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It may look like scribbles to us, but from a very early age, the marks that children make on a page are an important step towards learning to write and communicating; through their marks children are communicating their ideas, showing us how they feel and developing their imagination. They are also being creative - however messy or scribbly their picture or words look. Having lots of opportunities to make marks is fundamental and every child should have the chance to draw, scribble, make lines and pictures when ever they want.
From the moment a baby holds a crayon and makes their very first mark on a page, their journey towards writing has begun. But it needn't be a conventional pencil they write with first on a clean sheet of paper. There are all sorts of other ways to get babies and toddlers used to the idea of mark making.
By a year old, a child can grasp and reach for objects by choice and at this age it is good to introduce all sorts of media to their world in order for them to be confident when using different materials. They can grip objects with the palm of their hand, use a pincer movement with thumb and finger and point. So once they can do this, they can begin mark making using things other than pencils.
Babies start mark making by:
Early stages of writing:
Although it is only scribbling, those early marks made by a toddlers are the first steps towards writing... and its a long journey. The best way is to encourage and praise at every stage - even when you are presented with a mass of scribbles and you are told its a giraffe! To the little ones its clearly a giraffe. To us, its a smudged, messy page of lines and circles. So, try and be enthusiastic and encourage at every step.
Beginning legible Writing
Beginning to write Words
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