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
This alphabet game is extremely simple and requires only a set of letters to represent the alphabet (and even those materials are optional), but you may be surprised at the learning that can occur while completing this activity. You may be even more surprised to see how much your child enjoys doing it.
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Written by BRWI Staff on December 19, 2011
As your child is learning to recognize various shapes, challenge her to find them in her world around her. Here is an easy to make game that your child will enjoy at home or in the car. Create a set of Bingo cards using the generator available at http://www.mathworksheetwizard.com/kindergarten/shapes.html. Each time you click on “Make Worksheet”, the program will create a new Bingo c
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Written by Laura on December 14, 2011
Following directions is an important skill that children must master as they heads into their school-age years. Teachers give directions to students all throughout the day. (Of course, it wouldn’t hurt if children were able to follow the directions given by their parents as well, but that is wholly another story.)
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Written by Laura on October 14, 2011
Although machines now do most of the cotton picking these days, here is a game you can play with your child to get him picking some cotton of his own. It is quick, easy, and requires very few materials, but it offers plenty of fun and helps develop fine motor skills.
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Written by Laura on September 14, 2011
Our local fair is about to begin, and my children are very excited about all of the food to eat and the animals to see. They are much more excited, however, about the games that they get to play. As I thought about some of these carnival games, I realized that many of them allow children the opportunity to practice their motor skills. Here are some ideas for setting up your own carnival in your
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Written by Laura on August 15, 2011
I love it when my children ask to watch the show “Word World” that is broadcast on our local public television station. It is a wonderful show that teaches children many different concepts about letters, letter sounds, words, and sometimes even sentences. Usually, each episode also focuses on a lesson that utilizes problem-solving skills.
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Written by Laura on August 2, 2011
Syllables can be a tricky concept for young children to grasp. They are still learning to master one-to-one correspondence, and listening for something you are not able to touch can be very difficult. Here is a game that requires on chalk and an open space outside, and yet it helps children see, hear, and even move to the syllables in a word.
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Written by Laura on July 25, 2011
In the “Winnie the Pooh” stories, Pooh Bear and his friends will sometimes play “Pooh Sticks”. This is a game they made up which they take great delight in playing even though it is a very simple game. Each player chooses a stick from the ground and then, together, they stand atop a bridge that has a stream running underneath it. At the same time, all of the players drop
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Written by Laura on July 8, 2011
Once children are able to identify the number of syllables in a word, they can graduate from activities where they are given a word and they determine the number of syllables to a reverse in the steps. Try switching up a previous activity to make it more challenging.
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Written by Laura on July 6, 2011
Our goal is to give you the tools and confidence to teach your preschooler the joy of reading and writing.
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