Squiggle & Wiggle Early Writing
“Repeated movements help to strengthen the neural pathways that run between the brain and the body”. Sally Goddard Blythe.
Squiggle is an exciting music and movement programme that supports children to develop the skills they need for early writing. During squiggle sessions children are combining the use of large and small body movements to develop and practice these skills. Most importantly we are having fun, and our daily sessions give us a good excuse to turn up the music, anything from Abba to Rizzle Kicks!
Essentially the children learn the key movements for writing in a simple ‘dance’ and immediately after we draw the ‘dance’, either with pens and pencils, or by sensory mark-making in shaving foam or paint. Our dance might focus on up, down, side-to-side movements which help children to develop the necessary skills to draw make marks such as I, l or t. We might focus on making circles, which helps to build children’s foundations for c, o, a and d, or even ‘The Hump’ for m, n, r and u.
Just like letters and sounds, we do not teach the written letter, we just practice the movements so children are ready for formal teaching in reception.
Click on the links below to see YouTube videos of Squiggle and Wiggle in action: