Whether you are a teacher or summer program instructor, now is a great time to get children ready for school with high-impact, high-fun activities. Join us for the full menu on early literacy readiness skills. In this five-part blog series, we provide Recipes for Readiness addressing:  

• Language Development 
• Phonological and Phonemic Awareness 
• Book Awareness and Print Concepts 
• Alphabet Knowledge and Beginning Phonics 
• Writing and Drawing 

In this blog, we cook up fun around writing and drawing.  

Remember to...

Model: All people learn by seeing something demonstrated, doing it together with help, and practicing it independently until confident. Just like talking, walking, and riding a bicycle, the same is true for learning to read and write!

Make time: 60–90 minutes throughout the day, depending on the child's stamina.

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What is Writing and Drawing?

It’s all about having experiences with using crayons, pencils, markers, and chalk to make pictures, lines, letters, and words. This will help kids with writing and drawing at school. 

Tips for Writing and Drawing Success

Writing develops along a continuum. At the emergent stage, children make a variety of scribbles and lines.  

Young children naturally like to draw and label meaningful experiences, objects, and people in their lives. Invite them to tell a story in pictures of a favorite memory.  

If the child seems reluctant to draw or label, it may be because they worry about correctness. Invite them to tell you what they want to depict, and support them as needed with labeling.  

Writing and Drawing Activities to Try

Writing & Drawing Fun     

• Sidewalk chalk drawing/writing 
• Trace large, highlighted letters on paper 
• Make letters or words in sand tray or salt tray 
• Write letters in pudding tray with your finger 
• Make bookmarks: Cut cardstock into long rectangles. Decorate with pictures & words, to use with books. 

Making & Labeling Pictures

Provide unlined paper, crayons, pencils, and washable markers.  

Encourage the child to draw a picture. Then have them tell you about it and acknowledge how good it is.  

Model writing their name and labeling parts of the picture, such as sun, house, tree, cat, Mom, Dad, etc. 

“This is a great picture. Let’s put your name on it… and here’s a tree.”  

Note: Depending on child’s ability, they should write as much as they can independently, even a short sentence if they are ready: “I like my dog”. 

Resources to Try for Writing and Drawing

Books:

• Chalk* by Bill Thomson 

• Ralph Tells A Story by Abby Hanlon 

• The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds 

Songs and Chants

• "Drawing Shapes" by Pinkfong Songs (YouTube) 

Poems and Rhymes

• Things by Eloise Greenfield

Note: *Wordless books tell a story through their pictures—great for conversation & imagination. Have fun together!