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
Here is an easy, long term activity you can do with your child to practice identifying letters and the sounds they make all while strengthening fine motor skills. My own son is very tactile and this has proven to be the best method for him to learn his letters. He enjoys working on this project a little bit at a time and seeing his work displayed when he is finished.
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Written by Laura on December 9, 2011
My preschooler does not yet know all of his letters. He can write his first name, but his last name is still a bit illusive to him. In an effort to help him recognize these letters, I came up with this simple activity that he enjoys. I am excited that he likes the activity because I already have an idea of how to make it more difficult once he masters this beginning stage.
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Written by Laura on October 26, 2011
Often, it can be difficult to get a child to sit down and practice writing their letters. And it is no wonder why this is the case. What three- or four-year-old can you think of who would love to complete a mind-numbing activity where no creativity is involved and given instructions must be followed to a “T”? (Pun intended.)
The following activity is one way to help your child practi
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Written by BRWI Staff on February 28, 2011
When I was young, my handwriting was atrocious. (I actually earned a ‘D’ in the subject in third grade!) I like many other children, did not like to sit down and practice writing letters on confining lined paper.
I have a good friend who is struggling with this issue with your daughter right now. Her daughter is four, and she feels her youngster should be able to write her name ac
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Written by Laura on February 9, 2011
When I was student-teaching in a kindergarten classroom, there was an activity my classroom teacher suggested that the students really enjoyed that also helped them learn how to form their letters.
It was fall, so we used pumpkin seeds as our main material. We began by giving each child a piece of card stock which had the letter “P” on it. The letter was about six inches tall and wri
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Written by Laura on October 18, 2010
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 l
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Written by BRWI Staff on August 4, 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
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
As parents of young children, we have all been on car rides that we wish would end sooner than they are expected to last. This is the perfect game to play in the car when your preschooler is getting bored. The best part is that your child will be learning beginning letter sounds while happily going from one place to another.
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Written by BRWI Staff on October 2, 2009
