From Baby Steps to Writing Words: The journey of learning to write

When it comes to supporting your child's journey of learning to write, there are a couple of important things to remember.

Firstly, early movement and crawling are key. Babies and toddlers need to explore, crawl and toddle around because these activities play a significant role in developing their core strength and overall muscle coordination. By building strength in their back, chest, legs, shoulders, and arms, they'll be better equipped for writing tasks in the future.

Plus, this kind of movement helps them develop their balance skills, which are not only important for physical activities but also for enhancing attention and focus. This is because building balance skills will help your your child to sit for longer and not get so tired, which means they will be able to focus on playing more effectively. So, let them wiggle and crawl their way to stronger muscles, improved coordination and more focus!

Secondly, crossing the midline. What on earth is this? Crossing the midline is like a secret superpower that all children should develop. Imagine a ‘line’ running down the middle of our bodies. Crossing the midline means being able to move our arm or leg from one side of that line to the other. This sounds very basic but before mastering this skill, very young children usually use their right hand for reaching or touching things on the right side and their left hand for things on the left side.

But here's the exciting part. We need to encourage young children to cross that invisible line with their arms or legs. Why? Because it sets the stage for future potential ease in writing, reading, and all sorts of physical activities. So, give your child plenty of opportunities to kick a ball, hit a ball with a bat, cut with scissors (with supervision if they are not old enough!), enjoy some threading activities, peg baby clothes on a little washing line or even squirt water at targets! All of these activities will help children establish their hand dominance, whether they end up being left or right-handed.

Top tip for your child

Encourage lots of movement! Building muscle strength and balance is crucial. Provide your child with fun activities like scribbling with chalk on the ground, ‘painting’ with water and a large paintbrush on an outside wall, or letting their imagination run wild with colourful markers on big sheets of paper. You can even spice things up by drawing shapes on the paper and watch their creativity bloom - research shows that paper with marks already on it will encourage children still further to draw!

By focusing on these foundational aspects and creating engaging opportunities, you'll set your child up for a successful and joyous writing journey. So, have some fun as they grow towards becoming a confident writer.

‍