Prewriting Activities for Preschoolers

Published:
September 12, 2020

Annette Breedlove

Contributor:
Annette Breedlove

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning if you decide to make a purchase via my links, I may earn a commission at no additional cost to you. See my disclosure for more info.

When my kids were little they loved grabbing pencils and crayons to “do school” with the big kids. Although we take a very relaxed approach to school for our younger kids, I always encouraged prewriting activities to help strengthen those fine motor skills.

preschool boy writing in book - overlay Prewriting Activities for Preschoolers

The best part of prewriting activities is that many of them seem more like playing than work. You can use playdough to develop their fine motor skills and what kid doesn’t love using playdough! Little boys driving cars on playmats and roads is great for fine motor skills. And let your girls dress their dolls and brush their hair to encourage fine motor activity.

Helping them develop those fine motor skills organically and naturally through play, makes it easier to transition to prewriting activities on paper. While there is no harm in letting them explore handwriting, you should be mindful of proper pencil grip so they don’t develop bad habits.

Help your little ones develop and strengthen their fine motor skills with these prewriting activities geared toward preschoolers.

10 Montessori Prewriting Activities | Mama’s Happy Hive

Prewriting Activities for Preschoolers | Days with Grey

The Sand Tray | To The Lesson

Squeezing Activities to Improve Fine Motor Development | Teaching 2 and 3 Year Olds

Practice Prewriting Skills with Sticks and Stones | Little Pine Learners

Fine Motor Activities for Kids | And Next Comes L

Push Pin Pre-Writing Activity For Kids | Planning Playtime

Prewriting Activity: Cotton Swab Painting | Lessons Learnt Journal

Shaving Cream Pre-Writing: Connect the Dots | School Time Snippets

Simple Sprinkle Sensory Bag | Active Littles

Shaving Cream Writing | A Dash of Learning

Sensory Writing Ideas for Preschool | Finding the Golden Gleam

Calming Lavender Prewriting Tray | And Next Comes L

Fine Motor Activities that Develop Pre-Writing Skills | No Time For Flash Cards

Play Dough Writing Tray | Fantastic Fun and Learning

child writing in playdough

Salt Tray Writing Practice | Play to Learn Preschool

10 Hands-On Ways to Practice Pre-Writing Lines | Growing Hands-On Kids

Dirt Play Dough + Rocks Writing Tray | Frugal Fun 4 Boys and Girls

Tracing Letters with Water | This Little Home of Mine

Playdough Learning: Prewriting for Toddlers | Kids Activities Blog

Magnetic Prewriting | Days with Grey

 

Prewriting Printables

I like to use a mixture of printables and activities to encourage fine motor skills and handwriting development. Sometimes we do both on the same day and sometimes we just concentrate on one or the other if they’re really doing well and making progress.

Prewriting Handwriting Lines – Activity Mats | love teach and learn (TpT)

Valentine’s Day Pre-Writing Strips | Totschooling

Touch and Feel Prewriting Cards | Teach me Mommy

Dinosaur Pre-Writing Free Printable | Powerful Mothering

Easy No-Prep Prewriting Practice Printables (FREE) | 3 Dinosaurs

Fall Prewriting Activities | Inspire the Mom

Pre-Writing Activity Pack | Totschooling

prewriting activities for 2-4

Rain Cloud Pre-Writing Tracing Cards | Frogs-and-Fairies

Preschool Line Tracing Worksheets: The Weather | Yes! We Made This

Free Beach Prewriting Cards | Stay at Home Educator

Summer Prewriting Activities | Inspire the Mom

Fall Prewriting Activity with Squirrels & Acorns | Totschooling

Free Printable Shape Tracing Strips | Powerful Mothering

Spring Themed Prewriting Activities | Inspire the Mom

Christmas Reindeer PreK Handwriting & Math Pack | In All You Do

Valentine’s Day prewriting activities | Planes and Balloons

In All You Do has quite a few PreK/Tot packs that include prewriting practice pages. You can find all her Tot Packs here, but in the meantime check these out…

Llama PreK Fun Pack 

Desserts PreK Pack 

Guinea Pig PreK Fun Pack

Safari PreK Fun Pack

Gamer PreK Fun Pack 

 

Find more homeschool resources on my Pinterest boards!

 

preschool boy writing in book - overlay Prewriting Activities for Preschoolers

Related resources

  • Free Printable Charts and Posters text with an image of a little boy wearing a tie-dye t-shirt

    Free Printable Charts and Posters for Preschool Learning

  • printable lacing cards

    Free Printable Lacing Cards for Early Learners

  • preschooler

    The Best Tips for Teaching Preschool at Home

  • printable place mats

    Fun Printable Placemats Kids Can Color {By Theme}

  • handwriing practice

    Free Tracing Worksheets for Handwriting Practice

  • building with lego

    25 Best Kindergarten Readiness Activities for Kids