Any ideas for how to get a bright 3.5 yr old to draw/attempt letter scribbling more

[LadyRabbit]

Not asking for Picasso or short stories (he can't even read!) but I just don't know why my DS simply doesn't want to even scribble or paint or anything. He knows his alphabet, is already doing simple addition and subtraction but when it comes to even trying to scrawl a few letters he tries it once and then just gets bored immediately. He would never, ever come up to me and suggest drawing or painting or making things, I always have to initiate it. There are loads of other things he likes, so I'm not worried, but I would love some ideas for ways I might ignite his interest in painting and tentative steps to letter forming. I don't want to force him, just gently encourage him.

Get a bucket of water and a paintbrush and let him go paint the floor and walls of the house outside - much more fun than on paper!

Or patio chalks?

Go on a walk with a little jotter pad and get him to draw what he finds - a worm, leaves, cars etc.

Living these ideas, thank you!

Paint your walls.
Put the house on the market and book in some viewings.
Forget to put a pencil away.
Et voila!

Fill a ziplock bag with paint or shaving foam, tape it shut then get him to try 'drawing' letters/pictures on the bag.

Buy a magazine of his favourite subject/character and try the puzzles in it.

Has he got aqua draw or a magnetic drawing board? They are quite good too.

Don't. Do the things he's interested in. Make sure he sees you writing regularly though, shopping lists, birthday cards, letters, postcards, post it notes to stick on the fridge, meal plans............

He'll get there.

My DS was never into drawing at that age, it just didn't interest him and he couldn't even hold a pencil properly when he started reception. Then he made up for lost time and came out of school every day with loads of pictures. He's in year 1 now and has lovely writing.

Why would he be trying to 'scrawl a few letters'? That isn't something that has come spontaneously from him, it is guided by you. And he probably feels either uninterested or pressured to do it to 'please you'.

You're more likely to get him to copy something 'fun' that you are doing yourself for your own amusement, than to convince him that he wants to make letter shapes.

Circles, lines, zigzags, patterns. Big or small. On any surface, in any medium. You've turned 'scribbling' into trying to do something 'properly' if there is a right and a wrong way to do it. Make it fun again, and he might develop an interest in it. Or not yet, if he'd rather kick a football or zoom cars around!

I wouldn't push him, but I might let him see me making marks in the dirt with a stick, painting the patio with water on a big brush, eriting numbers on the back of big drawn football shirts, making number plates for his ride on toys ...

My ideas all seem to be about "outside" and "big" ... That's sometimes the way with boys I think. But as pp said, plenty of time.

AMumInScotland I really don't pressurise him, because as I said earlier, there are tons of things he shows a natural inclination towards, especially numbers and spelling signs and words he sees during the day. I wasn't particularly concerned by it, until his preschool teachers kept going on about it. He loves watching me draw funny faces and letters, but when I give him the pencil to have a go alongside me he refuses. I'm definitely not making him do anything he doesn't want to! I just wonder if there's a way to enthuse him a bit more when it comes to this. Definitely going to try all the ideas suggested here.

Can he even hold a pencil properly? I would be if my preschool said anything about that to me.

Mine suggested doing big movements first eg big paint brushes, finger painting using play doh, scissors etc to build up his motor skills. Pencil holding will then follow.

I am starting to have doubts about this preschool to be honest, hotcrosshunny Of course he can't hold a pencil properly - is he even meant to at this age? But they seem to suggest that he's behind his peers in this respect and should be writing his name by now. As preschools go, it seems a bit focused on getting children into the 'right' preps - all well and good, but it seems a bit mad if you ask me. I wasn't fully aware of this when I first put DS in there, but it's slowly become apparent. I think it's the kind of preschool where some people are getting tutors for their four year olds.

My friends' children vary in this respect, although one of my best friend's has a DS a few weeks younger than mine and he is already painting beautifully and composing little songs!!!

It's a fine line between benign neglect, letting your LO develop at their own pace and being a pushy parent. I see too much of the latter these days and worry that I've been too laid back thus far and just gone with the flow. But that's all you can do, right?

Writing at this age?! Really!?

Our preschool is rated outstanding by Ofsted and very much child led. Ds only really got into trying to write at 4 - but he goes through phases go be honest. And that was only after he did the other stuff first.

Madness!

It does sound like a pressurised environment, if they are judging children as 'behind' for not being able to do things that most children can't do at that age. Many children can't write their name when they get to school, and they are doing it perfectly well a couple of years later. Those who could do it at 3.5 won't have 'got ahead' of their peers, you can't actually push them beyond their natural capacity however hard you try. All you can do is put them off trying.

My DS was exactly the same at that age...he was bright, knew all his letters, sounds, and numbers, had the most incredible imagination for stories etc, but wasn't interested in holding a pen/pencil/crayon for long enough to do anything more than a scribble.

He loves drawing now though (aged 5.5) and his writing has come on massively since starting school (he could just about write his name (3 letters) backwards when he started school!).

I reckon start with trying to get him interested in drawing...we bought DS some bath crayons which he loved. Wasn't interested in drawing on paper, but the bath was great fun! And I also found that if I suggested doing some drawing it was always met with a very bored response...BUT if I suggested, drawing some dinosaurs/dragons/superheros/Octonauts, it was met with far more enthusiasm!

My DS refused point blank to draw or even pick up a pencil. Don't stress. Once he was in school he took to it really quickly. There are so many other activities that will educate him.

They are little for such a short time, why make him do things he's clearly not bothered about.

it's normal. try not to worry.
some dc are just not interested in scribling and train their fine motor skills and dexterity with other things (lego for example).
dc1 never picked up a pen in pre school but got the hang of it quickly in reception and has very neat handwriting.

the pre-school however does not sound normal at all.
your ds is still very little and is supposed to just learn through paying and tumbling about.

Ds was like that. If preschool showed him how to hold the pencil properly then he was even worse.

In year R he started writing reluctantly, now in year 2 he's got beautiful writing-still rarely writes for fun, which is a contrast to my girls who would fill huge exercise books with stories at that age, but he will write if he needs to. His current teacher said that's perfectly normal in boys, and she thinks, from experience, that round about year 4 he'll suddenly click in and will race ahead in writing, like he has done in reading and maths.

Our preschool explicitly said not to get ds to hold a pencil!