Pre-Printing

What you can do

Use a multisensory approach to engage all of the senses during learning. Some children may respond best to one of the senses over another.

• • Kinaesthetic: Hav the child practice creating shapes with gross motor movements. Make a shape in the air with the whole arm and have the child imitate you in a game of Simon Says.

  • Tactile: Use different textures as the writing surface. Have the child draw in a box of sand or rice using their pointer finger. Draw a shape using chalk and have the child go over it with a wet sponge. Place a piece of tinfoil under the paper and allow the child to draw. Make shapes using PlayDoh or pipe cleaners.

  • Visual: Use a variety of colours when working on shape formation to engage the child. You may also colour code the different strokes to help the child identify what is required to create a shape (ex. when making a square, make the vertical lines red and the horizontal lines blue). Demonstration is important when working on pre-printing strokes. The child will learn how you create the stroke and will try to copy.

  • Auditory: Use verbal reminders and songs to assist in the formation of shapes. Say "towards you" to encourage top to bottom strokes. Say "slow and steady" to remind the child to take their time and control the pencil. There are various songs to help with learning shapes. See the video below for an example of a song that could be used when working on drawing shapes.

  • Olfactory: Try using scented markers in your classroom to engage the child in the activity.