Pre-Writers Club: Wrapping Presents

What you need:

• Fabric or tea towels

• Fold over elastic ribbon (ebay)

• Cardboard

• Parcel tape

• Dry wipe pen

Children oftern enjoyed helping to wrap presents. This activity is a great way to recreate the activity without wasting paper. The pretend wrapping paper, tag and ribbon is reusable and can be packed away with your Christmas decorations and played with year after year.

Cut gift tags out of cardboard and cover them with parcel tape. You will be able to write on them using a dry wipe pen and then rub it out so that the tags can be reused. I threaded fold over elastic through the gift tags which I bought off eBay. They can be stretcher around the presents to hold the fabric in place .

Pretend the piece of fabric is Christmas wrapping paper. Choose a toy, building block or object from around the house to wrap up as a gift. Model how to wrap the gift by folding the fabric around the object and then wrap a piece of elastic over the present to secure the wrapping paper. Use the dry wipe pen to write a name on the gift tag. Give the gift to your child and let them unwrap it. Swap roles so that your child wraps a present for you to open.

Skills:

Bilateral co-ordination – This is the ability to co-ordinate two parts of the body together for an activity and is a prerequisite for handwriting. Wrapping presents requires children to use two hands to complete actions in a co-ordinated way e.g. they will use both hands to fold the paper.

More ideas:

Wrapping Station/Elf Workshop – Create a role play area and add more scraps of fabric or some wrapping paper, scissors and tape. Add some crayons and small pieces of paper for writing gift tags. Provide blocks, books and small toys for your child to wrap.

Potato printing - You could create your own wrapping paper. Slice a potato in half width-wise. Carve a simple shape into the potato. Get your child dip the potato in paint and stamp a pattern on to some brown parcel paper. Using cut potatoes to stamp patterns can strengthen hands. Good hand strength supports fine motor control and co-ordination meaning that children will be able to make their writing more legible.