Children use their fingers to practice writing with this tasty activity. Make a batch of pudding and spread a thin layer of it on top of a cookie sheet. Encourage children to use their fingers to draw lines and shapes in the pudding. Take the activity up a notch and have children practice writing letters and their names in the pudding. When they have finished practicing writing, they can lick the pudding off of their fingers.
This activity provides students with writing practice and promotes awareness of the formation of lines, shapes and letters. Use a thin, black marker to write a line, shape or letter on a piece of paper. Discuss the name of the letter and encourage children to trace it with their fingers. Set out finger paint and instruct children to dip their fingers in the paint and trace the shape of the image that is printed on the paper. This activity may require an adult to guide children's fingers as they trace the letters.
Set out a variety of writing implements and paper and encourage children to use the implements to make marks on the paper. Show children how to hold a marker or crayon in their hands and guide them to use the writing tool to make marks on the piece of paper. Let them explore, using different implements to make different marks along the paper.
Manipulating play dough promotes fine motor development, preparing children for pencil and paper writing. Set out different colors of play dough and a variety of objects that children can use with the material--rolling pins, cookie cutters and play scissors, for example. Encourage children to roll pieces of play dough into snakes and help them form the snakes into shapes and letters. Use a rolling pin to flatten out the play dough and press letter-shaped cookie cutters into it. Have children snip pieces of play dough to develop the muscles in their hands.