Trace and Erase
The child will use a dry erase board and a cotton swab (or a chalkboard and a wet paintbrush) to trace and erase letters and drawings.
Learning Area(s): Reading and Writing; Physical Development
MATERIALS
- chalkboard
- piece of chalk
- paintbrush
- water
OR
- dry erase board
- dry erase marker
- cotton swabs
LET'S PLAY
Start by drawing a simple shape, object, or letter. Show and tell the child what you have drawn as you point to it. Then encourage the child to use a cotton swab if using a dry erase board, or a paintbrush dipped in water if using a chalkboard, to trace or “paint” over what you have drawn in order to erase it. Help the child to follow the line or curve with his swab or brush by using hand-over-hand technique, but recognize that the child may go back to using a scribbling motion if his fine motor skills are not strong enough to trace yet.
Narrate his actions as he does this, for example, “Liam, we are tracing the L in your name by making a long, straight line down and a short line across” or “Carmen, you painted over the square and now it’s all gone! Should we make it again?” As the child gets more skillful, you can draw or write whole words or more complex figures for the child to “trace and erase.” For example, you can write the names of other family members and say, “This is the word Dad. Let’s trace Dad.”
TIPS
- If you write letters or shapes, make them fairly large so that they are easier for toddlers to try to trace or paint over.
- Toddlers can also take a turn drawing a shape or familiar object using the chalk or dry erase marker if you want to practice taking turns.
- This activity can also be done outdoors using sidewalk chalk and larger paintbrushes with water.
- Toddlers are not expected to use a mature grasp of the writing or painting instruments yet, and this is fine. A toddler may hold a paintbrush or marker in his palm and wrap his entire hand around it (also called a palmar grasp), or he may begin to hold it using his thumb and several fingers. There is no need to correct a toddler’s grasp at this age. Around age four, they will start to use a more mature finger grasp.
- Toddlers still scribble rather than accurately trace at this age, so don’t worry if the child cannot follow the lines or curves you have drawn exactly.
