When we read or write anything we start on the left hand side of the page and move to the right. Sometimes children will start at the right and do their writing or mark making backwards.
Moving from left to right across the page is a really important pre-reading and pre-writing skill to develop.
I have uploaded a couple of wee activities that you can try at home to help develop this skill.
Patterns
This activity encourages children to use the pincer grip (see photographs) as they write and mark make. Show your child where the left side of the page is. Encourage them to draw a starting spot and then a straight line all the way over to the right side and draw a finish spot.
They can experiment with different patterns like I have shown or just stick to the straight line. You could join pieces of paper together to make the page longer, or you might have a roll of paper or an old roll of wallpaper that you could use the back of.
Find lots of small items – small stones, pieces of pasta, pomp oms, smarties, coins, daisies and anything else you can find! This encourages the children to use their finger and thumb to pick them up and therefore strengthen their fingers for holding writing tools.
Place the small items along the line that has been drawn, always starting at the left side and moving to the right.
Hide and Seek!
Draw some shapes, number or the letters from your child’s name on a page. Draw the same shapes onto small pieces of paper. Hide the small pieces of paper around the room and let your child find them!
When they have found them they can match and stick them under the shapes, numbers and letters that you have drawn on the page, always starting from the left side and moving to the right.
These activities have been posted for you to enjoy, but please don’t feel under pressure to carry them out. They will be there for you when you need them.
If you do carry any of them out, Mrs Dalzell and I would love to see! Send through any pictures to us on see saw.
Stay safe and have fun!
