Enabling Environments: Collections - A fine time

When a child first puts pen to paper and makes a mark that is meaningful to them, it is an exciting moment. Being able to write the first letter of their name that they have seen in print for so long is the beginning of their journey in handwriting.

But even at this stage, it is important that children are able to practise their skills using the same principles that apply to the under-threes, through plenty of opportunities for gross motor skills such as climbing, jumping, holding, carrying, pushing and pulling, and through opportunities to refine these skills by working with malleable materials and small objects that will help develop their hand-eye co-ordination.

Jan Dubiel, national development manager at Early Excellence, says, 'Handwriting is a very specific and targeted physical skill that needs lots of rehearsal.

'It is vital that it is seen in the context of wider development and that practitioners working with children aged three to five provide plenty of opportunities for them to build up their upper body strength through physical play outdoors, so that they have the ability to work with small, fine objects with precision - for example, picking up sequins and putting them into order for a collage or placing small-world characters carefully in a tableau... all the things that happen naturally in play.'

MUSCLE MEMORY

Ensuring that the right physical foundations for fine motor control are in place, then, is key to success when it comes to developing confident, enthusiastic writers.

Ann Langston, director of Early Years Matters consultancy, says that between the ages of three and five the neural pathways in the brain are still developing. She explains, 'Everyday tasks such as picking things up and squeezing things will develop muscle memory; the more these muscles are used, the more the pathways will develop. Dough is particularly good for developing fine motor co-ordination because as children squeeze it, push it, pull it, pinch it and press it their hand-eye co-ordination is developed. Many other resources also support this, such as handling small-world figures, hammering nails into a log or spreading glue.'

However, she stresses, 'Within any class you will obviously find children whose fine motor development is very varied. Some will rarely choose to use a pencil or other mark-making tools yet all the things they do quite naturally in their play - like pushing cars along a path, tracing with their fingers in sand, pressing a bicycle bell or holding on to a rope - will develop the important physical skills that are needed for handling writing tools.

'While developing such skills is important in the writing process the children must, of course, have something important to communicate - writing their own name shows that a picture belongs to them or labelling a model tells others "I made it!"'

RESOURCE IDEAS

Here are some ideas for resources and activities that help build fine motor control:

• Cooking offers opportunities to use a range of tools, manipulate materials and develop hand-eye co-ordination - through mixing, kneading, spooning, etc. Or for an alternative form of cooking, there's the Mud Pie Kitchen Set (£34.99) from Cosy Direct, on 01332 370152.

• Provide opportunities for children to squeeze pegs and knot ropes during den building, manipulate blocks, pour water through funnels or post things down guttering in water play, use tongs and tweezers to sort objects in the maths area and use real tools in the home corner. Try using Monster Pegs (£3.80 for six), or manipulate fastenings with the House of Locks (£29.95), both from Cosy Direct. The Super Sorting Pie (£19.99) from www.earlyyears.co.uk includes two giant tweezers.

• Grabber sticks and pipettes are ideal for developing fine motor skills. A pack of 20 Pipettes (99p) and a Pick Up Tool (£4.99) are available from www.reflectionsonlearning.co.uk

• Children will enjoy experimenting with the Egg and Spoon Collection (£50) from www.playtoz.co.uk, building hand and arm muscles as they do so.

• Posting coins though a letter box, playing with wind-up toys, dressing up teddies, unscrewing jars and threading straws to make a necklace are all activities that will encourage co-ordination. Try the tub of 64 Nuts and Bolts (£15.99) from www.earlyyears.co.uk, the Dress Me Up range of Sweetie dolls (from £24.50 each) from www.wesco-eshop.co.uk and the Jack in the Box (£10) from www.elc.co.uk.

• To build wrist strength, encourage children to bounce large balls with their hands, clap bubbles or hit a balloon to a partner with their hands or a tennis racket. An Ultra Light Big Ball (£13.20) is available from www.wesco-eshop.co.uk.

PRACTICE

Mark-making and practising pre-handwriting patterns are vital for building muscle memory and preparing children for more formal letter writing. Mark-making can be incorporated into every area of provision, indoors and out, on a large scale with paints and chalks and on a small scale with traditional writing materials.

