Preschool explore writing for a purpose as they play

The children have been accessing the new mark making area in the classroom this week. The area allows children a variety of choices on how they want to develop their writing skills. In Preschool, the purpose of writing is to encourage children to explore writing for a purpose as they play. There is also a strong emphasis on involving children in the creation of the displays, and providing them with further opportunities to discover how print carries meaning.

In the role play area, the children have used the notebooks to take customers orders! The children have also been exploring lines and circles. They seeked delight in using the ribbons to create these movements and then used a variety of mark making tools to create the movements on paper. The main intention of this activity was to encourage the children to use clockwise and anticlockwise movements. It will also help children to become confident in using their dominant hand. Children were all engaged and really enjoyed the combination of movement through dance and writing. At home, you could support your child’s development in this area by sharing experiences of writing with your child, for example by scribing a child’s story alongside their picture, or by writing a card to a friend and asking your child to write their name on it.

Next week, we are going to combine the children’s interest in shops and shoes by creating a fun shoe shop dramatic play set up for some engaging creative play, as well as some great opportunities for practising some literacy and maths skills along the way! If you have any unwanted shoes at home that could support this theme they would be gratefully received.