By Hayley Winter
Mark making is a foundational activity in early childhood education, playing a crucial role in the development of writing, drawing, and creative expression. It helps children develop fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, and the ability to communicate ideas visually. The mini illuminated mark making boards from TTS bring a new and exciting dimension to this essential activity, offering a versatile tool for both indoor and outdoor use.
In this blog, we’ll explore how these innovative boards, along with their handy straps and customizable inserts, can be used to enhance mark making, foster creativity, and support learning across different environments.
What Are Mini Illuminated Mark Making Boards?
The mini illuminated mark making boards are compact, portable boards with built-in LED lights that illuminate the surface, making drawing, writing, and pattern-making an engaging and visually stimulating activity. Each set includes six boards, which are durable, easy to clean, and designed to withstand repeated use both indoors and outdoors.
What makes these boards even more versatile are the additional features available that allow for easy handling and inserts that include letters, numbers, and patterns. These inserts can be placed under the board’s surface, providing children with templates and guides that enhance their learning experience.
Using Mini Illuminated Mark Making Boards Indoors
Indoors, these boards can be seamlessly integrated into various educational activities, offering children a unique and engaging way to practise mark making and more.
- Set up a drawing station with the illuminated boards and let children’s imaginations run wild. The glowing surface captures their attention, making the process of creating lines, shapes, and designs even more exciting. The straps make it easy for children to hold the boards securely, allowing them to draw comfortably from any angle as well as move them around the classroom environment.
- The additional inserts for letters and numbers transform these boards into powerful tools for early literacy and numeracy. Children can trace over the illuminated letters and numbers, which helps reinforce their learning in a tactile, interactive way. The light from the boards makes it easier for children to see the shapes they’re tracing, improving their focus and precision.
Taking Mark Making Outdoors
One of the standout features of the illuminated mark making boards is their portability, allowing for creative learning experiences outside the classroom.
- Take the boards outdoors and let children use natural elements like sticks, leaves, or flowers to make marks on the illuminated surface. The bright, glowing surface contrasts beautifully with the natural environment, encouraging children to use the world around them as inspiration for their drawings and writings.
- Set up an outdoor art station where children can observe their surroundings and recreate what they see on the illuminated boards. Whether tracing the outline of a leaf or drawing the shapes of clouds, the boards provide a bright, clear surface that enhances outdoor art activities. The straps ensure that the boards are easy to carry and use in various outdoor settings.
Supporting Development Through Mark Making
The mini illuminated mark making boards offer more than just a canvas for drawing—they support a wide range of developmental benefits:
- Fine Motor Skills: The act of tracing and drawing helps children strengthen the muscles in their hands and fingers, essential for writing and other fine motor tasks.
- Hand-Eye Coordination: As children trace letters, numbers, and patterns on the illuminated surface, they improve their ability to coordinate what they see with how they move their hands.
- Literacy and Numeracy: The letter and number inserts help children practise writing and recognizing these symbols in a fun, interactive way, reinforcing their literacy and numeracy skills.
- Creativity and Expression: The illuminated boards offer a unique canvas for children to express their thoughts, feelings, and ideas visually, encouraging creativity and exploration.
- Focus and Concentration: The glowing surface captures children’s attention, helping them to stay engaged with their mark making activities for longer periods.
The mini illuminated mark making boards from TTS are versatile, engaging tools that bring a new dimension to mark making, both indoors and outdoors. Whether used for creative drawing, practising letters and numbers, or exploring patterns, these boards offer endless opportunities for learning and development. So, light up your learning environment and watch as they inspire creativity and joy in every child’s mark making journey.
