If you’ve ever worked with little ones who just don’t love paper and pencil tasks or pre-writing activities, you’re not alone. As a pediatric occupational therapist, I’ve spent years searching for ways to make handwriting prep more engaging, more meaningful — and most of all, more fun.
That’s exactly why I created Fun Friends Pre-Writing Buddies, the newest addition to the Fun Strokes Pre-writing Program lineup.
This brand-new 18-piece dry-erase magnet set is designed to spark imagination, strengthen fine motor skills, and help kids learn to draw simple shapes and people — all through play!
But that’s just the tip of the iceberg! ✨
Smart, skill-building embellishments bring even more learning to life. In addition to the people magnets, Fun Friends also includes a few extras!
Window boxes encourage kids to draw houses and porches with greater detail. After drawing squares and rectangles, strengthening shape recognition and pre-writing strokes, kids can adorn them with window boxes.
The little heads fit perfectly into drawings of windows on cars, trucks, and houses, sparking creativity and storytelling as kids imagine who’s inside, where they’re going, or what they’re doing!
💜 Designed with inclusivity in mind
Representation matters — and Fun Friends reflect it. Among the buddies, you’ll find one friend in a wheelchair and characters that celebrate diversity and cultural differences. These thoughtful details encourage conversations about empathy, inclusion, and unity — values that matter both in the classroom and beyond.
What Are Fun Friends Pre-writing Buddies?
Each Fun Friend is made up of three parts — a head, body, and legs — that kids can mix, match, and position in endless ways. Whether they’re sliding, sitting, swinging, or simply standing tall, every setup invites kids to explore body positions, movement, and creative storytelling.
As kids play, they’re doing so much more than just having fun. They’re also:
✅ Learning how to draw pre-writing strokes, the building blocks of handwriting
✅ Building fine motor control and coordination
✅ Developing motor planning and body awareness
✅ Strengthening visual-motor integration
✅ Learning to draw people with detail — a key developmental milestone
Why pre-writing strokes matter
Before children can write letters and numbers, they must first master basic pre-writing strokes — simple lines and shapes that are the building blocks of handwriting.
When kids can confidently form these strokes, they gain the motor control, directionality, and spatial awareness needed to form letters and numbers efficiently and legibly.
Without this strong foundation, writing can become frustrating and fatiguing — but with the right tools, like Fun Friends Pre-writing Buddies and Fun Strokes Pre-Writing Magnets, practice becomes play. Kids stay motivated while developing the muscle memory and control they’ll rely on for a lifetime of writing.
Why Drawing People Matters, too!
By age 5–6, most children are expected to draw a person with at least 10 identifiable body parts (source: [Miller, 2014, Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration]).
This isn’t just cute — it’s a critical skill for school readiness.
When kids learn to draw themselves and others, they’re developing:
- Body schema awareness (understanding how parts connect and move together)
- Spatial awareness (where body parts belong)
- Symbolic thinking (representing ideas through drawings)
- Confidence in expressing ideas visually
And as they enter kindergarten and first grade, they’ll be expected to write sentences and create illustrations to describe their writing. Fun Friends gives them the foundation to do exactly that — with joy, not frustration.
💡 How to Use Fun Friends
Use Fun Friends on a whiteboard or magnetic easel for an extra fine motor boost — just add a dry-erase marker and imagination!
Kids can:
- Practice drawing simple lines and shapes (pre-writing strokes) to show what their characters are doing — like a diagonal line for a slide or a horizontal line for a swing or bench, or a square for the window box.
- Build a person using Fun Friends magnets, then draw a person to make another friend!
- Build characters and story scenes — mix and match pieces to create endless combinations.
- Build characters, then take away one of the body parts, and have kids fill in what’s missing.
- Tell stories about their Fun Friends’ adventures, building language and imagination along the way.
- Pair with Fun Strokes Pre-Writing Magnets for even more skill-building fun — strengthening fine motor skills, visual-motor coordination, and creativity through play!
No prep, no mess, and no pressure — just hands-on learning disguised as play.
🌟 Make Pre-Writing Practice Something Kids Look Forward To!
Whether you’re a teacher, therapist, or parent, Fun Friends Pre-writing Buddies make it easy to add creativity, storytelling, and movement into your pre-writing routine.
They’re:
✨ Reusable — just wipe clean and go again!
✨ Educational — designed with developmental goals in mind
✨ Engaging — keeps even reluctant learners motivated
🛒 Ready to Meet Your New Favorite Pre-Writing Tool?
Fun Friends Pre-Writing Buddies are available now!
Grab your set today and turn pre-writing into pure fun.