10 Activities to Promote Letter/ Sound identification

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         Activities to Promote Letter/ Sound Recognition

Kindergarten is the new first grade. Last year students were expected to leave kindergarten reading on a level B - this year its a D. The expectations and demands are increasing year after year. I'm happy that Chloe's school sends lots of ideas home to parents so we can help them at home as well. The latest handout that was sent home was filled with ideas to promote letter and sound recognition. For Chloe, these activities will help to reinforce what she already knows. I hope you find it as useful as I do.

1. Play concentration- Place matching pairs of letters face down on a table. Your child can turn over two cards at a time in order to find a matching pair. Once they find a match, encourage him/her to say the name of the letter and it's corresponding sound.

2. Play hopscotch- Place one set of a matching pair of letters in a paper bag and the other set on the floor. Tell your child to pull a letter out of the bag and then hop to the corresponding letter on the floor. Please encourage your child to say the name and corresponding sound of the letter each time he/she forms a match.

3. On a large piece of paper write an upper and lowercase letter (Bb). Next provide your child with a magazine or newspaper with large print. Have him/her look for examples of this letter within the magazine. Next tell him/her to glue the letters all around the letter written on the paper.

4. Cut out different shapes such as a triangle, a square, a rectangle and a circle out of construction paper. Start by using only one or two letters to play the following game. Provide oral directions such as: This is b, please put the b on the circle or find the b and put it on the red square. As your child becomes able to identify a few letters, increase the number of letters you use to play the game.

5. Place a tablespoon of pudding or whipped cream on a piece of waxed paper. Begin by telling your child "This is a Cc" as you show him/her a letter card having this letter on it. Next have him/her form the letter on the waxed paper using the whipped cream or pudding. Encourage your child to repeat the name of the letter. As he/she becomes more proficient with letter identification, you can simply name a letter that you want him/her to form on the waxed paper (without showing the letter). They will love the reward of eating the remains!

6. You can hide several cards having a specific letter or magnetic letters throughout the house. Have a treasure hunt by providing oral directions to help him/her find the letters. Each time a letter is found, have your child say the name of the letter. As a challenge, set a timer and see how many letters your child can collect before the bell rings. As your child becomes more confident with letter recognition you may want to hide three or four different letters during the game.

7. Draw a large square on a wipe-off board or chalkboard. Around each side of the square write a different letter. Let your child look carefully at the square for a few minutes. Then have him/her close his/her eyes while you erase a letter. See if he/she can identify the missing letter. If need be, you can prompt your child by asking if it's an Mm or Ss that's missing.

8. Write a given letter of your choice on a 5x8 piece of cardboard. Next, help your child trace over the letter with glue. Then place items that begin with that letter in the glue. For example: beans or button for Bb, cotton balls for Cc, foil for Ff, etc.

9. Letter toss game- You may play this game with a partner. Write letters on wooden clothespins. If your child can identify the name of the letter and its corresponding sound he/she may toss the clothespin into a bucket. the winner is the person with the most clothespins in the bucket!

10. On a large piece of poster board make an oval racetrack of non sequential alphabet letters. let your child race a toy car around the track while he/she names the letters. You can prompt younger children by asking them to look for specific letters while holding up a card with the letter on it.

Although this was given to my daughters kindergarten class to help reinforce letter and sound identification at home, I will  be using many of these ideas with my 3 year old son as well.

I'm buying the wax paper for #5 to do with them tomorrow. Learning and an after school snack combined! Pics to follow!