Friday, February 25, 2011

Card Writing Tray/Basket

Bear is in a sensitive stage for writing for a purpose.  A year ago at 2.5 years, she was in a sensitive stage for writing her letters.  For days, all she did was trace a letter tracing printable from Confessions of a Homeschooler that I had laminated for her.  These days, I find her daily at her table writing notes to friends, mom and dad, and teachers.
"Hannah, thank you for a wigle crd." 
Translation: Hannah, thank you for a wiggly card.
(The wiggly card being one of those where the image changes as you tilt the card.)

One way I have encouraged her writing is by providing her with various paper sizes and types.  For a while, her favorite paper was the free grocery lists available at the entrance of Publix.

She also has access to various writing implements: pencils, markers, crayons, colored pencils, shiny pens...

Since her very favorite thing by far is to make cards I have made her a card making basket.
In a wire tray, I have included a stamp or two, a tiny ink pad, a sponge to clean the stamps, and blank pieces of card stock I have pre-folded for her (although the cards could be left unfolded for folding practice).  There are also some fancy scrapbooking pens in there.   This is what she is creating with in the top photo.

How do you encourage writing in your homes? 

 

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8 comments:

  1. Annette W.February 25, 2011 at 8:05 PM

    Thanks for sharing! Love this!

    We are still tracing letters, though M is 4. She loves to create cards with stickers and stamps, too...and signing her name. Maybe it's time to take it a step farther.

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  2. Goat GalFebruary 25, 2011 at 8:22 PM

    Oooh I wonder if this would work for my 5 year old boy.

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  3. Insightful BrainFebruary 25, 2011 at 9:19 PM

    This is such a great work. You can just see how hard she is working on her card. She must be very proud of her work.

    Kyle

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  4. LoriFebruary 25, 2011 at 9:47 PM

    I love this idea. I'll have to implement it when JR gets a little more advanced in his writing. Right now, the sand tray is the most successful (and fun) for us.

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  5. The Art of FamilyFebruary 26, 2011 at 9:12 AM

    I never thought of making a basket just for letter/card writing. I tend to be A personality when it comes to organizing their supplies. All paper go together, stamps, pencils, markers, etc. Her stationary actually is in a drawer in her desk - to pull out when the need/inspiration arises to write a friend. But it doesn't get used much. Instead, she pulls out construction paper, stickers, and her markers all in 3 different places to get the job done. But I'm loving this idea of creating a box set just for writing letters. This is one past time we all love to do. Thanks for the idea!

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  6. Joyful LearnerFebruary 27, 2011 at 1:23 AM

    K lOves the box with pictures of family friends. When she opens each box, she pulls out the name and copies it for letter writing.

    I just got her a Franklin spelling dictionary which I'm hoping will get more use as she gets older.

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  7. Alycia in Va.February 27, 2011 at 9:57 PM

    My daughter also loves to write. She's taken on her great grandma as a pen pal and they write to/from on a weekly basis. I think these letters will be a real treasure for her as she gets older.

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  8. UnknownMarch 2, 2011 at 10:43 AM

    I make greeting cards and my daughter always wants to go to the classes with me. I know she will love this basket of her own. I shared your post with my readers today: http://pinkiefae.blogspot.com/2011/03/pinkies-picks-march-1-2011.html

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