Toddler Pre-writing

Mya has always loved to draw and color. She is almost 29 months now and her interest in coloring is evolving into an interest to draw and write. She purposefully draws an image and then excitedly tells us what she drew, or she pretends she is "writing like mommy" and reads aloud to us as she pretends write words.

We have been playing with letters for quite sometime now. We sing the alphabet and use our sandpaper or foam letters, but just recently I noticed Mya showing a huge desire to learn what sounds letters make and starting to recognize letters visually. She knows how to spell her name orally, and then pretends to spell other peoples names.

To help encourage this new interest I printed out a writing practice sheet allowing her to trace her name. I put it in a $3 picture frame from Walmart so she can easily try this activity again and again with a dry erase crayons instead of going through a lot of paper.
You can print your own printing paper here...

http://www.first-school.ws/theme/printables/writing-paper/handwriting



I also bought an activity book of mazes to see if Mya was interested in that, and to help her with her pre-writing skills. She enjoys this activity, and especially likes to wipe it clean herself and start again. A quick tip, if you use dry erase pens or crayons on laminated sheet or in a picture frame that isn't glass, the best way to remove the pen marks is with a white eraser.