The Mark Makers | Ziggy the Monster made a return to Toy Fair and blagged himself his very own photo shoot
After making his runway debut in 2019, Ziggy the Monster made a return to the 2022 Toy Fair character parade at Olympia London. Ziggy bumped shoulders with lots of character favourites and made lots of new friends.
The Mark MakersTM made quite an impression on their first Toy Fair appearance back in 2019, and even appeared in the national press! Certainly a show we will never forget.
Eduk8 are the exclusive UK distributor for The Mark MakersTM range, and are showcasing the activity and story books on our stand F1 in the Grand Hall. An introduction to a fun pre-writing programme featuring characters Lionel, Archie, Ziggy and Swirlo, who help children develop writing skills through making basic marks.
Ziggy the Monster is bursting with personality and is guaranteed to leave an impression! He blagged himself his very own photo shoot this year. What a superstar!
What is Mark Making?
When a child starts to make scribbles, patterns and different shapes, this is ‘mark making’. It is their very first step towards writing. A child explores, experiments and expresses themselves through the marks they make. They begin to assign meaning to their marks which sparks creativity and exploration.
Children can mark make in many different ways: pen and paper, painting, ‘messy play’ or drawing in the sand on the beach. All of these methods provide opportunities for children to explore a wide range of tools too, such as paint brushes, chalks, pencils and their bodies.
The benefits of mark making are huge. A child’s fine motor skills will develop and strengthen in preparation for writing. Beginning to work on their gross motor skills is the stepping stone to their fine motor control and core muscle strength.
Daily activities such as throwing and catching a ball, squeezing play dough, climbing, building bricks and threading should be encouraged and facilitated as much as possible.
‘Children will, therefore, be making marks for a wide range of reasons, each equally valid. Through their marks, they are communicating their ideas, expressing their feelings, developing their imagination and creativity, and testing their hypotheses about the world. These opportunities for making ‘thinking visible’ are fundamental to children’s learning and development and should be the entitlement of every child.’
‘Mark Making Matters, Department for Children, Schools and Families’
It is our view that the more children have fun, mark making and developing their motor skills, the more prepared and confident they will be when it comes to writing at school.
~ Rachel Fay, Author of The Mark MakersTM and Little Learners UK Franchisor