Firstly, it’s essential to realise writing in the early years doesn’t always consist of paper, pencils and letters. There are a range of resources we can utilise for ‘writing’ as well as many factors to take into consideration to encourage children to engage in this activity; physically and mentally.

The 2017 EYFS framework, development matters and outcomes shares a child’s writing is based on their skills and understanding which they develop as babies and toddlers, before they can write, they need to learn to use spoken language to communicate. Later they learn to write down the words they can say.

‘Children can only write what they can say’

During many Literacy CPD sessions I have heard “children can only write what they can say” and this applies in the Early Years as it does throughout primary school and beyond. Are we engaging in meaningful conversations with children? Asking open ended questions, allowing them to expand on their answers? Do we as practitioners model this (generally throughout the day, not only when it comes to the time to complete a task) by describing what we can see, sharing how our day was or what our lunch tasted like? Does the context of the conversation relate to the child and their experiences? If we’re discussing a jungle, do we have visual aids – real life photographs and videos as opposed to animated images. If we want children to write about decorating a cake, how much more exciting and engaging would it be to actually decorate the cake, then write down the colours and flavours we chose?

What about the books children have access to around the setting? Do children see themselves represented in these books – skin colour, religious articles, local environment? All of this is vital for a child to make relations between texts they read and to then write their own ideas.

Mark making

Let’s take a look at some of the initial steps of writing in the early years – mark making. Do children give meaning and distinguish between the marks they make? Can they ascribe meanings to marks they see in different places?

Mark making can happen with

·         a paint brush and a pot of water outdoors on the wall or the ground

·         twig in the mud

·         paint and fingers or brushes

·         in sand

·         pasta sauce or mushy peas

·         a window with condensation

Do children speak as they are mark making? What are they saying? This differentiates the sensory activity to giving meaning to the marks they make.

The use of different materials and resources encourage children to explore how they can make different marks and control tools with their fingers, wrist and hands. Their bodies are in different positions to utilise tools effectively, the range of tools and positions also builds a child’s physical strength which will support them when having to use a pencil and sit at a desk to write.

Physical strength

I think we might all be familiar with ‘disco dough’ or the use of play-doh and slime to stimulate children’s fine motor skills. This really does allow children to build strength in their fingers, wrists and hands which will support them to hold and control both the tool to write and the resource to write on. I have been aware that because of Covid, ‘messy play’ has unfortunately been more limited in some settings, but it’s vital to allow children to have access to this. Messy play allows children to explore movement with their fingers, hands and wrists, as they pinch, squeeze, roll and all sorts. They develop their communication and language skills by saying what they are doing, the colours they can see and the textures they can feel. These activities also encourage children to be creative.

Gross motor skills are also vital to develop as this supports the child’s core strength and posture when having to write. We can encourage this development by climbing and lifting, and access to outdoor equipment will support this. Also having writing materials on the carpet and allowing children to lie on their stomach to write builds core strength, sort of like tummy time for babies.

Opportunities

We all know, in the Early Years setting there are many opportunities to encourage writing and allow children to access writing materials.

The Role Play area for example – depending on what you have set up: post office, shop, café, family home, there can be whiteboards, post it notes, pads of paper and envelopes available for children to jot down notes and shopping lists, write letters to post. When using visual aids on displays, I think real-life images and handwritten prompts work much more effectively as they are realistic. Also modelling the use of these materials and how they tie in with the role play area, with specific language, will encourage children to access this more effectively.

Take writing outdoors – nature walks, writing down what they can see, hear, feel or the ticking of lists (bringing in their reading skills), depending on what space, resources and equipment you have available. Children can write in their books or use clipboards on benches, play equipment, the grass, even sitting in a tyre. Again, this builds their physical strength, encourages them to be creative and allows them to explore different materials and settings – not restricting writing to a desk.

Writing comes in different stages, from early mark making to clearly representing sounds when writing labels, captions and short sentences. When children reach this later stage, giving them a purpose to write works effectively, for example writing labels for the play equipment or for facilities such as the sink or toilet. Creating posters themselves, instead of using printed ones, explaining how to wash our hands, can be displayed and also provide a practical use.

Show and tell

We see a lot of show and tell when children bring precious items from home (maybe not now due to Covid) but what about sharing their writing, have they written a poem, a song or a letter?

Do we see children’s writing displayed around the setting? I know a lot of writing is used for evidence in children’s journey logs but what about photocopying some of these fantastic pieces so they can take them home to share.

I also like the idea of children writing captions and labels of something practical they have made in the construction area or with Lego etc. It gives them purpose and another relevant opportunity to write.

A fantastic opportunity for keeping writing relevant when children start writing captions and labels would be to have real-life photographs from home, which we can photocopy and display, with the child writing who or what is in the photo and sharing this with their peers.

I remember during my Early Years practice, I had some children who were reluctant to write. I focussed on encouraging all of the above: writing outdoors, using different materials, building their physical strength and relationships with their parents/carers and staff around the school. I also praised children for their effort and gave children a sense of pride by sharing their writing with parents/carers or staff and photocopying this for children to take home. If a child is motivated and feels a sense of pride, they will put the effort in to write and even if it doesn’t meet our ‘standards’, if we encourage this effort, it will develop their confidence and their skill.

In conclusion, we have many opportunities to encourage writing across the Early Years setting.

Using a range of materials (some that might be considered unconventional), it’s important to get the child to enjoy the task first, relate to the context given and build their physical strength - this is a big one, if they struggle to control the pencil due to poor fine motor skills, we won’t see their best writing. Let’s use real-life images rather than animated ones so a child can actually see what a whale or whatever it might be looks like.

Sometimes developing relationships with parents/carers can be a difficult one for many reasons, as we have children with different circumstances at home as well as taking into consideration that some children might not have access to writing resources at home. But sharing children’s work and praising them for their effort can build their confidence and motivation to attempt this activity again.

Building their communication and language will widen their vocabulary and this will support them when they come to write – remember they ‘will only write what they can say’. Make the writing relevant and realistic so children will be able to use the experiences and knowledge they have.

Encouraging creativity through messy play, the role play area and topics we are looking at will develop their imagination and creativity when writing.

There are so many elements to take into consideration when looking at writing. I hope some of this helps!