How Mark-Making in Sand and Messy Play Supports Early Literacy

Why is mark-making important for early literacy?

Before children write recognisable letters and words, they experiment with the idea that marks can communicate meaning. A swirl may represent a person, lines may become a road and shapes might form a pretend shopping list.

These early marks matter because children are learning to:

• Give meaning to something they have created
• Represent experiences, stories and ideas
• Control tools using increasingly deliberate movements
• Notice the shapes and patterns within letters
• Connect spoken language with visual symbols
• See themselves as capable communicators

Paper and pencils remain valuable, but they are not the only route into early writing. Sand play and messy play give children larger, more tactile surfaces on which to explore movements without the pressure of producing a permanent or recognisable outcome.

For Hope Education, effective early mark-making begins with communication. The finished mark matters less than the thought, movement or message the child is trying to express.

What does the EYFS Statutory Framework say about early literacy?

The EYFS Statutory Framework 2025 identifies Literacy as one of the seven areas of learning and development. It includes comprehension, word reading and writing.

The framework explains that children should develop a lifelong love of reading and that writing involves transcription and composition. It also recognises the importance of Communication and Language and Physical Development, both of which contribute to children’s readiness to communicate through marks and writing.

The framework does not require a particular sand or messy-play activity. However, thoughtfully planned can help children build some of the language, movement, confidence and symbolic understanding that support literacy development.

Mark-making should complement stories, conversations, songs, rhymes, books and systematic phonics teaching. It should not be treated as a replacement for these experiences.

How does mark-making in sand support early writing?

Sand provides an adaptable surface on which children can create, change and repeat marks. They can draw with their fingers, use sticks and brushes or make tracks with tools and vehicles.

Because marks in sand can be smoothed away, children can experiment without worrying about making a mistake. This can be particularly valuable for children who hesitate when offered a pencil and paper.

Children might:

• Draw horizontal, vertical and curved lines
• Create circles, spirals and zigzags
• Copy simple shapes and patterns
• Make tracks for small-world vehicles
• Represent maps, roads or journeys
• Practise letter shapes when developmentally appropriate
• Add marks to an imaginative story
• Create symbols with their own meanings

These experiences help children understand that movements create marks and that marks can be repeated, changed and used to represent ideas.

How does messy play support early literacy?

Messy play provides open-ended materials that children can spread, press, roll, scrape and combine. Paint, foam, mud, dough and other suitable sensory materials can offer different levels of resistance and require children to adjust their movements.

A child drawing through foam may use broad arm movements, while pressing shapes into playdough requires more focused hand control. Making marks in mud outdoors can connect writing with imaginative play, storytelling and exploration of the natural environment.

Messy-play activities can also generate meaningful language. Children may describe textures, explain a process, negotiate shared resources or invent a story about what they are creating. These conversations support the vocabulary and oral composition children later need when forming sentences and writing.

A carefully selected range of products can provide different ways for children to make and interpret marks.

How does sensory mark-making build physical skills?

Writing requires coordination between the shoulder, arm, wrist, hand and fingers. Children need stability and control before they can manage the smaller movements involved in using a pencil effectively.

Large-scale mark-making allows children to begin with broader movements. Drawing long lines in a sand tray, sweeping a brush through water or rolling paint across a surface can develop shoulder and arm control.

Smaller tools can then support more precise movements. Children might use:

• Mark-making tools
• Paint brushes
• Chalk
• Sticks
• Rollers
• Pipettes
• Tweezers
• Stampers
• Pattern combs
• Easy-grip tools

These activities can support hand-eye coordination, bilateral coordination, grip strength and fine-motor development. However, practitioners should avoid using messy play simply to rehearse pencil movements. The activity should still give children opportunities to explore, communicate and make choices.

How does mark-making develop Communication and Language?

Young children often explain their marks before adults can recognise what those marks represent. A collection of lines might be described as a family, a map or a list of ingredients.

Listening to these explanations helps practitioners understand the thinking behind the marks. Useful responses might include:

• “Tell me about what you have made.”
• “Where does this road lead?”
• “What happened next?”
• “I can see that you made this line longer.”
• “How will we remember which one belongs to you?”
• “What could you add to your map?”

These prompts encourage children to describe, sequence and develop ideas. They also show that their marks carry meaning.

Adults can model relevant vocabulary, but they should leave enough time for children to initiate conversation. Constant questioning can interrupt concentration and turn an open-ended experience into an adult-led task.

How can mark-making support storytelling and comprehension?

Mark-making becomes especially powerful when it grows from stories, experiences and imaginative play.

After sharing a familiar story, children might draw tracks through sand to show a character’s journey. During small-world play, they could make a map, create signs or add symbols to represent different places.

Practitioners might provide opportunities to:

• Create story maps in sand
• Make marks for a pretend shopping list
• Draw routes for animals or vehicles
• Design signs for a role-play area
• Record an imaginary recipe
• Create patterns linked to a rhyme
• Retell an event using pictures and symbols
• Add captions through shared writing

The practitioner can scribe a child’s words alongside their marks when appropriate. This demonstrates that spoken words can be recorded without replacing the child’s own representation.

Can sand be used to support letter formation and phonics?

Sand can provide a multisensory surface for exploring letter shapes and practising movements. Children may trace a letter with a finger, copy a shape made by an adult or form a letter linked to a sound they are learning.

However, letter formation in sand should be developmentally appropriate and connected to the setting’s approach to phonics and handwriting. Practitioners should model the correct starting point and direction when teaching a particular letter movement.

