A key part of learning to read is print awareness, which is the understanding that marks on a page carry meaning and knowing that print is all around us and a vital part of our lives. Reading and writing go hand in hand. Check out these activities, ideas, and books to help build up print awareness and writing skills.
Fine Motor Skills
A good first step to writing and printing is developing fine motor skills, which helps with holding pens, pencils, and crayons. Books with finger trails can help and make it fun by introducing a child to tracing. You can do tracing yourself too - just draw a basic shape or letter and let your child trace over it with a pencil or marker or even their finger.
Other quick and easy fine motor activities include: peeling and placing stickers, ripping paper, stringing cereal like Cheerios or Froot Loops onto a string, and building with blocks.
https://kentonlibrary.bibliocommons.com/list/share/2006079889_kcpllisac/2643002053_fine_motor_skills
Scribbling and drawing
Encourage your child to scribble and draw. This is the precursor to writing actual letters and can help them get comfortable gripping a writing utensil.
Draw a shape on a piece of paper and have your child trace it with a pencil. Or draw a shape and let your child add their own shape to it to create a picture together. Ask your child to tell you what you just drew together – is it a monster? A robot? Create your own story with your art.
https://kentonlibrary.bibliocommons.com/list/share/2006079889_kcpllisac/2191600289_i_cant_draw
Incorporate print into pretend play
Show that print is part of our everyday lives by incorporating print into play with you child. If your child has a play kitchen or is pretending to cook, make a menu. Either you can write it or have them scribble to make their own. It’s okay if it is not real words or letters. This can also be changed to a grocery list, to do list, game instructions, etc. Another option is to make letters with other things like playdough, write letters in sand, create letters with nature finds – there's so many ways to incorporate print into play.
Check Out Books
Look for the following books for more ideas or ask at a children's desk when you visit the branch
For more early literacy information, check out KCPL’s Early Literacy page and check out other blog posts about literacy
Happy reading! Written by Lisa Clark, Youth Collection Librarian
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