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Pre-Writing Shapes
When children first start to explore mark making they will
produce scribbles on the page. These usually start as linear
scribbles that go up and down the page, or from side to side.
Then they will move on to circular scribbles.
Next children will stop scribbling and start to draw in a more controlled and creative way. They
will start by copying others and then learn to draw different shapes independently. Before
children learn to form letters and numbers, they should be able to draw the 9 pre-writing
shapes. Children typically learn these shapes in this order .
When learning how to form these shapes, using different senses is often helpful. It is more
likely that the child will remember the shapes this way and it also helps with keeping activities
fun!
MOVING ON TO SCHOOL
INFORMATION SHEET
1. Vertical
Line
2. Horizontal
Line
3. Circle
4. Intersecting
Cross
5. Square
6. Diagonal
Line
(Right to
Left)
7. Diagonal Line
(Left to Right)
8. Diagonal
Cross
9. Triangle
Taste
Touch
Vestibular
Sight
Proprioception
Hearing
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Here are some ideas of different activities you can do with your child to help them with
practicing these shapes. These activities can also be used when children move on to learning
how to form numbers and letters.
The activities can be completed in different positions. It is useful to encourage this as it can
help to develop other skills required for handwriting.
Car Road Activity
Draw or build road/train track in one of the prewriting
shapes. Using a toy car or train get your child to drive
the car/train around the shape. Carrying out this
activity can help your child learn the movement
required to form the shape by following the track.
What you need:
Toy train track, paper and pen or pavement and
chalk.
Toy train or car etc.
Squatting/Kneeling
Standing at Vertical Surface
Sitting at a Table
Lying on Tummy and Propped on Elbows
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Drawing in Flour Activity
Ask your child to draw one of the shapes in the messy
tray using their pointer finger. If they don’t like the
feeling they could use a tool. Encouraging your child
to practice shapes during messy play is a great
activity and uses lots of senses! This can include
drawing in things like sand, flour, mud, shaving foam
and many more! Doing activities whilst lying on their
tummy helps your child build their core strength which
is important to help them sit in an upright position.
What you need:
A tray or a shallow box.
Flour, sand, shaving foam, foam soap, dry rice, mud, anything messy!
A paint brush, pencil or spoon.
Playdough Activity
Ask your child to roll out the playdough/plasticine into
a sausage shape. Mould it into a pre-writing shape.
Get your child to pinch or poke around the shape.
Making shapes out of playdough or Plasticine can help
children learn more about the shape they are forming.
They can then practice forming the shape by pinching
or poking around the Playdoh.
What you need:
Playdough, plasticine or homemade playdough.
Paint in Bag Activity
If your child doesn’t like getting messy hands, pour
some paint, glitter glue or hair gel into the sandwich
bag, squeeze out the air and seal it closed (you can use
tape to make sure it won’t leak). Place the bag on a flat
surface in front of your child. Get your child to draw the
shapes with their pointer finger.
What you need:
Paint, glitter glue or hair gel.
Sandwich bag
Duct tape
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Foam on Mirror Activity
Squirt foam onto the mirror at your child’s level (roughly
their shoulder height) and spread it out to make a
drawing area or attach the paper to the wall or easel
using the blu tac. You can also try this at bath time by
drawing on the tiles or the sides of the bath. Now get
your child to draw the shapes using their pointer finger.
Writing or drawing on paper attached to the wall or in
shaving foam on a mirror can strengthen shoulder
muscles and encourages a good hand position.
What you need:
Wall, easel or bathroom tiles.
Shaving foam or foam soap (be careful to choose something that won’t irritate your
child’s skin or anything that is too highly perfumed) and a mirror.
Paper, blu tac, pencils, pens, crayons or paint and paint brush.
Bathroom tiles or side of bath.
Picture Joining Activity
Another activity you can try is placing pictures or
characters your child is interested in, in different
positions and ask your child to draw lines to join them.
This can be done on a mirror, on paper at a table or
outside on the pavement with chalk. You can change
the position of the pictures to encourage them to draw
in different directions.
What you need:
Pictures or toys your child is interested in.
Mirror, whiteboard, paper or an area of pavement.
Whiteboard markers, pencil, pens, crayons or chalk.
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Wet Dry Try Activity
Wet, Dry, Try is a good activity to keep children
interested as they get older. In this activity draw one of
the prewriting shapes first. Then your child then ‘draws’
over the shape using a WET sponge. Ask your child to
dry it off using the DRY sponge and then ask your child
to TRY the shape again themselves using the chalk.
What you need:
Chalkboard.
Chalk.
Wet sponge, tissue or wipe.
Dry sponge or tissue.
Rainbow Shapes Activity
Draw one of the prewriting shapes on the paper. Get
your child to trace over the top with lots of different
colours. Once your child is confident with the shape
they can draw their own rainbow shapes.
Drawing over shapes in lots of different colours gives
children a good opportunity to practice forming a shape
repeatedly.
What you need:
Paper.
Pens, pencils or crayons in different colours.
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Magnadoodle or Sand Paper Activity
Get your child to draw the prewriting shapes using the
different tools and surfaces.
Using different surfaces to draw on such as a
Magnadoodle or drawing on sand paper can keep
children motivated and offer additional sensory
feedback when learning new shapes. Changing the
different tools a child writes with can also help keep
drawing activities fun, using felt tips, crayons, chalks,
scented pens and paints are all great ideas.
What you need:
Magna Doodle, Aqua Draw, Mega Sketcher or similar.
Sandpaper and chalk or crayons.
Paper and scented pens.
Bubble wrap and felt tip pens.
Paper and paints with fingers, sponge, brush, toy car or large bead.
Once your child is confident with making these shapes, you can start to practice activities which
will help them further develop their pencil control. Why not try activity books, join the dots,
mazes or the Ready Steady Write Programme (Level 1 and Level 2) - you can find link for this
below.