By Noella Mackenzie
Original article: LINK
Most young children love to draw and they need to learn to write. Despite decades of research showing a strong connection between drawing and early writing skills, some classrooms still keep these activities separate.
This research project focused on writing in the first year of school. Ten first-year teachers were asked to make drawing a key part of their writing lessons. The goal was to explore how integrating drawing into writing lessons affects children’s learning in the first six months of school, particularly as visual and written literacy become increasingly intertwined.
The results are clear: when teachers encourage children to see drawing and writing as connected ways to create and share meaning, children’s writing becomes more complex than when they rely on writing alone. These findings are important for two reasons. First, in a time when visual literacy is crucial, ignoring the link between drawing and writing is counterproductive. Second, the results highlight the value of building on what children already know – talking and drawing – while introducing them to new skills, like writing [LINK].
This approach not only enhances their writing abilities but also helps them develop a positive attitude towards themselves as writers.
Learning to write
Writing is a complex skill that involves coordinating the hand, eye, and brain [LINK]. It’s often thought of as a step-by-step process: children start with scribbles and pretend writing, move to invented spellings, and eventually create conventional texts which can be read by others. However, writing actually develops in many ways at once. Children often come to school already able to talk, play, tell stories (real or imagined), teach you about the things they know a lot about, and draw.
The relationship between drawing and writing
Drawing and writing share many similarities: they use the same motor skills, rely on similar thinking processes, are both ways of making and sharing meaning, and develop over time with instruction and practice. Research over the years has consistently shown a strong connection between early writing and drawing skills.
While writing involves a fixed set of symbols (like letters), drawing is more flexible and influenced by a child’s cognitive development. Creating meaning starts with more direct forms of expression, such as gestures, play, and drawing. For many children, drawing is both a fun activity and a serious way of sharing meaning with others. It helps them explore real and imaginary worlds, and it allows for rich expression and complex thinking. Drawing also provides a scaffold and support as children face the challenges of writing [LINK].
When children begin to write, they often have to encode many of the words they want to write, which can be time consuming and exhausting. Their drawings can help them remember and ‘tell’ their writing when they can’t write conventionally all the words they want to use [LINK].
Teachers can use these insights to support young writers by integrating drawing into writing lessons, making the process more engaging and less frustrating for children. In the context of Writing For Pleasure schools, we believe this is best done by inviting children to make picture and chapter books every day [LINK].
Shifting teachers’ priorities
Teachers play a crucial role in shaping what happens in the classroom. They shouldn’t just blindly follow a set curriculum. Instead, they should adapt, refine, and prioritise based on research and evidence. What teachers choose to emphasise sends a clear message to their pupils what is important [LINK].
Despite research supporting the benefits of drawing and its connection to quality writing, many young children in the UK are experiencing writing instruction that undervalues or even refuses children’s opportunities for drawing.
This shift may be driven by an extreme ‘presentational-skills’ movement, which holds a narrow, flawed, and incomplete view of writing [LINK]. In too many classrooms, drawing is simply seen as a time-filler or as a treat – when you’ve finished your writing. This is completely the wrong way round. Asking children to ‘write cold’, without drawing and talking first, makes writing even harder than it needs to be. It ignores the strong connection between drawing and writing, especially during the early stages of writing development [LINK].
(Young & Ferguson 2022)
Teachers should consider incorporating drawing into their writing instruction through book-making [LINK]. This supports all young writers, including those with special educational needs and disabilities [LINK] and those new to English [LINK]. It makes the writing process feel less effortful for children and more engaging.
Encouraging drawing and talking before writing
It’s important that teachers model how to draw and talk about your drawings before inviting children to do that same during that day’s writing time. Teachers showing their pupils how this helped them decide what to write and remember their ideas is absolutely essential. Teachers should also explain how talking while drawing and writing can help you organise your thoughts [LINK].
During writing time, teachers can engage students in conversations centered on their drawings and writing [LINK]. Even the quietest of students feel comfortable discussing their drawings, and this process naturally encourages them to write – and write more.
The impact drawing has on teachers and students
When teachers made drawing a priority during writing time, they saw many positive changes. “Writing time” became a favourite part of the day, with students engaging in more conversations and supporting each other. Unlike in previous years, children were never at a loss for what to write about because their drawings always provided a great starting point.
Teachers noticed that children were more motivated to write, even during free time. Students became more independent and willing to take risks with their writing. Many chose to write during free play, showing a newfound enthusiasm for being writers.
Teachers also observed improvements in student behaviour and engagement. Drawing made writing accessible to all children, keeping them involved and focused. Some students showed better concentration and fine motor skills due to the emphasis on making detailed drawings.
By modelling and discussing their own drawings, teachers helped students see the value in planning and revising their writing. Writing became a very natural extension for drawing. Children were eager to write, leading to more detailed and thoughtful compositions.
Teachers reported that students made accelerated progress in writing compared to previous years. Children were more willing to write extensively. The drawing-first approach allowed teachers to assist students more easily too, as there were no blank pages waiting for help [LINK]. This made writing time less stressful and more productive.
By the end of the year, most children chose to write first and use drawing to illustrate their stories. This shift happened naturally as children grew more confident in their writing abilities. Teachers were surprised by just how effective this approach was, especially those teachers who were initially worried it might lower academic standards and progress.
Overall, prioritising drawing not only improved the quality of students’ writing but also made the process more enjoyable for both teachers and students.
***
If you found this article interesting, you may want to read about the book-making approach which is used in EYFS and KS1 classrooms in Writing For Pleasure Schools. You can read more in our Getting Children Up & Running As Writers In the EYFS-KS1
Drawing is also a valuable strategy for older writers. You may like the drawing-based planning strategies that can be found in our publication: No More: I Don’t Know What To Write Next… Lessons That Help Children Plan Great Writing