Reading and Writing Kids Activities

Letter Recognition Snow Search

June 17, 2016January 12, 2016 by Stephanie Oswald

My little man is absolutely obsessed with Paw Patrol. Like he is a walking ad for the show level of obsessed. His favorite pup this week is Everest who has gone on many missions with him into the snowy wonderland that is our backyard. This Letter Recognition Snow Search came to be in an attempt to channel some of his rescue mission passion into a fun indoor learning activity.

A blizzard has buried all 26 letters and they are all trapped under the snow fall. Rescue each letter (and identify them) so they can get back home to their puzzle board!

Word Families Lego Sort

April 1, 2023January 12, 2016 by Stephanie Oswald

This year my daughter has been working her way through a spelling development program called Words Their Way. If you are not familiar with Words Their Way I highly suggest you check it out. It is an awesome program for helping kids work on their phonics, vocabulary, and spelling in a way that goes further than just memorization. This game of Word Families Lego Sort is one of the many activities that we do to work on her Words Their Way weekly spelling list.

When children sort words in games such as this they are engaged in the process of searching, analyzing, comparing, and contrasting. These problem solving skills help teach children how to form generalizations that can be applied when they come across new words that they may not know.

Gruffalo Play Dough

February 19, 2016January 5, 2016 by Stephanie Oswald

The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson is one of my favorite children books. It is one of those books that my kids ask to read again and again, one of those books that fills the room with laughter every time. This simple invitation to create Gruffalo Play Dough is a fantastic way to spend time together while exploring this classic story!

But who is this creature with terrible claws,
and terrible teeth in his terrible jaws?
He has knobbly knees and turned-out toes,
and a poisonous wart at the end of his nose.
His eyes are orange, his tongue is black; he has purple prickles all over his back.
-The Gruffalo by. Julia Donaldson

Playing with play dough is one of my kids favorite afternoon activities. It is super simple to throw together, clean up, and has a ton of developmental benefits! For this activity we made two batches of play dough together using our favorite easy play dough recipe. While the play dough cooled down we curled up and read!

Alphabet Flash Light Hunt

July 6, 2017December 29, 2015 by Stephanie Oswald

My three year old has difficulties with gross motor planning with his speech, he knows what he wants to say but his ability to form the words just isn’t quite there yet. This Alphabet Flash Light Game is one of the many games that we play to help him practice making different sounds.

Even if your child does not have a difficulty with speech this game of Seek and Shine is a fantastic way to work on skills such as letter recognition!

Peppermint Sensory Writing Tray

April 8, 2016November 11, 2015 by Stephanie Oswald

When it comes to the holidays, peppermint is one of my favorite scents. Just one whiff and it is an instant magical trip back to the land of Santa and Rudolph and snow. Never fails, like a great glass of hot coco, peppermint will always remind me of this time of year. Because of that when it came time to work on our writing tonight I couldn’t think of any excuse to not make a Peppermint Sensory Writing Tray…tis the season 🙂

Sensory writing trays are an excellent way to make challenging tasks for your child fun! These can be used from basic working on fine motor skills to sight words to even math problems! We love using sensory trays in our home!