• Home
    • About
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy/Disclosure
  • Shop
  • Subscribe
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest

Little Pine Learners

Natured-Inspired Activities

  • Blog
  • Create
    • Fall
    • Winter
    • Spring
    • Summer
    • Year Round
  • Play
    • Fall
    • Winter
    • Spring
    • Summer
    • Year Round
  • Learn
    • Fall
    • Winter
    • Spring
    • Summer
    • Year Round

in Fine Motor Skills· Learn· Literacy· Loose Parts Play· Nature· Play· Year Round· Year Round

Practicing Prewriting Skills with Sticks and Stones

Try this simple activity to work on prewriting skills. Practice drawing straight lines on sticks and curved lines on stones with water and a paintbrush. What’s the best part of this activity?? The materials are completely reusable. You can practice over and over again once the sticks and stones dry!

Try this simple activity to work on prewriting skills. Practice drawing straight lines on sticks and curved lines on stones with water and a paintbrush. Practice all over again once it dries!

My youngest is four and is eager to write his name. He tries so hard, but his fine motor skills aren’t quite there yet. In a world of worksheets, it can be difficult to find developmentally appropriate ways to support these emerging prewriting skills. But don’t worry, I have a fun and engaging way to practice writing curved and straight lines.

Why curved and straight lines?

Good question, alphabet letters and numbers are made up of curved, straight and a combination of these two lines. Giving children the opportunity to write these strokes, will set them up for success for writing numbers and letters! Luckily sticks make for the perfect surface to practice writing straight lines and round stones offer the perfect place to practice curved lines.

Add water and a paintbrush with those beautiful pieces of nature and your little writer will be busy for a while!

Supplies:

  • Sticks and stones
  • Cup for water
  • Paintbrushes
This post contains Affiliate links for your convenience.

Here’s What We Did:

Step One:

Set out your supplies for the activity. We searched for straight sticks outside and scoured our rock collection for a few of our favorite rocks. I grabbed a couple paintbrushes, filled a jar with water and we were all set!

Fine motor activity for kids!

Step 2:

I told Leo that we were going to practice making different types of lines on the stick and stones. He was all in when I told him this would help him learn how to write his name! I showed him how to trace the outside edge of the stones to practice curved lines and he joined in right away. He was excited to make the “o” in Leo!

Once he got that down, we worked on the letters a, c, and e.

Fine motor activity for kids!

Next we painted the sticks. At one point we put two sticks together to make an “L” for Leo. He had fun following the sticks to make the first letter in his name!

Try this simple activity to work on prewriting skills.

After about 20 minutes, we were finishing up with the activity.

At this point, Leo continued to play with the materials. He had fun painting the rocks his own way and and kept saying “how pretty the water made the rocks!” It’s true, painting rocks with water brings out their colors and naturally beauty. It’s also very soothing. I noticed Leo was calm during this activity, which isn’t typical for him!

It was nice to watch him engaged and focused in a playful activity.

Try this simple activity to work on prewriting skills.

 

Save it for later and Pin It!

Try this simple activity to work on prewriting skills.

I hope you give this prewriting skills activity a try! I promise, your little nature lovers will love it as much as my boys.

∼Tara

Looking for more stone ideas?! Check out:

Stick and Stone Constellations

Wikki Stix and Stones- A Must Try Activity!

« A Simple Leaf Activity to Try Today!
A Simple Mummy Rock Nature Craft for Halloween »

Let’s Connect

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest

Subscribe

Find me on Pinterest

Find it Fast

Past Posts

By Topics

Subscribe

Looking for Something?

Featured blog Posts

The cutest no carve pumpkin design!
Making rolled beeswax candles is a fun activity for both kids and adults! They are easy to make and a safe way for kids to make candles.

