Pre-writing activities: from big arm moves to the pencil

What pre-writing activities are and what we know

Handwriting asks a lot of a small hand at once: hold the pencil loosely, press evenly, travel from left to right and form curves in the right direction. A review lists fine motor control, coordination of both hands, visual-motor integration, motor planning and sustained attention among the building blocks of handwriting (Feder & Majnemer 2007).

Pre-writing activities focus on part of that: the flow of a movement, its direction and its rhythm, before letters come in. Your child doesn’t have to remember what a letter looks like and can focus on the movement itself.

Whether and how much this affects writing later has barely been studied. So we see pre-writing activities as games with lines, not as training. Your child draws a wave, a row of humps or a spiral, sometimes big at the wall, sometimes small on paper, and watches where the line goes.

A systematic review of school-age children with handwriting difficulties came to a clear conclusion: programs that didn’t include actual handwriting practice, and those with fewer than 20 practice sessions, were ineffective (Hoy et al. 2011). So pre-writing activities don’t replace learning to write. Kids practice letters at school and by writing itself.

Pre-writing strokes by age

An NHS children’s therapy service in England gives rough age norms for drawing basic strokes and shapes (NHS Somerset):

• Vertical line: around 2 years.
• Horizontal line and circle: around 3 years.
• Cross: a little after 4.
• Square and a diagonal line: around 4 and a half.
• X: shortly before 5.
• Triangle: a little after 5.
• Diamond: around 8.

The same service notes that children first copy a shape after watching an adult draw it, and then manage it on their own. These are averages, not deadlines. Many kids reach one shape earlier and another later.

Formal letters come later. The Common Core standards used in many US states expect children to print many uppercase and lowercase letters by the end of kindergarten (Common Core). Before that, there is plenty of time for big, playful movements.

Start big: air, wall, then paper

An NHS children’s therapy service recommends starting big: draw shapes in the air with the whole arm, and tape large sheets of paper to the wall instead of using small ones (NHS Somerset). At the wall there is room for curves as wide as your child’s whole arm, and your child stands while drawing.

1. In the air: your child draws big shapes in the air with a straight arm while the eyes follow the hand. That’s how Big Air Shapes works, with a card on the wall as a model.
2. At the wall: tape a sheet or a piece of wallpaper at shoulder height, and your child stands in front of it. In the Big Loop, they trace one big open loop in a single slow movement. In Calm Wall Tracing, they trace shapes with both hands, in rhythm with their breath.
3. On the table with a finger: in Wavy Line Trace, your child slowly follows a colored wavy line with one finger. A tray of sand, flour or shaving cream works for tracing too.
4. With chunky chalk or crayons: on big paper on the floor, on a chalkboard, or outside on the sidewalk.
5. With a pencil on regular paper: first without lines, later between wide lines, and the shapes get smaller.

Move on only when the current step feels easy. If it gets too hard, go back a step without comment. You’ll find more movement games for arms and hands among the body and coordination activities.

Flowing patterns that lead to letters

Once the basic strokes are there, flowing patterns come next. This order works well because each pattern adds one new thing:

• Waves: soft ups and downs with no points. A good start, since the hand never has to stop.
• Zigzags: ups and downs with sharp points. Now the hand changes direction for a moment.
• Cups: round at the bottom, open at the top, like a row of u’s.
• Humps: round at the top, open at the bottom, like a row of n’s. They show up in n, m and h.
• Loops: small circles that cross over and keep going, like a cursive e or l.
• Spirals: from the outside in and back out again, changing size evenly.
• Sideways figure eight: both turning directions in one shape.

Have your child draw circles and spirals counterclockwise, since that is also how o, a and d are formed. In the figure eight, the hand crosses the middle of the body. You can read more about that in Crossing the midline: what it means and 6 activities.

Pencil grip and posture in brief

Once the pencil comes in, a comfortable position helps. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago suggests sitting upright with feet flat on the floor, arms resting comfortably on the desk, hips, knees and ankles bent, and the paper at a slight angle that follows the natural arc of the writing hand (Lurie Children’s). A stack of books under the feet helps if the chair is too high.

Some children hold the pencil a little differently from others. Mostly, watch that the hand stays loose and doesn’t cramp up. If your child likes, they can try a chunky crayon or a short piece of chalk.

A sign of too much pressure: the paper wrinkles, the lead keeps breaking, or the hand hurts after a few minutes. If that happens, go back to the wall or to chunky chalk for a while.

How often and how long

A few minutes are enough, such as two or three big loops at the wall and one row on paper. Short and frequent beats long and rare. A few things that make it easier:

• One or two patterns per round, not the whole page.
• Add music: waves to a slow song, zigzags to a fast one.
• Take turns: you draw first, then your child, then you copy theirs.
• Stop while it’s still fun.

In preschool, all of this should stay optional and playful. Once your child is in kindergarten or first grade and practicing letters at school, a big loop in the air or at the wall before homework can be a quick warm-up, and that’s usually all it takes.

When to get help

Wobbly waves are normal at five, and not every child enjoys pre-writing games. That alone is no reason to worry.

The NHS explains that in children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD), drawing and writing are usually behind what is expected for their age (NHS). Lurie Children’s advises contacting an occupational therapist for an evaluation if a child’s handwriting skills are not improving (Lurie Children’s).

If your child has much more trouble than other kids with drawing, cutting and writing over a longer period, and it bothers them, talk to their teacher and your pediatrician. Your pediatrician can refer you to an occupational therapist if needed. You won’t find a self-diagnosis checklist here, on purpose. Whether a child needs support is something a professional should assess together with you.

Frequently asked questions

Further reading

• Fine motor activities for kids: everyday ideas by age
• Crossing the midline: what it means and 6 activities