1-210 Webinar

Getting Ready to Write

Understanding movement as the foundation for literacy. Great writers start as great movers. Let's explore how to give every child the physical foundation they need to thrive.
Presented By Gill Connell - Moving Smart
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Before a child ever picks up a pencil, their brain is busy building the neural pathways that make writing possible — and movement is the key ingredient.

Writing isn't just a hand skill. It draws on core strength, spatial awareness, bilateral coordination, and fine motor control — all of which develop through active, whole-body play. When children climb, crawl, swing, and stretch, they're not just burning energy. They're wiring their brains for the page.

As early childhood educators, you play a powerful role in this process. The way you set up your environment, plan your movement breaks, and respond to children's physical play directly shapes their readiness to write. Understanding the brain-body connection transforms everyday activities — building with blocks, threading beads, digging in sand — into intentional literacy preparation.

Presented By

Gill Connell - Moving Smart

Webinar Duration

Approximately 45 minutes

Skill Level

Suitable for beginner to experienced educators

What will you learn?

In this session, you'll explore:

  • Why core stability and gross motor development come before fine motor skills
  • How sensory and movement experiences lay the groundwork for letter formation
  • Simple, playful movement strategies you can embed into your daily routine
  • How to spot children who may need extra movement support

Great writers start as great movers. Let's explore how to give every child the physical foundation they need to thrive.
Certificate of completion provided for your professional learning records

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About the presenter

Gill Connell

Gill Connell, founder of Moving Smart is a globally recognised child development expert who helps educators put movement and play back where they belong—at the heart of early learning.
Through her courses, books, curriculum, webinars, and blogs, Gill shares the “here’s why” and the “here’s how” of movement—showing how it builds foundations for attention, self-regulation,
confidence, coordination, and learning. Her work translates developmental science into practical, classroom-ready strategies for early childhood and primary settings.

A key part of her work is the development of MoveMore for Learning (PMP), a school-based perceptual motor curriculum Gill developed and wrote which is now used widely both in New Zealand and international schools around the world. Publications include A Moving Child Is a Learning Child (2013), Move, Play and Learn with Smart Steps (2016), and the best-selling Moving to Learn resource books.

As well, she was involved in developing the ACTIVE MOVEMENT initiative for SPARC (now known as Sport NZ) and the NZ Swimming ECE Teacher Training Manual. She is a sought-after
presenter in both New Zealand and around the world including international companies such as Hasbro, Inc.

Moving Smart: https://movingsmart.com/

What others said about this webinar:

What inspired me the most is the knowledge of how to support a child to get them ready to write, not through starting to hold the pencil but by simply starting to get them move and learn different movements that are useful in preparing them to when they are ready to start holding a pen to write.
— STEPHANIE
How important physical movement is in the development of children and how I can help explain this to parents.
— SHARON
It was excellent. I was inspired at how important it is to let families know that active play is essentially writing and reading preparation. 
— SARAH

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