Let’s Connect

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
We read the cutest book today called “Mice Skati We read the cutest book today called “Mice Skating.” This book inspires the reader to get outdoors and have fun even when it’s cold outside❄️
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
For our activity, I froze Paw Patrol (we don’t have mice😉)figures in an ice cube tray and little Leo had fun pretending they were skating in an ice rink! This kept him busy until they melted. Next time, I will have round 2 in the freezer ready to go because he wanted to keep playing!
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Looking for more beautiful winter picture books? Check out my list of over 40 books here ❄️ https://littlepinelearners.com/40-winter-picture-books-for-kids/
#kidsbooks #raisingreaders #kidsactivities
🌈DIY Color Viewers🌈 I shared this fun activi 🌈DIY Color Viewers🌈
I shared this fun activity already, but I saw this gorgeous photo from @wildmidwife and knew I had to share it with you all😍 I absolutely love the colorful  reflections in the snow!
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
We currently have our color viewers hanging from a tree in our front yard and the boys love playing with them!
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Learn how to make them here🌈 https://littlepinelearners.com/a-playful-way-to-learn-about-colors/ #outdooractivities #winteractivities #preschoolactivities #1000hoursoutside #wildschooling #runwildmychild
•Reverse Sequin Stone Valentine• We originally •Reverse Sequin Stone Valentine• We originally made these sequin stones as a calm down tool. Now that we’re getting closer to Valentine’s Day, I’m thinking they also make a CUTE and EASY nature valentine 💚
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Find the ✔️details ✔️tips and ✔️links in the blog post ❣️ https://littlepinelearners.com/reversible-sequin-heart-nature-craft/ #naturevalentine #valentinesdaygift #handmadegifts
•A Simple and Adorable Rock Penguin Craft• Do •A Simple and Adorable Rock Penguin Craft•
Do you ever look at those beautiful painted rock crafts “for kids” and think, yeah ok that’s not gonna work😅 This is not one of those crafts! This one is totally doable for preschoolers to big kids and that cotton ball tummy turns this into such a soft and sweet rock craft🥰 🐧
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Find the ✔️tips ✔️tricks and ✔️details HERE  https://littlepinelearners.com/a-simple-and-adorable-penguin-rock-craft-for-kids/ 🐧 
#penguinactivities #rockcraft #storystones #preschoolcrafts #penguintheme
•Clay Heart Trinket Tray• This sweet heart cra •Clay Heart Trinket Tray•
This sweet heart craft for kids is the perfect handmade gift for Valentine’s Day or Mother’s Day. These clay hearts are easy enough for kids to make and look so cute when finished! ❤️
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
See the tips, tricks and details here ❣️ https://littlepinelearners.com/heart-craft-for-kids/ #craftsforkids #valentinesdecor #valentinescrafts #handmadegifts
•DIY Flower Vase• This gorgeous and oh so easy •DIY Flower Vase•
This gorgeous and oh so easy to make flower vase is a must try craft! It makes the perfect handmade gift or decoration for your home. The flowers may fade, but this gorgeous vase will last forever.
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Swipe to see how we turned this into an illuminated vase! This was a cool discovery from my little one, Leo😍 Now it can be enjoy during the day and at night! ✨ 
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
See all the details here! https://littlepinelearners.com/diy-flower-vase/ #diy #diyvase #valentinesgift #naturecrafts
•Spatial Awareness Nature Shape Puzzle• Give y •Spatial Awareness Nature Shape Puzzle•
Give your child the opportunity to work on spatial awareness with this simple and beautiful DIY nature puzzle. Children will love manipulating the pieces of nature to make them fit inside the shape! You can keep this activity fun and fresh by adding new seasonal pieces of nature from your area🌿🌺
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Try a heart shape this Valentine’s Day❤️
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
See the ✔️tips, ✔️tricks, and ✔️details HERE https://littlepinelearners.com/work-on-spacial-awareness-with-this-simple-nature-shape-puzzle/ #natureactivity #natureflatlay #transientart #valentinesdayactivities
•Beaded stars• So simple and always a hit! And •Beaded stars•
So simple and always a hit! And the best part is, all you need is cardboard, string, and beads. Give this fine motor activity a try today! #recycleandplay #cardboardart #cardbaordactivities

Copyright © 2021 · Website Designed by Laugh Eat Learn