Brain Correlates of Early Writing Development: the Foundational Role of Production Tasks in Early Childhood.

A hallmark of preschool and kindergarten classrooms are manual production tasks, including handwriting, drawing, building, and other arts and crafts activities produced manually with the hands. This chapter explores the potential mechanisms through which early manual production activities lay a solid foundation to support learning throughout the lifespan. First, we present behavioral research that explores the use of production tasks in preschool and kindergarten classrooms as early precursors to writing in the later elementary school years when writing becomes a critical element of lessons across multiple academic domains. Second, we present neuroimaging research on the brain correlates of handwriting and drawing in pre-reading children and literate adults that, together, suggest that these production tasks are supported by sensorimotor brain connections in childhood that develop into the sensorimotor brain connections observed in adulthood. Finally, we discuss the foundational role of production tasks in early childhood by synthesizing the behavioral and neuroimaging research, concluding that manual production tasks may leave behind sensorimotor brain changes that lead to better learning in the future. We end by discussing the need for more research on the effects of production activities for early writing development and other long-term educational outcomes.