Pre-Writers Club: Wash the Wheels

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):

Begins to use anticlockwise movement and retrace vertical lines.

What you need:

Setting up a car wash is a great way to develop writing skills without using a pencil. Invite your child to use a paintbrush and water to clean a toy vehicle. As they clean the wheels encourage them to go round and round. This action is one of the pre-writing shapes that children need to be able to draw in order form letters.

Add some washing up liquid to the water and stir it round and round to create bubbles. Model how to stir the water in an anticlockwise direction. This action is required to be able to form letters such as a, c, d, e, f, g, o, q and s. Can they use the other end of the paintbrush to pop the bubbles? This will also help to develop hand-eye co-ordination which is needed to guide their hand when they begin to form the letters and helps them to be able to stay on the lines.

They can also use the paint brush to clean the rest of the vehicle. Encourage them to make some of the earlier pre-writing shapes by cleaning from top to bottom to create a vertical line and from left to right to create a horizontal line.

Pencil Grasp – Encouraging your child to grip the paintbrush with their finger pointing down (digital pronate grip) rather than grasping it with their whole hand will help them to make progress with their pencil grip.

Shoulder and Arm strength – Reaching up to wash the top of the car car strengthens the shoulder and arm muscles. This will provide strength and stability to allow controlled hand movements when children begin to write.

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