We love learning through play! Letter sounds pictionary combines learning and practicing letter sounds with art and play. It's a simple favorite and all you need is a couple of willing participants and a few art supplies. We play this using the chalkboard on R's easel but you could play this anywhere using a pen and paper.
We play this game a lot to practice R's speech words. I pick a particular sound he needs practice with articulating and draw words that contain that sound. He makes guesses as I'm drawing which is perfect practice. I also like to write the word beside the picture after he guesses correctly.
Then he takes a turn to draw and I make guesses. He really enjoys drawing on his easel and gets a kick out of some of my silly guesses. It also helps make him very aware of letter sounds. He thinks of that sound we are working on and picks a word that contains it. We play this, primarily, to help him with his speech but he's getting so much more out of it. He is learning to decipher words.
He also insists on writing out the word beside his picture. I help him sound out the words and let him write it as he wishes. I'm not concerned with his handwriting right now. He writes because he enjoys writing and I don't want to take away that joy by correcting him. This is just what is right for my family right now, and right now he considers this play. I think he's learning enough without my corrections anyway.
This activity would be a perfect addition to a letter of the week curriculum, or just as practice by itself. You can focus on one letter sound or the whole alphabet. You could even play to practice word families.
More Ways To Play:
- Play outside with sidewalk chalk.
- Make it a fun sensory experience by drawing in a tray of shaving cream.
- Draw in a patch of sand or dirt.
What are some of your favorite playful ways to practice letter sounds?
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I don't think you even have to worry about his handwriting even if you were concerned. He does a great job!
ReplyDeleteI love his lion picture :)
Handwriting gets stable over one year when the child writes regulary. The writing instrument and the surface also makes a difference. Check out
ReplyDeletehttp://schoolapple.com/entries/blog/5-preschooler-development-behaviors-which-should-not-worry-a-parent
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Aw, his pictures are adorable!
ReplyDeleteLove it! I will have to try this.
ReplyDeleteThank you everyone for visiting and commenting. :)
ReplyDeleteAleacia, I'm definitely not worried. I think he does a great job too. Thank you :)
Thank you schoolapple for sharing your link :)