The middle of summer is here – are the kid’s bored yet? Looking for some activities to keep your preschoolers entertained and engaged? Check out these ideas for simple preschool literacy activities. Keep kids learning and having fun by doing these fun activities:
1. Read! Head to the library with your kids and check out a stack of books! Reading to your children is the easiest and most important thing you can do with your children to help their build their literacy skills. You can also encourage your children to “read” even though they can’t sound out words yet – have them tell the story by “reading” the pictures.
2. Go on a letter hunt. Have children search through the house looking for different letters. Kids can write down the letter(s) they see, or you can give them a list of letters to try and find. For an added twist, make “letter wands” with foam letters and small wooden dowels from the dollar store. Kids can take their letter wands around the house and match up letters they find.
3. Build letters. There are lots of household materials that make great letter building materials. Have your child build letters with pieces of pipe cleaners, straws and craft sticks. Play dough is also a great multi-sensory approach to learning how to write letters.
Household materials for “letter builders”.
4. Tell a story. Have your child tell you his or her favorite story. This activity will help your preschooler increase memory and comprehension skills.
5. Write letters to friend and family. Get out crayons, markers and paper and have the preschoolers write letters to friends and family. Some preschoolers will be interested in writing words, some will want to only draw pictures (or scribble!) and some will do both. Each stage of writing in the early years is important. You can always have the children dictate to you what their writing is about and you can write what they say on their paper.
6. Play word games. Word games are great for passing time in the car, in the grocery store, or any other situation where you need to entertain the kids for a few moments. Pick a letter and make it a game to think of as many things that start with that letter. You can also think of things that have the letter sound in the middle or at the end of a word. Preschoolers also love games where they have to think of words that rhyme. All of these activities help lay the foundation for children to begin to learn to sound out words.
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