Prewriting Activities for Preschoolers: 5 Simple Ways to Build Handwriting Readiness
By Kenny Zalar, Occupational Therapist
Does your preschooler enjoy scribbling but find letters frustrating? You can start with something simpler: drawing roads, making circles, or painting big lines together.
Prewriting activities give children opportunities to explore the movements and coordination used in drawing and handwriting. Here are five practical ways to bring that practice into everyday play.
What are prewriting skills?
Prewriting skills are the building blocks children use as they learn to draw and write. They include coordinating their eyes and hands, using both hands together, controlling a drawing tool, and making purposeful marks.
Lines and shapes are part of this foundation. Vertical lines, horizontal lines, circles, crosses, and later more complex shapes provide practice with movements that also appear in letters.
A child may be comfortable with one movement while still learning another. Choose activities that offer an achievable challenge rather than expecting every shape to look precise.
Five prewriting activities to try at home
1. Draw big lines and circles
Use sidewalk chalk, a washable marker on an easel, or crayons on a large piece of paper. Draw a line and invite your child to make one beside it. Turn vertical lines into rain or circles into bubbles.
Make it easier: Draw one large movement at a time.
Add a challenge: Invite your child to copy a short pattern, such as a line followed by a circle.
2. Make marks in a sensory tray
If your child enjoys the texture, offer a shallow tray of play sand or age-appropriate finger paint. Make simple marks together using a finger or suitable tool.
Make it easier: Begin with free exploration and copy your child's marks.
Add a challenge: Demonstrate a line or circle and invite them to try it.
Choose materials appropriate for your child's age and mouthing habits, supervise the activity, and offer a different option if the texture feels uncomfortable.
3. Build shapes with playdough
Roll playdough into long pieces and arrange them into lines, circles, or crosses. Talk about the parts: “This line goes down. This one goes across.”
Make it easier: Provide a large shape outline to build on.
Add a challenge: Build a shape beside your child and invite them to make their own version. You can also offer a crayon so they can try drawing it afterward.
4. Turn pencil paths into roads
Draw a wide road with a starting point and an ending point. Invite your child to drive a crayon along it. Begin with a straight road, then try gentle curves when the activity becomes comfortable.
Make it easier: Use a shorter, wider road or explore the path with a finger first.
Add a challenge: Add a turn or a place to stop. Change one feature at a time so the task stays manageable.
5. Draw together and take turns
Sit beside your child with your own paper. Make a simple mark, describe it, and invite them to try. Then let your child choose a mark for you to copy.
Make it easier: Copy their scribbles first to build a playful back-and-forth routine.
Add a challenge: Leave a finished model visible while they draw their version beside it.
Is tracing the same as copying?
Tracing means drawing over an existing line. Copying means looking at a model and drawing your own version nearby. Drawing from memory adds another demand because the model is no longer available.
These tasks offer different kinds of support. If your child follows a tracing line but struggles to copy the same shape, demonstrate it again or return to a simpler movement. Successful tracing alone does not tell you how independently a child can draw the shape.
How to keep practice encouraging
Choose a time when your child is comfortable and interested. Offer a manageable activity, demonstrate it, and use simple language such as “down,” “across,” or “around.”
Notice specific efforts: “You stopped at the end of the road!” If frustration builds, simplify the activity or take a break.
Let your child use the hand they naturally choose. If a consistent preference is still developing, place materials in the middle rather than directing them toward one hand.
When might occupational therapy help?
If drawing and early writing regularly interfere with your child's participation at home or preschool, individualized guidance may be helpful. An occupational therapist can explore the task, your child's skills, and the environment to identify appropriate supports.
You can learn more about prewriting and handwriting support at Continuity OT.
Looking for guided prewriting practice?
From Lines to Letters, created by occupational therapist Kenny Zalar, offers prewriting and pencil-control practice for ages 3–5, with visual supports that gradually fade to provide opportunities for greater independence.
Use selected activities alongside drawing and hands-on play, choosing pages that fit your child's current skills and interest. Explore our OT-designed resources.
For families seeking individualized support, Continuity Occupational Therapy provides in-home pediatric OT in Lakewood, Rocky River, Westlake, Avon, Bay Village, Cleveland, and surrounding communities.
Schedule a free consultation to discuss your child's needs and whether occupational therapy may be a good fit.
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