Did you know that before a child is ready to pick up a pencil and start writing, they need to know how to form pre-writing shapes first? That’s why we created this really simple ‘We’re Going on Bear Hunt’ pre-writing activity.
We seem to do a lot of ‘We’re Going on a Bear Hunt’ activities around here. This is largely because familiar stories can help make activities more engaging. Bear Hunt is a very familiar story for us – we often sing it when we go on nature walks and the story is often read at bedtime as part of our evening rhythm.
You will need:
- Roll of paper
- Crayons
- Dot markers (or stickers)
How to create a We’re Going on a Bear Hunt pre-writing invitation:
I simply used some of the pre-writing shapes to create lines and shapes for Z (3.8 years at the time) to follow over with the dot marker. We recited the We’re Going on a Bear Hunt poem as we went along, although, as you can see from the photo above, we didn’t do it all in the usual order!
In total, we spent between 10-15 minutes on this activity, which is just right for her age.
Age Recommendations
Z was 3.8 years old and has plenty of opportunities to develop her fine motor skills via playdough, threading, lacing and art, amongst other things. It is REALLY important that your child has had plenty of opportunities to develop their fine motor skills and hand strength before doing activities like this.
All of this means that i’m hesitant to put a specific age on this activity – but I wouldn’t suggest any younger than 3. This is because there really is plenty of time for these activities, no need to rush but rather judge when your own child is ready.
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