Q&A with the Mark Makers author Rachel Fay!

With lots of exciting plans in store for our Mark Makers campaign, we felt that now is the
perfect time to sit down with Rachel Fay, our Little Learners CEO as well as the creator and
author of The Mark Makers series, and refresh our brains on the fundamentals of early
writing! Read what Rachel had to say in our mark making Q&A, and keep up with The Mark
Makers on our Instagram @the_mark_makers to stay tuned for all of our exciting activities!

Q. What inspired you to create the Mark Makers? 
A. As a primary teacher, I noticed more and more that children were starting school without
the skills necessary to write or even hold a pencil. A lot of children seemed reluctant and
even scared of writing because of the unrealistic expectations placed on them before they are
fully ready! 
I knew that this just couldn’t continue so I made it my aim to make writing FUN!! I wanted
to take learning to write back to the basics and give it a fun, play based approach. So one day,
I sat down and wrote out every letter, number, shape, and pattern then categorised according
to the simple marks that make them.  
I then wanted to represent each mark with a colourful and unique character – and that’s when
The Mark Makers were born! 

Q. What message do you want to spread with your Mark Making campaign? 
A. Writing does not need to be so formal!! I want children to feel comfortable when they
write and confident in their ability. That will never be the case if we are so fixated on
“correct” pencil grip or teaching children cursive writing too early on in their education

journey. If we make it fun, play based and repetitive then children will feel better prepared
when they start school and will have the basic knowledge of how marks can turn into
something with meaning!  

Q. What was the process behind bringing your ideas to life? 
A. I really wanted each character to embody the mark entirely. Therefore, their bodies are the
shape that they represent. For example Ziggy the monster represents zig zags, points and
diagonal lines. His body is a pentagon, his horns are triangles and he has zig zag spikes too! 
It was important that they were bright, friendly and fun so children could visualise the
character to help them when they are building letters and numbers. 

Q. What would you like people to know about The Mark Makers that they may not already? 
A. We have LOTS of exciting things in the pipeline for mark makers and we are nearly ready
to roll the programme out in schools. So if you are a teacher and you think this is something
you’d like to trial in your classroom then please reach out to us for a very special offer!! 

Q. Where can people find out more and buy their own copy? 
A. You can find our books for sale on the Little Learners website shop, alternatively, the
EDUK8 Worldwide website and Amazon also stocks our books! 

Q. At what age group are these books targeted? 
A. Our Mark Making programme has a targeted age range of 5 month to 5 years, although the
programme has successfully been adapted to older children and those with additional needs.