Cosy Direct collaborators say that moving to a smaller scale and emerging writing is a 'challenge' for many children and they need to feel secure in their attempts. They explain, 'Opportunities to mark-make and write in a range of situations as part of their play means children are less likely to feel pressure to "get it right" and develop an aversion to writing later.

'This is especially important for boys. Linking drawing, mark-making and writing to "real" practical situations and their own interests takes the pressure off. Many feel happier using surfaces on which they can scrub out and start again.'

MARK-MAKING

Here are some resources that encourage mark-making:

• Explore making marks in sand, shaving foam, glitter and cornflour, sticks and ribbons in the air, large chalks, brushes and rollers, and water on the ground. Try the set of 6 Dancing Ribbons (£12.99) from www.reflectionsonlearning.co.uk.

• Provide giant chalks to use on paving slabs. Try the Jumbo Playground Chalk (£2.25 for 20 sticks) from www.earlyyearsresources.co.uk. For a change of surface, use chunky chalks on the vinyl Chalk Mats (£8.99 for four) from www.tts- group.co.uk.

• Outdoors, tape large sheets of paper to the ground, provide a range of mark-making materials and draw a road or train track on the paper. Some children will prefer this collaborative approach to mark-making as it takes away the formality of sitting at a table. Try Easy Grip Crayons (£6.99 for six) from www.tts-group.co.uk.

• Outdoors, provide rolls of paper, paint rollers, spray bottles, sponges and brushes for creating large-scale paintings. Ideal are Squirt Bottles (£1.75 for four), Brushes and Mark Makers (£15 for 20) or Pound Shop Paint Small Rollers (£8.77 for six), all from Cosy Direct. Or try the Exploring Paint and Patterns Outdoor Kit (£49.95), with 90 pattern-making resources, or the Easy Grip Paintbrushes (£6.95 for six) from www.tts-group.co.uk.

• Write on surfaces like the Writing Wall/Igloo Bricks (£94.99) or Draw Your Own Road Signs (£24.95 for six), or attach the Easiclip Trike Clipboard (£4.99 for two) to a wheeled vehicle and let the children draw maps or make notes. They can pull out a pen from their Writer's Belt (£10.95). All from Cosy Direct. Or encourage children to draw on whiteboards or hand-held Magnetic A4 Drawing Boards (£26.99 for six) from www.reflectionsonlearning.co.uk.

CASE STUDY: CHESHAM PRIMARY SCHOOL

Writing for reception children at Chesham Primary School in Bury is a multi-sensory experience involving whole body and fine motor movement such as moving to music or making anti-clockwise circling movements in the air with their fingers. Making movements in foam or sand or on a textured surface lead to explorations of mark-making through drawing circles or vertical lines, up and down.

Clare Curran, the reception class teacher, says, 'For most children, the stage before this, at pre-school, focuses on strengthening their pincer grip through things like threading beads onto strings and placing pegs onto boards. If I observe that a child has a weakness in their grip, we play games with pegs where they have to peg dolls clothes on a line or make their fingers like a duck's bill ready to eat up the "crumbs" in the cement tray.

'By the time they start school, we usually find they are able to build with bricks and blocks and most children are quite dexterous because they are used to playing with small-world characters and Lego, and have benefited from playing outside, with lots of opportunities to develop gross motor skills. I often find the children whose fine motor skills are slower tend to have less well-developed gross motor skills as well.

'Some children are over-flexible and may have slight dyspraxia. We have found boys, in particular, often seem to have under-developed muscles in their wrists or finger, which may be due to them preferring large motor activities. Clay and dough are great for building strength in children's fingers as they grip and flex the material and enjoy the sensory experience.

'Children have opportunities to "write" in all the areas of the learning environment - indoors and outdoors. A lot of them love whiteboards, so they can make marks and rub them out without being concerned if their marks are "right". We have lots of little chalkboards on the walls and we encourage them to make marks on the paving stones. Writing is something children just love to do in our school!'.

MORE INFORMATION

'Fine by me', Fine motor control, part 1