Inside: 10 fun and engaging sensory pre-writing activities for preschoolers.
Often parents try to jump into writing with a pencil with their young child, only to find the child reluctant, or even frustrated by the activity. Alternatively, working through the process of learning about letters through a sensory approach with a child of preschool or kindergarten age, is more likely to result in a fun and engaging learning experience that they child is less likely to find laborious or stressful.
Think back to the days when you were first learning to write…or if, like me, you can’t remember that far back, think of a time when you were learning to do something new. Not only can this process be overwhelming, it can also be kind of stressful – even when it is something we want to learn.
While we want our minds and bodies to do what we want, when we want it, and how we want it to, we all know that it doesn’t always work that way! Not whilst we are in the process of mastering something new.
And if you feel that way as an adult, imagine what what it feels like to be a preschooler or kindergartener trying to understand the process of writing!
These sensory pre-writing activities for preschoolers offer a fun and engaging way to help your child understand the forming of the letters, while giving their fine motor skills and finger muscles a workout, too. By engaging the senses through the selection of sensory activities, you can help your child to build connections in the brain that reinforce the relationship between the shapes of the letters they are forming and the names and sounds of the letters being created.
Which will most definitely help them once they are ready to indeed pick up that pencil to write – they already have a wonderfully familiar relationship with letters and their shapes.
10 Sensory Pre-Writing Activities for Preschoolers
Before you get started: Add a set of our Printable Alphabet Cards to your resource collection for use with the following activities.
1. Salt Tray Drawing
Salt trays are a fun way to have your child practice forming letters with their finger or a small paintbrush. The feel of the salt can be calm and relaxing for your child as they run their fingers through the salt to create letters. Add a few drops of food colouring and/or essential oil to the salt for an even more engaging learning experience.
2. Playdough Shapes
Using playdough to shape and mould letters is a great way to focus on the shapes that make up each letter. You can use playdough to roll, squish, and shape for hours of sensory fun. Try any of these three techniques;
- rolling playdough snakes and using the snakes to form letters
- press letter stamps into flattened slabs of dough
- roll out sheets of playdough and use alphabet cookie cutters to cut out letters.
RELATED: 10 ways to learn with letter stamps.
3. Cinnamon and Sugar Writing
Who doesn’t love the smell of cinnamon and sugar? And it’s good for learning as well as a topping for toast! Stimulate your child’s senses of smell and touch by creating this simple sugar writing activity. Combine white sugar with a little cinnamon and invite your child to use their fingertip to create letter shapes.
4. Pushing Beads Into Playdough
Your child will love being able to use playdough and beads to create letters. Simply push the playdough into a flat lid, flatten it out and trace out the letter for your preschooler. They can then work their fine motor skills of picking up the small beads to outline the letter.
5. Shaving Cream Writing
Get ready for this to be a little messy! Your child will love the fact that they’re actually being asked to get their hands messy with shaving cream. This is one sensory activity that they’ll more than likely spend hours upon hours doing…and you can keep it clean by spreading the shaving cream onto your shower screen. Alternatively, use a shaving brush and paint the letters with shaving cream onto your bathroom mirror or shower screen.
6. Blackboard Paint With Water
Using water to learn to make letters is totally possible. All you will need is a blackboard, water, and their fingers to do so (although they can use a small paintbrush if preferred.)
7. Squishy Bags
Squishy bags are a lot of fun for learning about letters. Add a few big globs of kids acrylic paint to a ziplock bag. Tape the bag shut to stop messes. Lay the bag on a table top and encourage your child to use their finger to press onto the bag, moving the paint aside to form shapes and letters. They’ll love that squishy feel and it’s a great workout for the fingers too.
8. Sandpaper Letters
Make a set of sandpaper letters. Cut letter shapes from sandpaper and attach each to a square of cardboard. Your child can spend time tracing the letter with their finger, feeling the texture. Alternatively, work on letters by placing a paper over a sandpaper letter card and tracing over the bumpy letters with crayons.
Add the letter cards to your other sensory letter activities for a double dose of sensory letter fun.
9. Ice Painting
What preschooler doesn’t love painting? And when that painting can be created with a homemade recipe to do together, it’s certain to be a win. Once your ice painting sticks have set, why not take them outside and let your preschooler paint their letters on the sidewalk!
10. Chalk Rainbow Writing
Head outdoors and use a piece of white chalk to write on the pavement, lightly form the letter (or set of letters) you want your child to trace. Have them trace around each letter repeatedly with different coloured chalk to create a rainbow letter.
These simple ways to combine learning letters and sensory fun are simple and easy to do. Get creative with how you approach topics with your preschooler and you’ll be amazed at how willing they are to try out fun new ideas and activities!