January 2022 Parenta magazine

Mark-making and the connection to
reading acquisition in the early brain
Mark-making is as much a dynamic motor activity as reaching, grasping and manipulating objects. But
think about it! It is the only dynamic motor activity that leaves a ‘trail’ or a mark behind! This is literally
mesmerising for very young children, and with the use of colourful and bright crayons and marker pens,
mark-making can become a truly rewarding activity.
And then there is reading – this is also a
dynamic process. Some children can read
at a very early age, but most children’s
brains cannot integrate visual, verbal and
auditory information rapidly enough until a
child reaches five years or above. Markmaking
is hugely important in emergent
reading because it activates the brain in
a way that fully supports future reading.
We will be far more successful in teaching
children to read if we offer plenty of
mark-making along with shared reading
of favourite stories, and wait for that
natural rite of passage when children are
developmentally ready for reading.
Brain activity in markmaking
Try giving a child a mark-making tool that
doesn’t leave a mark. The reward system
in the brain is not activated and it is highly
likely that the child will abandon the task
within a few moments. The feedback
from ‘marking’ is lacking. Only tools that
produce a visual effect result in a child
wanting to leave more marks. And the
brighter the colour, the thicker the mark,
the more the child will want to carry out
this extraordinarily satisfactory motor
activity.
There is a powerful activation of the
reward system in the brain each time a
child picks up and uses a mark-making
tool. This will encourage them to try
ever more complex ‘drawings’ over a
longer duration of time. And this is where
automaticity will take place – mark-making
becomes automatic, and the child is able
to make marks repeatedly without effortful
thought, building up the letter recognition,
drawing and writing with more and more
ease.
14 January 2022 | parenta.com
Mark-making and reading
As already said, there is a powerful link
between mark-making and reading.
When children see the ‘trail’ made by a
mark-making tool, be it a letter, a shape or
anything else, the motor activity switches
on a part of the brain that supports
memory and cognitive thinking. The
dynamic motor activity influences the brain
activity, supporting the memory; children
will remember the way something felt as
they ‘drew’ it.
That isn’t all. When children write letters by
hand there is more brain activity, and they
show better letter recognition skills than
when they look at letters or trace them
or use a keyboard (James & Engelhardt
2012). Interestingly, it does not matter
about any variability in the shape or size
of letters children make, as it appears
that this is a crucial component of their
emergent recognition and understanding
of letters.
Mark-making in the setting
Happily, we have plenty of research 1 about
what sorts of writing instruments and
backgrounds best elicit mark-making. Here
they are. Give them a go in your setting!
1
Crayons and magic markers are associated
with more complex and mature drawing
compared with pencils. The more
pronounced, bold and bright the markmaking
tool, the more a child will make
marks, and also the more advanced the
pre-drawing behaviour becomes. Offer
brightly coloured, thick and thin marker
pens/crayons, ones that leave a satisfyingly
noticeable mark.
2
Paper that already has images on it not
only elicits significantly more mark-making
than blank paper but also encourages
more complex mark-making. Provide paper
with images of people, animals, shapes or
nature. Draw them yourselves or find paper
with images already on them.
Conclusion
3
Of all images on paper, it is human figures
or animal images that result in the most
complex and frequent mark-making 2 . Make
sure you have paper with images placed in
areas around the setting, e.g. role play.
4
Writing on a slant helps children engage in
mark-making when they are using markers
or crayons. For some reason, this does not
apply for using pencils.
5
Structured and collaborative activities as
opposed to unstructured child-led activities
also elicits more lengthy and increasingly
complex mark-making. As rewarding as
child-led mark-making can be, children are
more likely to join in and focus longer on an
adult-led, captivating mark-making activity
than on their own.
In short, the more drawing opportunities children have, the more they mark and scribble,
and the quicker they make that transition to more complex drawing. And the more children
are given plenty of fun opportunities to mark or scribble, the more intent and engaged
they become in mark-making. Young children learn to enjoy mark-making which increases
their skill in emergent writing, strengthens the visual and motor regions of the brain seen in
letter processing and production, and facilitates their acquisition of reading.
It’s a win-win situation!
Helen Garnett
Helen Garnett is a mother of 4, and a
committed and experienced early years
consultant. She has a wealth of experience
in teaching, both in the primary and early
years sectors. She co-founded a preschool
in 2005 where she developed a
keen interest in early intervention, leading
her into international work for the early
years sector. Helen cares passionately
about young children and connection.
As a result, she wrote her first book,
“Developing Empathy in the Early Years:
a guide for practitioners” for which she
won the Professional Books category
at the 2018 Nursery World Awards, and
“Building a Resilient Workforce in the Early
Years”, published by Early Years Alliance
in June 2019. She also writes articles for
early years magazines, such as Nursery
World, Early Years Teacher Organisation,
QA Education, Teach Early Years, and Early
Years Educator.
Helen is the co-founder and Education
Director at Arc Pathway, an early years
platform for teachers and parents.
Helen can be contacted via LinkedIn.
References:
1. Dunst C, Gorman E. 2009 Development
of Infant and Toddler Mark-making and
Scribbling
2. James & Engelhardt . 2012 The
effects of handwriting experience on
functional brain development in preliterate
children
parenta.com | January 2022 15