The best thing for teaching preschool literacy skills is to have the “lessons” be part of every day activities, such as riding in the car, eating, reading, or playing with alphabet puzzles. Also, simply talking about letters, words and sounds in everyday conversation makes words and letters part of your world. This way reading becomes a natural extension of other play and the many different ways kids learn is respected; whether by imitation, puzzling out letter or word clues, or as a way to share loving attention with a parent.
We’ve come up with activities, below, that are geared towards children ages 3-6. Have a game or idea you’d like to share? Let us know.
Alphabet “Soup”
This is a fun activity that you can do with older preschool-age kids. The “soup” is made from everyday items and objects you have around the house.
What you’ll need:
Magazines, newspapers, junk mail
Scissors
Bits of yarn or string (for “noodles”)
Miscellaneous objects (non choking hazard-size)
A bowl
Large spoon or ladle
What you’ll do (part 1):
Instruct your child(ren) to find all the letters of the alphabet within the magazines and newspapers. Larger print is best, although not necessary. Cut out each letter (smaller children will need assistance) and place inside the bowl. Your cut out letters can also be used for labeling household items, finding a match in a particular book you might be reading or spelling new words.
What you’ll do (part 2):
Next, spend some time going through the papers in search of food items they would like to include in the “soup.” Cut those out as well, and place in the bowl. Now add the “noodles” by cutting up medium-sized pieces of yarn or string, and add anything else (miscellaneous household objects) your children would like to add to the soup. Mix everything together and stir. Now the soup is ready to serve! You can either move onto part 3 or save the “soup” for a rainy day.
What you’ll do (part 3):
Give each child a large spoon or ladle and ask them questions about each spoonful: What are the letters in your spoon? What sound does each letter make? What else is in the soup? What letter does it start with?
R is for Road Trip: Are We There Yet?
This activity is great for would-be backseat drivers and/or bored kids in the back of the car.
What you’ll need:
Construction paper
Popsicle sticks (washed)
Crayons or pens
Glue or heavy-duty stapler
What you’ll do:
Prior to your trip, work with your kids to make the “road signs.” Using construction paper and crayons or markers, create the correct shape and size for popular signs such as “stop,” “yield,” “merge,” etc. Alternatively, each child could make a sign using a few of their favorite letter(s) of the alphabet. Glue or staple the signs onto the Popsicle sticks. While on the road, instruct your children to wave their signs every time they see a matching road sign, and have them say the name of the sign. For the next few miles, ask them to look for other signs that contain words with the same letter, i.e. Look for all of the signs with the letter S in them, such as State Park, Rest Stop, Museum, etc. Repeat the words back and talk about what sound the letter makes in each word. Don’t have time to make signs? Simply make a game out of looking for different letters on road signs or pointing out the words on signs that they know.
P is for Pool
Teach the alphabet and rhythmic breathing at the same time.
What you’ll need:
Access to swimming pool or other body of water
Swimsuit
Goggles (optional)
Supervision (mandatory)
What you’ll do:
Learning how to blow bubbles and hold one’s breath under water is a critical water safety skill. Swimming instructors will frequently have kids “bob up and down” in the water as a way to teach rhythmic breathing (and get their heads wet- also an important swimming skill.) Make it a game by adding in the alphabet. Every time your child comes up for air, have them say a letter of the alphabet. Older kids/advanced swimmers can recite the entire alphabet (in order) or spell out simple words, such as C-A-T, D-O-G or S-W-I-M.
