It’s that time again . . . that is, it’s time to eat soy turkey (just a little vegetarian humor=)) and create turkey and pilgrim hat window clingers. To be make these window clingers, Annabelle and I traced cookie cutters shaped like turkeys and hats and cut them out together. For those of you who are homeschooling or are implementing the Montessori approach in your homes, tracing cookie cutters and other shapes are wonderful pre-writing activities that help children to build their fine motor skills, concentration and a sense of order for how writing is done.

Meanwhile, Annabelle’s inner artist is flourishing. Since we’ve made her art supplies more accessible for her, she spends much of her free time drawing, painting, and felting. Right now she prefers to paint; for now, I introduce one color to her per paint session and am hoping to introduce how to mix colors in the coming months. Again, creative play like painting, beading, lacing cards, and paper clipping are pre-writing activities that help children develop fine motor skills.

Below is one of Annabelle’s paintings that she created during 2 creative play sessions; she used brushes, a foam brush, and her hands as stamps.

To learn more about creative play and other pre-writing activities, visit:

How To Use Montessori Sandpaper Letters

How to Develop Your Child’s Pre-Writing Skills Through Creative Play

Preschool Tracing Activities

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 18th, 2008 at 12:00 am and is filed under Art, Green Living, Home, Homeschool, Toddler. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.