Free mark-making and instructed letter formation serve different purposes. Children need opportunities to create their own marks as well as focused teaching that helps them form letters accurately. Covering a tray with letters does not automatically create effective phonics learning.

What resources can support mark-making in sand and messy play?

Useful resources do not need to be complicated. A small, purposeful selection often gives children more space to develop their ideas.

Practitioners could provide:

• Sand trays and play sand
• Tuff trays
• Finger-painting materials
• Washable paint
• Playdough and modelling tools
• Brushes, rollers and sponges
• Natural materials
• Small-world figures and vehicles
• Letter and number stampers
• Pattern-making tools
• Large chalks
• Water and large brushes
• Clipboards, paper and pencils
• Aprons and protective clothing

Practitioners should choose resources according to the children, the environment and the intended learning possibilities. Providing every tool at once can make the activity difficult to navigate and reduce the space available for sustained exploration.

How can practitioners plan meaningful mark-making activities?

Begin with children’s interests and observed development rather than selecting an attractive activity from a theme.

A simple planning process might involve:

• Observing how children currently communicate and make marks.
• Identifying a possible physical, linguistic or literacy extension.
• Choosing one surface and a manageable number of tools.
• Considering how children can make choices within the experience.
• Checking accessibility, safety and supervision.
• Allowing uninterrupted time for exploration.
• Listening to the meanings children give their marks.
• Using observations to decide what to introduce next.

For example, children making repeated vehicle tracks might be encouraged to create a road map. A child drawing circles in sand could be offered different tools for making circular patterns. Children creating pretend meals from mud might benefit from menus, order pads or recipe cards within their play.

This keeps early literacy connected to a genuine purpose.

What does effective practice look like?

In a Nursery setting, several children might use small-world vehicles to make tracks across wet sand. One child explains that the tracks lead to a building site.

The practitioner listens and introduces words such as “route”, “straight”, “curved” and “destination”. The children add sticks as signs and begin deciding what each symbol means. One child asks for paper to make a delivery list.

The practitioner writes down the child’s spoken words while encouraging them to add their own marks. Other children create maps showing where the vehicles should travel.

Within this experience, children develop vocabulary, storytelling, symbolic understanding, physical control and an awareness that marks can share information. The literacy grows from their play rather than being added as an unrelated worksheet.

How can sensory mark-making be made inclusive?

Not every child will enjoy touching sand, paint, foam or mud. Inclusive provision offers different ways to participate without forcing direct sensory contact.

Practitioners could provide:

• Long-handled tools
• Brushes and rollers
• Easy-grip resources
• Gloves where appropriate
• Individual trays
• Dry alternatives alongside wet materials
• Seated and standing options
• Trays at accessible heights
• Visual instructions
• Additional processing time
• A quieter space for exploration

Some children may prefer to observe before joining, while others might use a tool instead of their fingers. These are valid forms of participation.

Adults should also consider communication needs. Choice boards, objects of reference and visual prompts can help children communicate what they want to use or represent.

How should messy mark-making be managed safely?

Every activity should be assessed according to the materials, environment and children involved.

Practitioners should:

• Use child-appropriate, non-toxic materials
• Check resources for damage before use
• Consider allergies and individual healthcare needs
• Assess small parts and tools for the age group
• Supervise activities appropriately
• Clean spills promptly
• Provide handwashing facilities
• Prevent children from eating play materials
• Clean and dry reusable equipment
• Dispose of unsuitable materials safely
• Follow the setting’s hygiene procedures

Sand and messy materials should be kept clean and stored appropriately. Safety routines should enable valuable exploration while reducing avoidable risks.

What common mark-making mistakes should practitioners avoid?

One common mistake is judging the value of an activity by whether children produce recognisable letters. Early mark-making includes the physical, linguistic and symbolic learning that develops before conventional writing.

Practitioners should avoid:

• Correcting every mark a child makes
• Expecting identical finished outcomes
• Turning all sand play into letter practice
• Introducing formal writing before children are ready
• Asking children to copy without meaning or context
• Providing too many tools and materials
• Focusing on attractive photographs rather than learning
• Forcing children to touch sensory materials
• Interrupting sustained play with excessive questions
• Replacing systematic phonics teaching with sensory activities

Another common challenge is preparing elaborate activities that create unnecessary workload. A tray of sand, a few suitable tools and a meaningful reason to communicate can support richer literacy than a highly decorated setup children are not allowed to change.

How can educators get the most from sensory mark-making?

Observe what children do before deciding how to extend the provision. Look for repeated movements, emerging symbols, stories and attempts to communicate meaning.

Useful next steps may include:

• Introducing a different mark-making surface
• Adding tools that create contrasting lines
• Scribing a child’s explanation
• Displaying meaningful environmental print
• Linking the activity to a familiar story
• Providing paper alongside the sensory experience
• Modelling vocabulary connected to children’s actions
• Revisiting an activity so ideas can develop over time

Brief observations, photographs and children’s comments can help practitioners understand progress without creating unnecessary assessment workload.

How does Hope Education support early mark-making?

Hope Education understands that early literacy develops through talk, movement, stories and purposeful opportunities to communicate. For busy practitioners, effective mark-making provision should be manageable, inclusive and adaptable rather than dependent on elaborate preparation. Carefully chosen sand, messy-play and writing resources can give children different ways to strengthen physical control, represent ideas and develop confidence, while leaving practitioners free to observe, respond and extend learning at the right moment.