Here is a great activity you can do with your child that reinforces letters and numbers while having fun without leaving home. You will need some sidewalk chalk, an Alphabet Foam Mat (which can often be found at garage sales), a paved driveway or sidewalk, and plenty of sunshine.
Each section of mat has a letter or number that can be removed from the center of the piece. Remove the numbers and letters and begin by using just the square pieces that remain. Show your child how to trace the inside of each section to write the letter or number within. Younger children may wish to simply scribble around within the space. As long as there is enough scribbling, you should still be able to recognize the number or letter when you pick up the tile. If your child is able to easily trace the inside of the tiles, let him try to trace around the outside of the letters and numbers you removed.
Letters and numbers can be traced randomly or older children may wish to connect them in order to form words. Try drawing a picture next to each letter to represent the sound it makes (ie an “apple” for the letter “a”) or a quantity in order to represent the number (ie seven stars next to the number “7″). Another option would be to have your child trace all of the letters of the alphabet. Say a short word, such as “bat” and have him stand on the letter he hears at the beginning of the word.
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Written by BRWI Staff on August 4, 2010
Have you ever watched amusingly as a toddler holds a crayon or pencil? The death grip that is often applied is serves the purpose, but it does not result in a great deal of accuracy. Although this is fine as very young children develop the fine motor skills, particularly the pincer grip, which allows them to hold the implement firmly in place, teaching preschool children the correct way to hold
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Written by BRWI Staff on July 7, 2010
Have you ever met a child who didn’t like playing with a flashlight? Battery companies love our house because our children are very good at turning on flashlights, but somehow are not able to locate the same switch when it their flashlight games are over. We have flashlights with fancy cartoon characters painted on the sides, and we have flashlights shaped like caterpillars. We have flash
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Written by Laura on May 3, 2010
I can remember, as a child, drawing in coloring books where you were supposed to use the extra special, thin paper to trace an image and then color it. I haven’t seen any of those books around for years. However, the skills which tracing develops are still just as important.
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Written by BRWI Staff on February 4, 2010
When you need to write a letter, a list, or even just sign your name, you simply pick up your pencil or pen and write. Unfortunately, it isn’t so simple for a child who is not used to writing. Writing takes many skills which you may not have considered before. Balance, hand-eye coordination, and fine motor skills are all needed for printing properly. Before your child ever writes her fir
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Written by BRWI Staff on January 21, 2010
Once your preschooler is able to identify all of his letters, he is probably ready to move on to writing them. However, it may not always be easy to get your little one to write with a pencil and paper.
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Written by BRWI Staff on November 18, 2009
Fall is a great time to take a walk and pick up seeds, leaves, sticks, and other assorted objects which nature has been depositing on the ground. The next time you have a bright, sunny day and are looking for something to do outside, take a walk with your little one and enjoy the scenery while engaging in a learning activity.
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Written by BRWI Staff on October 5, 2009
Different children learn in different ways. This is true whether you are talking about following directions or completing a math sentence. There are children who learn better when they read the directions or math sentences, and there are those who prefer to listen to the directions or to have the math sentence read aloud. There is no one way that is better than another. However, we should try
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Written by BRWI Staff on August 26, 2009
Last week while on a visit to Nana’s, my four-year-old son was playing with some of those large brick-like blocks. He was laying them out on the floor when he shouted, “Look! I made the letter ‘L!’” He was right. He had made the letter ‘L’, and this simple, little activity gave me an idea. He loves to build things out of blocks, Leggos®, and even tra
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Written by Laura on July 22, 2009
Chances are, your three- or four-year-old isn’t going to be really excited about sitting down to trace dotted letters from a workbook. If forced, a child probably could learn using worksheets, but why not make learning fun? Instead of using the traditional paper and pencil to teach children how to make letters, get creative and have your child practice using craft materials or anything els
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Written by BRWI Staff on June 30, 2009
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