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Early Writing Activities for the ABCs

Toddlers and young children love to learn and show off new skills. Take advantage of this time to teach basic writing skills while building a solid understanding of the alphabet. There are several writing activities for the ABCs. Your child can trace and create letters. He can even fish for them.
  1. Trace the Letters

    • Children can trace letters with their fingers.

      Your child is never too young to learn to write the ABCs. When she is an infant, hold her hand and together trace the letters in books. As she gets more independent and can grasp a crayon, help her trace letters on preprinted wipe-off mats. If you do not have wipe-off mats, write the ABCs on a piece of paper. Instead of using a solid line, use dash marks to form each letter. Your daughter can trace them, connecting the dash marks. She can also trace the ABCs with her fingers, which makes anything with letters a learning tool.

    Repeat, Repeat, Repeat

    • Make letters out of geometrical shapes.

      The Child Development Info website suggests using a large chalkboard to help your child practice his writing skills. Because letters are basic geometrical shapes, like circles, triangles, squares and a cross-shape, once a child learns to make these correctly, writing letters becomes easy. Have your child practice drawing 10 circles, 10 squares, 10 triangles and 10 "T" shapes. Keep the best one and erase the others. Now have him draw 10 of the same shapes, trying to make them the same as the "model" from the previous set. Do this several times until he has the shapes perfected.

      Once your child is comfortable with drawing accurate shapes, move on to the actual letters of the ABCs. Make sure he has a reference sheet detailing the correct way to write his letters, and encourage him by writing them with him. Start with the capital letters, as they typically start on the top and use the same general shapes. Pick three letters to start with, such as "A", "V" and "W." Have him write 10 of each. Keep the best one and erase the others. Now he should write 10 more of each, duplicating the "model" from the previous set. Continue with the same letters until he writes them accurately. Then, move onto three more letters.

    Alphabet Soup

    • Colorful letters make learning fun.

      Mix it up and have some fun with letters. Create your own alphabet soup. Use laminated letters and colored water for a creative way to learn to write the ABCs. Fill a large bowl or container with water. Add a few drops of food coloring, and drop the small, laminated letters in the bowl. Your child can use a tablespoon or ladle to get the letters out of the water. After she spoons them out, have her write the letters she removed. Do this until all the letters are out of the bowl.

      You could also turn this into a fishing game. Simply stick small magnets to each letter, and create a fishing pole by tying a magnet on some yarn and attaching the other end to a stick. Instead of using liquid, just scatter the letters on the floor and encourage your child to catch them. Have her write the letter she catches, and continue until she has caught all the letter fish.

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