Before our children can begin to read or write, they need to know the shape and sound of the letters. But this doesn’t need to be a boring or stressful activity; there are many fun ways to encourage your child to practice their letters. Our first pick for this is to grab some sand, salt, or even rice, and pour it onto a tray or a baking sheet. Active Littles has a great tutorial for this. Have your child trace a letter or word in the tray, shake it out, and then try again with another letter. If they need a guide, you could write the letters or words on a piece of paper for them to refer to. Once they have mastered the letters, try using familiar words, like their name.
Have a little builder on your hands? Grab your LEGO collection and get ready to marry learning and play time! We Are Teachers has a whole host of great activities for little learners, but we love their idea of using LEGO to build the shape of a letter. You can download the free set of printable cards or simply encourage your child to build familiar letters or words that they already know. This activity also works their fine motor skills and is sure to engage your budding engineers and builders.
Another great option from the above blog is to pull out the Play-Doh! In addition to working the kids’ hand and finger muscles, Play-Doh is an excellent way to practice letter shapes. To start, work with your child to practice molding the Play-Doh into shapes, and then write a letter in large block letters on a piece of paper. Have them practice molding the Play-Doh into the shape of the letter, or try a word for a bigger challenge.
For more active kiddos, pull out the matchbox cars and get ready to drive your way to letter learning. You Clever Monkey suggests using a car to practice tracing the shape of letters. They share some downloadable letter options that are made to look like roads or parking lots. You could also simply write out large block letters on a piece of paper or cardstock, and have your kids decorate them to look like a road. For budding readers, try writing a short, familiar word (such as their name) and direct them to sound out the word as they drive the car.
Using any of these letter-practicing methods will help your children learn the shapes for their letters using muscle memory. Encourage them to practice the sound of the letter (or word) while they are writing it to build the association between the written and the auditory.
Comments