Pre-Writing Skills Checklist for Kids

If you've been around early education then you have probably heard of pre-writing lines. How do you know which pre-writing lines your child should know? And what ages should these pre-writing lines be mastered and turn into letters? Today I am sharing a pre-writing skills checklist that will help you out.

What is pre-writing line development?
Before we talk about the checklist, I wanted to give a brief overview of what pre-writing lines are and what their typical development looks like.

Pre-writing lines are strokes and shapes that a child learns in a developmental sequence. It begins with scribbling as a baby and turns into lines, circles, and other shapes. These scribbles, lines, and shapes are the beginning of letter formations and are so important in handwriting development.

This developmental sequence is:

Vertical Line – (Age 2 imitates, age 3 copies/masters)
Horizontal Line – (Age 2 1/2 imitates, age 3 copies/masters)
Circle Shape – (Age 2 1/2 imitates, 3 copies/masters)
Cross Shape (+) – (Age 3 1/2 imitates, age 4 copies)
Square Shape – (Age 4)
Right/Left Diagonal Line – (Age 4 1/2)
X Shape – (Age 5)
Triangle (Age 5)
On the checklist, I made this a little more detailed for you so you can follow along with normal development and see when a child imitates and then copies and masters the lines or shapes.