While taking a long car ride as a family, my six-year-old came up with a game that we now play almost anytime we are in the car for more than fifteen minutes. It is a simple guessing game, but it helps children learn and reinforce beginning letter sounds. It also gets them concentrating on a topic for a long period of time (Much more than the usual five minute attention span), and gets the creative juices flowing. It can be played anywhere, involve children across a large age span, and there are no materials involved other than a sharp thinking cap.
Whomever is designated to go first, thinks of an animal. This person then announces, “I am thinking of an animal that starts with the letter___”, and then he or she fills in the blank with the beginning letter of the animal of which they are thinking. For example, if it were my turn and I was thinking of a panda bear, I would say, “I am thinking of an animal that starts with the letter “p”.”
Players then take turns guessing the animal of which the person is thinking. Whomever guesses correctly is the winner and now has the honor of thinking of the next animal. The game begins again when the new animals has been selected and the person announces, “I am thinking of an animal that starts with the letter___”.
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Written by Laura on December 21, 2011
I wasn’t sure how my four-year-old would react to seeing The Nutcracker performed on stage. Although this was actually his second viewing of the production, I don’t think that at two-years-old he really understood what he was seeing. As it turns out, my preschooler was able to understand much of the story in Tchaikovsky’s masterpiece.
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Written by Laura on December 16, 2011
As the parent or guardian of a preschooler, it can be difficult to sit back and watch your child struggle when they don’t know the answer to something. Typically, a child will come to an adult and ask for help or simply request that the adult do it for them. Although the first reaction may be to help the child and complete the task, there is so much they can learn from figuring it out them
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Written by Laura on September 28, 2011
Ever since my younger son had a treasure hunt at his pirate-themed birthday party, both of my children have wanted to go on hunts for hidden objects. We even had to have a treasure hunt at my older son’s birthday party even though the “pet” theme he chose didn’t really coincide with the treasure hunt he was requesting. (I ended up making a hunt where the kids had to act l
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Written by Laura on August 6, 2011
While visiting the Dinosaur State Park in Connecticut, my children had the opportunity to take part in a short craft with one of the volunteers. The puzzle was very simple and easy to recreate, yet my kids loved it and had fun playing with it afterwards.
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Written by Laura on May 16, 2011
Have you ever seen a neat-looking container and wondered what is inside? Or perhaps you have sat at a birthday party and eyed-up all of the elegantly wrapped gifts? Holiday gift exchanges can also be intriguing as you try to determine what is inside each gift based solely on how it is wrapped. All of these situations produce the same type of curiosity in adults that we can harness in children i
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Written by BRWI Staff on April 18, 2011
I was sitting at the kitchen table of a friend of mine while watching all of our children play. On her kids wondered over to the table and asked if she could play a game. Her mother quickly retrieved the game she requested and her four-year-old began to delight in completing a wonderfully educational, mind-stretching game that was perfect for her level of learning.
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Written by Laura on March 9, 2011
I have often heard people joking about how toys today are so complicated and fancy, and how things used to be so much different when they were younger. Although I would have to agree that technology has changed the array of toys that are available to our youngsters, their imaginations are still intact.
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Written by Laura on February 16, 2011
When teaching elementary school, one of my students’ favorite manipulatives was the geoboard. Unless you are a teacher, you may have no idea what this little gadget is, but lucky for you, I am about to teach you how to make one for your own child to enjoy at home. It requires a few simple materials but quite a bit of supervision.
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Written by Laura on December 22, 2010
Giving clues about an item without actually revealing its identity can be a difficult task for a young child. It is a critical thinking skill that takes practice. Learning to tell another person details about an object also helps a child develop their observation skills. The activity described below uses very simple items found in nearly any home with a preschool child, but it provides a wonder
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Written by BRWI Staff on November 17, 2010
Our goal is to give you the tools and confidence to teach your preschooler the joy of reading and writing.
Sponsored by Bridges Reading & Writing Institute -- teaching the JOY of reading and writing to students in preschool through 12th grade.
