Pre-writing activities for your 2-year-old

Age 2 may sound a little early to start thinking about handwriting, but experts say now is the time to work on the building blocks for this foundational skill. Learning to write is a whole-body and mind process that involves more than putting pen to paper. While your child isn’t ready to form letters yet, they’re developing many underlying skills that will contribute to writing success in a few years.

Why does handwriting matter at all?

You likely spend a lot of time using touch screens and keyboards—and your child will, too. But handwriting still has important long-term benefits. Research shows that forming letters by hand prepares the brain to recognize those letters as a child learns to read. And, eventually, writing out their ideas can help children to think more deeply about what they’re trying to communicate.

Our OT’s top advice for age 2: hold off on pencils

Handing a 2-year-old a traditional crayon or pencil may seem like a natural way to start. But introducing these traditional writing tools too early can lead to poor grasping habits that may be hard to break later on. Instead, offer your child smaller, rounder options like broken crayon pieces, rock crayons, or bulb-shaped art tools to strengthen the muscles between their thumb and pointer finger. This will help prepare them to eventually hold a pencil the right way. 

5 activities to help get your toddler ready to write

1. Build hand strength with tweezers.

Squeezing tongs or tweezers strengthens the small muscles of the fingers, hands, and wrists, and improves dexterity. Take two small bowls and fill one with large pom-poms. Invite your child to use the Transfer Tweezers from The Companion Play Kit to move each pom-pom to the empty bowl. For an extra challenge, they can try moving balled-up paper or the Mosaic Buttons from The Companion Play Kit. Your child will have to refine their grip and adjust their squeezing technique for different materials.

2. Use sticky notes to improve muscle control.

Give your 2-year-old the chance to make tiny scribbles. Drawing on little pieces of paper encourages more precise mark making and strengthens the small muscles of the hand and wrist. Put a few sticky notes on a large piece of paper until your child develops the control to stay within the borders of the smaller pieces. 

3. Go vertical to strengthen grip.

Drawing on a vertical surface engages the shoulder and extends the wrist, giving toddlers more control over their hands and fingers. Try taping a large piece of butcher paper to the wall to give your toddler lots of room to make marks with small crayon pieces. 

4. Develop core strength by throwing a ball.

Writing is more of a full-body activity than many people realize. To strengthen the large muscles that keep your child’s body steady as they write, take turns throwing a beach ball into a hula hoop or a chalk circle. When your child lifts the ball over their head and throws it, they work their arms, shoulders, back, and core. All of these muscle groups are involved in writing with precision.

5. Improve spatial awareness with stickers

To write, your child must estimate the amount of space available on a page, then plan how many letters and words will fit. You can help them understand this spatial awareness concept by taping a large piece of paper to a table, then drawing a long, curvy line across the page. Put a dot sticker on the far left side of the line and invite your child to continue placing stickers until they reach the right side. Going from left to right helps them work in the same direction they’ll use for reading and writing. 

Learn more about the research

James, K. H., & Engelhardt, L. (2012). The effects of handwriting experience on functional brain development in pre-literate children. Trends in neuroscience and education, 1(1), 32-42.

James, K. H. (2017). The importance of handwriting experience on the development of the literate brain. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 26(6), 502-508.

Ose Askvik, E., Van der Weel, F. R., & van der Meer, A. L. (2020). The importance of cursive handwriting over typewriting for learning in the classroom: A high-density EEG study of 12-year-old children and young adults. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 1810.

Yakimishyn, J. E., & Magill-Evans, J. (2002). Comparisons among tools, surface orientation, and pencil grasp for children 23 months of age. The American journal of occupational therapy, 56(5), 564-572.

The Companion Play Kit

The Companion Play Kit is a celebration of the things your child can do, and some things they’re just starting to explore: coloring, matching, comparing, categorizing, stacking, sorting, and more.

Learn more

Book Bundles for The Play Kits

Having the right books at the right time makes all the difference during your child’s early years. Enjoy even more stage-based books—featuring real stories and families—when you add our Book Bundles to your Play Kits Subscription.

Learn more

The Course Packs

Each Course Pack is a compelete set of tools designed to help you and your child succeed.

Learn more