desk. The literacy games and tools are great for a plethora of uses. To the right, I've set up a couple of "snow" (Kosher salt) trays with icicle "pens" (an ornament set I found at the Dollar Tree and adapted). The boys chose a snowball letter from their baskets and had the opportunity to trace it into the "snow" with their icicle pens. You can provide a basket of all of the letters, uppercase and/or lowercase, just the letters of a child's name or just a few letters you are focusing on if you do formal introduction of the alphabet or letter of the week in your home or classroom. Y is obviously more at the level of exploring the salt tray and how to make marks and strokes in it. S is ready for some copying and practicing. They both had a great time with this activity!


Using a printed and laminated set of these free Penguins Pre-Writing Cards, I set out a tray of kosher salt "snow," a small plastic penguin and a small plastic fish on each boys' tray. Their job was to choose a card and get the penguin to his fish! It was a playful and fun way to practice straight lines, curvy lines, boxy and zig-zaggy lines--all strokes necessary for forming letters later on.

Meanwhile, at the Writing Desk... I taped an alphabet chart and an aleph-bet (Hebrew alphabet) chart to the top of our desk. It's great for reference and exposure. I used a couple of Dollar Tree plastic caddies for the boys' writing materials. After the explosion of our Writing Desk, I have learned [the hard way] that less is more. I tailored each boy's basket to what he is working on. S and Y both have pencils, notepads, neon colored index cards, small sticky notes, some Winter stickers and a laminated sentence strip with their names printed. S has a variety of pencil options including one with a cushioned grip that helps him form his hand posture correctly. He has a selection of skinny writing markers in a variety of colors. He also has a laminated set of winter words for inspiration and exposure. Y has a smaller set of laminated winter word flash cards with larger pictures to encourage language development. He also has a few chunky crayons, a writing a drawing medium he currently really likes. I like to tailor our writing center and desk to be interesting and captivating to the boys. There are no assignments or agendas in these spaces, it is intended to be child-directed and we are there to support the boys if and when they need it. I stocked a small file organizer with printed writing/illustration paper, winter stickers, alphabet/number stickers, some envelopes, snowman die-cuts and snowflake doilies.

When these materials get a bit stale or when we switch up themes, I swap in some new ones. The key to keeping kids writing is to keep it interesting and fun. Some other fun desk or table activities could be to include a tray and kinetic sand or playdough along with some rubber alphabet stamps. Letter stamps and stickers in general are great tools for pre-writers. Opportunities to trace letters are great, whether with pencil, pen, crayon, etc. or with dry erase markers on laminated cards. Even using playdough or small loose parts to trace larger letters is a great way to encourage early (or reluctant) writers.
Another pro-tip is to let them see you do it! I realized that perhaps one reason S was so hesitant to begin writing while he did take an interest in many other fine motor activities is that he rarely sees the adults in this household writing. My husband and I constantly communicate by written word--but when I say written, I mean typed. We keep our shopping lists, correspondence and even this blog on computers and smart phones. The boys were not seeing us doing a whole lot of handwriting (although we both occasionally do) and therefore they  may not have been intuiting the value and importance of the activity. We have both worked toward being more visible in our writing engagements at home. I love to keep notes and reminders about play activities in a journal and my husband takes a lot of notes for work and continued education in a set of notebooks.

Our journals also get a lot of attention here in Morning Work activities. Sometimes it's geared toward drawing or doodling, forming lines, shapes and pre-writing strokes. Sometimes it's introducing letters and writing in other ways, like with sticker "tracing." To the left, the boys had an invitation to trace the letter Pp with small penguin stickers. S had a row of Pps to trace in pencil at the bottom. Y had a pencil as well, but is young yet to be tracing letters. And our resident needle-felted penguin was proudly on display to inspire and encourage my little writers as they sat to work. Writing practice doesn't need to be dull and dreary. Pencils and lined paper are only the beginning. Adding a bit of creativity and whimsy can add aesthetic appeal and captivate interest. We'll keep you posted on future pre-writing and writing activities here and how you can support and encourage your own early writers as well.

Until then...

Happy Writing!