My 4-year-old son is not writing anything, he just refuses. He is a very active child. How can I encourage him to write?

In pre- school, children are given a lot of practice in using paint brushes and crayons. This is not just to fill their day! The purpose is to gain control of the muscles in the hands and slowly perfect the smaller movements. Children come home with what looks like meaningless big random brush strokes on a large piece of paper. We call this ‘ mark making’. It is not meant to represent anything, in the early months. It is demonstrating the ability to hold a paint brush and use it to make marks on paper, up and down, left to right, circles and random squiggles. All are good . Crayons require finer control. ‘Colouring in’ / ‘blocking in’ is more skilled again.

I would print outline pictures of your child’s objects of interest, big trucks, dinosaurs etc… or buy colouring in books. Enjoy spend time together colouring them in, painting them. Praise his attempts. Avoid correcting him until his confidence increases .

Ask his Teacher for their advice on what he is ready to do next.