Another Way to Encourage Children's Writing

السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته

What do you get when you take a box:

a few paper towel rolls,

and add a little clip art, some paint and a lots of imagination?

............ a portable toddler writing centre!

Inside, children find both regular and colour pencils, crayons, a glue stick, small envelopes, a writing pad made with scrap paper, erasers, a ruler that was made with cardboard and a fine tip marker, and stamps downloaded from Easel & Ink. 

As early as 18 months, some children are able to hold markers, pencils and crayons. Thus they begin their first attempts at writing and although we may not be able to decipher the text they happily present to us, these are their first steps toward what will later develop into letters and pictures insha'Allaah. 

As parents and teachers, we can help children in this process by providing crayons, pencils, markers, scratch paper, erasers, and all sorts of goodies that children love to "write" with. Keeping these accessories handy encourages children to begin to attempt writing insha'Allaah.We can also help by cheerfully acknowledging those doodles and scratches when the little ones show them to us. By acknowledging these attempts with comments such as "Masha'Allaah! What a wonderful truck you've drawn" or "That is a very neat letter C masha'Allaah!" (or whatever they have told us their writing/drawing is) we are helping children feel that what they have attempted and contributed counts and that we truly value it. And as children begin to understand that print conveys meaning, they are also beginning another incredible journey...learning how to read insha'Allaah.

This little writing centre is portable and while I say toddler writing centre, the portable part and all other aspects of it really go right up to Kindergarten. So grab a box, some paper towel rolls, some paint and imagine away! Whatever you and your children design, it will be "write" on target insha'Allaah!

Enjoy insha'Allaah!