Scribbles Are More Than Messy Marks on Paper

Writing skills, believe it or not, begin in infancy. You might be thinking, “They are just scribbling. They do not even know what they are doing yet.” But those early marks are actually so much more than random scribbles. They are the very beginning of writing development.

Each mark on paper is helping build strength, coordination, confidence, and important brain connections. Every scribble is supporting fine motor skills, hand eye coordination, communication, creativity, and focus.

"Just as babies babble their way to words, children scribble their way to writing. Let's honour their journey at every stage." - The Curiosity Approach

In fact, scribbling is only the beginning. Without scribbles, there would be no progress toward drawing and writing. Eventually scribbles become lines, lines become shapes, shapes become letters, and letters become words, one mark at a time.

So next time your baby or young child comes home with artwork from daycare, grandma’s house, or the kitchen table that looks like “just scribbles,” pause for a moment. Think about the coordination they were developing to keep that crayon on the paper. Think about the creativity behind choosing colours or covering the page with marks. Think about the muscles in their tiny hands learning how to hold and control a writing utensil.

The more opportunities children have to freely explore art and mark making, the more development is taking place beneath the surface.

From Scribbles to Writing

You may now be thinking, “Okay, great. There is a positive reason for all this scribbling and mark making, but how does it actually become writing?”

Just like there are stages of play, there are also stages of writing. Children move through each stage gradually as they build on their skills over time. We like to think of these as “mini milestones.” Each stage is a milestone in itself while also acting as a building block toward the larger milestone of writing.

The image below shows the five stages of writing development. We would like to thank and give credit to @weeskoolhouse for creating such a fantastic visual for families learning about early childhood development.

As you can see, there are five writing stages children commonly move through:

Scribbling Stage (Ages 1 to 3):

Children begin experimenting with movement and marks. Their scribbles may look random, but they are learning how their hands, eyes, and brain work together. At this stage, the process matters much more than the final picture. Simple ways to support this stage include jumbo crayons, sidewalk chalk, finger painting, or colouring on large paper taped to the floor.

Pre-Symbolic Stage (Ages 2 to 4):

Scribbles begin looking more intentional as children repeat shapes, lines, and patterns. They may even begin assigning meaning to their drawings by telling you what their picture is. Open ended art, playdough, sticker activities, and drawing in sensory materials like sand or shaving cream are great ways to support this stage.

Letter Like Forms Stage (Ages 3 to 5):

Children begin creating shapes and symbols that resemble letters or words. You may notice repeated lines, circles, or “mock writing” across the page. Activities like tracing in sensory trays, drawing on easels, building letters with playdough, and simple cutting activities can help strengthen the skills needed during this stage.

Transitional Stage (Ages 4 to 6):

Children begin connecting sounds to letters and may attempt to write names or words using the sounds they hear. Spelling may not yet be correct, but the understanding behind writing is growing. Meaningful writing opportunities through play, such as pretend menus, grocery lists, signs, and cards, can help support confidence and skill building.

Conventional Writing Stage (Ages 5 to 7):

Children begin using recognizable letters, words, and sentences with increasing understanding of spacing and sounds. Writing becomes more intentional and readable over time. Even during this stage, children still benefit from hands on fine motor activities like Lego, crafting, painting, cutting, and open ended art experiences.

"The child gives us a beautiful lesson – that in order to form and maintain our intelligence, we must use our hands." -Maria Montessori

The Development Beneath the Scribbles

Although the stages of writing are fascinating to watch unfold, the real focus should be on the developmental foundations underneath the process. Every time a child scribbles, colours, paints, or experiments with marks, they are strengthening important developmental areas.

Fine Motor Skills:

Scribbling helps strengthen the small muscles in the hands and fingers that children later need for holding pencils, using scissors, buttoning clothing, and many other everyday tasks. Activities like playdough, tearing paper, sticker peeling, chalk drawing, painting, and using tongs or tweezers can all help strengthen these muscles in playful ways.

Hand Eye Coordination:

Children learn how to guide their hand movements visually when making marks on paper. This coordination is important not only for writing but also for feeding, dressing, sports, and everyday independence. Simple activities like drawing lines through mazes, placing stickers, stacking blocks, or painting with brushes all support this skill.

Communication:

Before children can fully write words, they often communicate through pictures, marks, and symbols. Their drawings tell stories long before their writing can. One of the best things parents can do is ask, “Tell me about your picture.” This helps children build language, storytelling skills, and confidence in expressing their ideas. Also this will help you avoid many meltdowns when you guess what their picture is wrong.

Creativity:

Scribbling gives children the freedom to explore, imagine, experiment, and create without pressure. Open ended art experiences allow children to think independently and make choices. Sometimes what looks messy to adults is actually creativity, problem solving, and imagination hard at work.

Focus and Attention:

Mark making activities help children practice sitting with a task, experimenting, trying again, and building concentration over time. Short, playful opportunities are often the most effective in the early years because young children learn best through enjoyable hands on experiences.

What Research Tells Us

Research continues to show that early mark making experiences support later literacy development. Scribbling helps children develop the physical control, symbolic understanding, coordination, and confidence needed for future writing tasks.

The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) explains that early writing develops through meaningful play, drawing, and mark making long before formal handwriting instruction begins.

The Alberta FLIGHT framework also highlights that children communicate and express meaning in many ways, including through marks, art, movement, and symbolic representation.

In other words, those scribbles truly matter.

The Ontario Early Learning for Every Child Today (ELECT) framework further emphasizes that children communicate in a variety of ways long before they can formally read or write. Through drawing, scribbling, painting, movement, and play, children begin expressing thoughts, ideas, and experiences while building the foundations for later literacy skills.

In other words, those scribbles truly matter.

Parenting Reminder

Not every scribble needs to become a perfect picture. Not every colouring page needs to stay inside the lines. Not every child will develop writing skills at the exact same pace.

Development is a journey, not a race.

The goal in the early years is not perfection. It is opportunities. Opportunities to explore, create, strengthen muscles, communicate ideas, and build confidence through play.

Sometimes the learning that matters most looks messy first.

If you enjoyed learning about the stages behind writing development, be sure to explore our milestone pages for a larger breakdown of developmental milestones across the early years.

Our goal is to help bring research and child development information directly to parents in a simple, approachable, and supportive way because parents should not have to search endlessly for answers alone.

Explore more on early childhood development, and how to support your child’s milestones:

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The information shared on this blog is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as medical, professional, or legal advice. We are not healthcare professionals. Always consult with a qualified professional regarding your child or family’s specific needs. Use of this information is at your own discretion. For full details, please visit our Legal page.

References:

• Alberta Education. FLIGHT: Alberta’s Early Learning and Care Framework. Government of Alberta. Retrieved from Government of Alberta FLIGHT Framework

• Best Start Expert Panel on Early Learning. Early Learning for Every Child Today (ELECT). Government of Ontario. Retrieved from Ontario ELECT Framework

• National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). Writing and Drawing in the Early Years. Retrieved from NAEYC

• The Curiosity Approach. Quote referenced in article. Retrieved from The Curiosity Approach

• @weeskoolhouse. Writing stages visual referenced in article via Instagram.