An ABC Staircase

 

Let's face it: Life is busy. Between play dates, meal prep and running errands some days leave little time to breathe let alone give your child ABC practice. So when I saw this photo of a staircase in one Singaporean primary school, I was immediately struck with excitement. By covering each step with a fact or visual of the solar system, teachers discovered a simple way to turn an ordinary staircase into a teachable moment.

Source: Two Weeks In Singapore

  

So I decided to create my own version of this magical staircase. To start, I gathered a few supplies: 26 blank index cards, a pack of colorful markers and a roll of tape. On each card, I wrote a different letter combination like this one.  

Then I taped one card to the side of each step on our stairwell.

Since we have 13 stairs, I posted the first half of the ABCs on one side and the second half on the other.


When my son woke up in the morning he was thrilled to discover his alphabet surprise. We slowly marched up the steps as we sang the ABCs. "A" (step) "B" (step), "C" (step)...   Then we counted the letters as we marched up and back down.   He was thrilled to discover his very special first letter {C} and he LOVED hunting for his brother's special letter {G}.  

Other Ways to Play

• Call out a letter and invite your child to race to it.
• Invite your child to trace each letter as she walks up the stairs.
• Say a word and have your child listen to the first sound she hears. Have her climb to the letter on the stairs.
• Give your child a short word like {cat}. Invite your child to sound it out slowly and hop to the letters she hears. In this example, she would race to the {c}, then the {a} and then the {t}.

Find more playful ways to help your child learn to read on Playdough to Plato's blog and Facebook page.  

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Letter Toss

    

My 2.5 year old is all boy.  He loves to run, jump and climb his way through the day.  When I create educational activities for him, I usually incorporate some kind of movement so that he can burn off a little extra energy while he's learning. This game, called "Letter Toss", is a new family favorite. It's flexible enough to use with children who are practicing letters or words.

To play, you'll need:

• 1 large piece of paper
• 1 pair of scissors
• 1 marker
• 1 muffin tin
• 1 rock, marble or penny

Cut out paper circles that will fit snugly in the bottom of your muffin tin. On each circle, write a different letter or, for older children, write a different word. I like to include one or two letters my son already knows and then fill the remaining spots with letters that are unfamiliar to him. Seeing something he recognizes helps him build confidence and make connections more quickly.

Next, give your child the marble (or whatever item you chose for him to throw) and ask him to toss it into the muffin tin. When the marble lands, have your child name the letter under the marble. In this example, your child would say, "{T}". If the marble lands on a letter that he does not know, name it for him and ask him to repeat after you.  

  

Once your child masters letter names, you can increase the difficulty by having him name the SOUND each letter makes.  In this example he would say, "{T} says /t/".  Then you can ask him to make up sentences filled with {T} words. For instance, your child could say, "Tom told Tim to talk to Tony" or "Texas toast tastes terrible to tiny tadpoles". There are so many possible combinations of words that can be used and it's a fun challenge to create longer and longer sentences.   

Children who are learning to read words can play entertaining variations of this game too. The most obvious goes like this: When the marble lands on a certain word, your child reads it out loud or, if he has too much difficulty sounding it out on his own, he repeats the word after you.   

You can mix up the practice by asking him to use the word his marble lands on in a sentence. For instance, if the marble lands on {she}, your child might say, "SHE is a great friend." Let's pretend that he threw the marble again and it lands on {and}. He could add to his story by continuing, "I like to jump rope with her AND play hopscotch."   

And finally, a third variation of this game helps your child with spelling. First, ask him to look at the word under the marble and spell it out loud. When he's finished, have him spell the word with his eyes closed and then spell the word again with his eyes open. Looking at the word the first time through ensures that your child spells it correctly. When he closes his eyes during round 2, his brain stretches to recall the spelling and then, when he opens his eyes again, he has the chance to check that he spelled the word correctly.   

It's amazing what a piece of paper, a muffin tin and a marble can do, isn't it?!      

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Letter Sort: Fat or Thin

It is a privilege today to welcome Malia, the founder and lead writer at Playdough to Plato, as our newest feature writer.  Once a month she will be sharing effective and entertaining reading activities in The Book Nook!    Malia has a specialized focus on literacy for PreK - 2nd grade children.  Malia adds another highly qualified perspective to our team.      

Malia has taught both kindergarten and second grade.  She graduated from Stanford University with a Master’s degree in Education and received her Elementary Education Bachelors from the University of Arizona.  Malia was selected as a Fulbright-Hays scholar in 2007 and earned National Board Certification from the United States Department of Education in 2011.  She is currently enjoying her job as a full time stay at home mom!


We are so excited to seeing the clever and useful reading and writing activities she will share with us here.  Enjoy this first post and please leave a comment welcoming Malia and/or suggesting any literacy topics you might love to see her cover!

Children learn to recognize letters by noticing what makes each one unique and sorting is a simple and fun way to make those differences clear.  In this sort called “Fat or Thin”, your child will try to squeeze letter cut-outs through a hole to decide if the letter is too fat and won’t fit or if it is thin and easily pops through the other side. 

You’ll need:

A medium-sized plastic storage container that you don’t mind cutting.

A pair of scissors.

A set of alphabet letter cut outs.

A sorting mat labeled “Fat” on one side and “Thin” on the other.  Make your own or click here to find the free printable on the Playdough to Plato website.

To play:

Cut a hole in the top of your storage container that is large enough to squeeze thin letters including [i], [j] and [l] through the other side.

Invite your child to play along by trying to squeeze each letter through the hole.  If the letter is too fat like the [a] shown below, have her place it (or write it) on the “Fat” side of the sorting mat.  

If the letter cut-out pops through like this [f], have her place it on the “Thin” side of the sorting mat.

As you play together, be sure to name each letter your child picks up and encourage her to repeat the name after you.  If your child already knows the names of the letters, teach her the sounds they make.

When your child is finished, review the letters on each side of the mat to reinforce her learning.

I always love hearing from readers.  Please share any comments or questions you have in the comment section below and I'll do my best to respond quickly.

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