Pre-Writers Club: Maze

Physical Development - Moving and Handling (30-50 months):

Draws lines and circles using gross motor movements.

Holds pencil between thumb and two fingers, no longer using whole hand grasp.

(40-60+ months):

Beginning to retrace vertical lines.

What you need:

Draw a maze on the ground. Make sure to have a entrance, exit and a few dead ends.

Ask your child to try to drive their vehicle through the maze. Can they find the way out without getting stuck?

Once the have completed the maze they could try to draw a path through it using the chalk.

This activity is also a great way to encourage children to make the first two pre-writing shapes.

Crossing the midline – Making the maze quite means that your child will cross the midline of their boxy as they use their dominant hand to push the toy vehicle along. Being able to cross the midline (an imaginary line down the centre of the body) is an important developmental skill. It allows children to draw or write across a page without having to switch hands.

Break the chalk into smaller pieces to encourage children to grip using their thumb, index finger and middle finger rather than using a whole hand grasp. The tripod grip emerges at about age 4. It uses the thumb, index and middle fingers and is the most functional grasp for good pencil skills.

You can click the heart on the blog post to keep track of the activities that you have tried. I would love to hear how you get on in the comments section below. If you have a go at this activity and share any photos on social media I would love to see them. Please tag @miniwritersclub and let me know how you get on.

Anna