Letters and Sounds Practice Activities

Here are some ideas to help your child practice letters and sounds:

1. ALPHABET LINE
Materials Needed: ABC Letter Line (You can make one or purchase one at Dollar Tree)
Letter Cards A-Z Upper and Lower Case

Hang the ABC line at the child's level, or place the ABC line on a table.
Shuffle the ABC Cards and place them face down on the table or floor.
The child turns the card over and uses his/her finger along the ABC line, saying the ABC's to track the letter on the card. When the child tracks the letter, matching it to the letter card, he/she says the name of the letter and sound(s) of the letter 3 times. The child then locates something in his/her environment that begins with that sound. Then another card is selected.

2. FLASH CARDS
Materials Needed: Letter Cards A-Z Upper and Lower Case
You and Me Game
Match upper to lower case.
Play the "You and Me" game... we play this game in class each week.

3. FIND THAT LETTER
Materials Needed: Letter Cards A-Z Upper and Lower Case
Lay a few cards at a time onto the table. Ask your child to find the letter as you say its sound, name, or a word that begins with the sound. ie: "Find the letter whose sound begins like cccat."

4. LETTER MATCH
Materials: 2 Sets of Letter Cards A-Z Upper and Lower Case
Begin with a small number of matching letters. Place the selected cards face down like this:
X X X X
X X X X
X X X X
Play this game like "Concentration" turning cards one at a time over to make matches. As the letters are turned, say the name of the letter and its sound. When a match is made, ask your child to find something in his/her environment that begins (or ends) with that sound.

5. MAKE A LETTER
Use dry beans, dry macaroni, etc. to form a letter. Have your child try to guess what letter is being made. (You and your child can take turns making letters) Do not glue them to a paper. After the letter is made, say its sound and name. Then, pile up the letters and begin again. Remember to use the correct "pencil" direction when building the letters.

6. WRITING LETTERS
It is OPTIMAL that your child write each letter as he/she says the letter sound over and over. (ie: B says b...) Also, please remember to help your child start and end the letter correctly (ie: top to bottom). Use different writing tools; paint, glue, chalk, crayons, pencil, pen, etc.
Write letters with your finger in the sand, or on the carpet.
Write letters on each other's back, guessing what the letter is.

Fine Motor: Bean Game

The purpose of this activity is to increase eye hand coordination. Helping the eye muscles to become stronger will help your child with the necessary fine motor skills to write, cut, and learn.

Materials Needed:
2 Empty Plastic Cups
Dry Beans (Any kind will work!) About a cup.

To Play:
The game is for one or two players. (The student can play this game along for fun!)
Each player is given a cup .
The cup is placed in front of the player.
Place the dry beans in a pile in the middle of the play area.

Each player puts one hand behind his/her back. (trade hands for a 2nd round of play)
"Ready... Set... Go"

Each player uses his/her thumb and pinky finger to pick up beans one at a time and put them into his/her cup. When all the beans are gone from the middle, count or estimate to see who has more.

Play again using the opposite hand.
Play again using thumbs and middle finger, ring finger, pinky finger.

Have FUN!

Fine Motor: Clip It Game

The purpose of this activity is to increase eye-hand coordination. Helping the eye muscles to become stronger will help your child with the necessary fine motor skills to write, cut, and learn.

Materials Needed: About 15-20 Clothes Pins/Clips

2 Paper Plates (The heavy ones work best!)

To Play:

The game is for one or two players.

Each player holds a plate.

The clips are placed into the middle of the playing area.

Each player uses just one hand to hook each clip onto the edge of the paper plate.

"Ready Set, Play"

Each player tries to put more clips on the plate than the other player.

Keep playing until all the clips are on the plates.

Count to see how many clips each player has.

Play again!

Challenge: Use 2 or 3 different colors of clips. As the clips are put onto the plate, make a pattern (AB, AABB, etc). Have FUN!

Writing Skill Progress

Progression for writing skills (ages 3-5)

Makes marks on paper

Scribbles on paper

Imitates first pre-writing strokes (you make a mark then the child imitates / , _, O

Copies prewriting stokes (you write the strokes on the page and give it to the child to copy)

Imitates later prewriting strokes +, /, \, X

Copies later strokes

Traces First Name

Copies First Name

Writes First Name

More Fine Motor Activities

Progression:

Large to Small ie:

String large objects/rings on a dowel

String medium size objects on a piper cleaner

String macaroni wheels on a string with a taped end (like a shoelace)

String small beads on a string

MANIPULATIVE ACTIVITIES:

PlayDoh

Blocks (snap, Legos, Bristle Blocks, etc.)

Pegboards, LiteBrite, Linking Toys

Puzzles

Lacing Cards

Nuts and Bolts

Stencil Activities

Tweezer and Tong Activities

Stringing Activities

Coins in a Piggy Bank

Buttons, Snaps, Zippers

CREATIVE PLAY

Painting with finger paint, shaving cream, etc.

Coloring with crayons, markers, chalk

Stickers and stamp activities

Paper Clip Chains

Turning over coins, checkers, buttons, etc. without bringing them to the edge of the table

Getting Ready for Handwriting

GETTING READY TO WRITE

How do we prepare youg children to become skillful at handwriting? Not all children take to initial manuscript (printing) instruction equally well. As a parent, you can help prepare your child for a successful school experience in learning to write by providing a variety of pre-writing activities at home.

PRE-WRITING ACTIVITIES
Use games like Loob-Loo and Hokey-Pokey to help your child learn to discriminate between left and right.

Arrange pictures that tell a story in a left-to-right and top-to-bottom sequence. Reading story books also helps to teach the left-to-right orientation needed for writing.

Provide play materials that require grasping, such as water colors with large-handled brushes, pencils, markers, chalk, and crayons.

Provide finger paints and show your child how to draw long lines and big circles with his or her fingers. These large movements help to improve the eye/hand coordination and shoulder stability needed for writing. Try adding sawdust, sand, or coffee grounds to the finger paints for added texture.

Encourage your child to draw and play games on vertical surfaces. Painting on easels, drawing on white boards and chalk boards, and playing "Pin the Tail on the Donkey" places your child's hand (biomechanically speaking) in the same position needed for writing. If you do not have an easel for painting activities, tape a large piece of paper to the refrigerator (put a towel on the floor, and give home rules for this activity!). You can also draw roads going different directions on a long piece of paper to the wall. Your child will have fun driving toy cars on the roads while, at the same time, learning to stay within lined boundaries.

Help your child learn how to put stickers on vertical and horizontal lines.

Make a game of matching toothpick patterns. For example: place a toothpick horizontally on a piece of paper, then place two other toothpicks next to it in a vertical position. give your child a supply of toothpicks and aks him/her to make the same pattern.

If your child has difficulty staying on the paper when he draws or paints, use glue in a squeeze bottle to create a border along the edge of the paper. Once the glue has dried, it will provide a raised surface. When the child's crayon bumps into the border, it will remind him/her to stay on the paper.