Summer Themed Roll and Make a Mark- Pre-Writing Resource

With this roll and mark game, there’s a fold-up dice with six marks on its faces and a recording sheet with three spaces under each one.

Your little ones need to roll, find the mark, draw it in the next empty box. Roll a mark that is already full up? Bad luck, pass the dice on.The game is finished when every space is filled.

If your little learners already know their way around our mark making cards, this gives those same strokes a bit of friendly competition.

Roll away!

What Exactly Is Mark Making?

Mark making is an umbrella term for every scribble, dot, line and loop a child makes before they start forming actual letters.

The National Association for the Education of Young Children points out that children as young as two begin imitating writing through drawings and symbolic markings, and that these early skills are strong predictors of later reading and writing ability.

What Skills Can Your Little Ones Learn And Develop?

This summer themed mark making game is designed to help your children practice and develop their prewriting skills, such as:

• Pre-writing stroke control – As they practice making the different marks.
• Turn taking and patience – Passing the dice, waiting your turn and living with a roll you did not want. Self-regulation practice.
• Visual discrimination – Spotting the mark on the dice, then finding its column on the sheet, means telling a wave apart from a zig zag.
• Subitizing (with the number version) – Swap in a regular dice and children have to read the pips at a glance rather than counting them one by one, which is a proper early number sense skill.

Many of  these are all vital fine motor skills that will enable them to become great writers in the future!

RELATED Playdough can also be a great way to improve hand strength – you can check out an easy no cook recipe here!

How To Prepare The Summer Mark Making Dice Game

First you’re going to want to download the pre-writing game by clicking on download button at the bottom of the page.

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Then print it off. You’ll need to cut out and fold up the dice and have a recording sheet for every player.

Get Even More Out of This Summer Mark Making Hunt

Here are some ways you could use it:

Play It With a Regular Dice and Sneak In Some Math

Number the columns one to six and swap the custom dice for a normal one. Children now count or subitize the pips, match the number to the column and then draw the mark. It works beautifully as a pairing with our mark making cards.

Make It a Race

Print a sheet each, grab a dice each and go at the same time rather than taking turns. First to fill every box wins. It might be a bit more chaotic… but can make a fun little change.

…Or Play It Together Instead

 Here you’d have one sheet between two, taking turns, working toward filling it as a team. Nobody wins and nobody loses, there is a lot more talking, and can be better for children who find competition stressful.

Roll and Build It Instead of Drawing It

Set a tray of playdough or a handful of pipe cleaners next to the sheet. Children roll, then build that mark rather than draw it, and only pick up a pencil once they have made it with their hands first (or just put a dice on a fine motor station and do away with the recording sheet entirely). 

Sky Write It Before You Draw It

A nice one for a group activity. Roll one dice, and whatever comes up, the whole room draws it in the air with a big arm movement before writing it down.

Roll Two and Make a Picture

Roll the dice twice (or thrice or… fource), then challenge children to combine marks into a drawing of something. Two circles, or a wave and an arch. It is much harder than it sounds and the answers get creative fast. If they take to it, they’ll love our mark making recipe cards.

Enjoy and let’s nurture those neurons!