Regardless of where children are in their writing development, they love showing off their skills. These writing journals for toddlers and preschoolers are an easy way for young children to showcase their developing skills. They are sure to keep them telling stories and practicing their writing skills in the most authentic and natural ways.
Have you ever met a toddler or preschooler who doesn’t enjoy practicing their new found writing skills? Writing has meaning to children. Whether they are only 18 months old making big scribbles or nearly five and creating small, defined letter like markings, the scribbling or scrawls they create have special meaning. Regardless of where they are in the phases of writing development, toddlers and preschoolers love to show off their newly discovered skills. These easy writing journals are so encouraging to those novice authors, which is one of the reasons they are so perfect to showcase that writing.
I believe in giving children opportunities to write. At our house, we actually have a writing center, where the children (now ages 2-6) can sit down at a table their size with the appropriate materials and practice writing. My six-year-old loves to write stories about his younger brothers. My four-year-old loves to write her name again and again. Any my two-year-old likes to scribble stories. Most recently he scribbled a story of a train biting him.
While my toddler’s big, round scribbles which are combined with some very small cross-hatching are not letters that form words and sentences, those markings do have meaning to him. This kind of free writing is something I certainly want to encourage and celebrate with him, as well as my other children and my preschoolers.
I offered this activity as a center for both my preschool classes. My 4’s class and my 2’s class, and it was equally successful in both.
To read more about the exact set up, and how and what the children learned, head on over to Playdough to Plato to get the full story.
Then, make this happen in your home or preschool, and your young writers will develop a love of writing and love you for it!
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I am Sarah, an educator turned stay-at-home mama of five! I am the owner and creator of Stay At Home Educator, a website about intentional teaching and purposeful learning in the early childhood years. I’ve taught range of levels, including preschool and college, and a little bit of just about everything in between. Right now, my focus is teaching my children and running a preschool from my home. Credentials include: Bachelors in Art, Masters in Curriculum and Instruction
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