Activities for Skill Building

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Phonological Awareness

Phonological awareness is knowledge of the sounds that make up words. Being able to break words into their component sounds and to put sounds together to make words helps children to sound out and spell new words. Here are some fun activities for developing phonological awareness:

Name Clapping

Sing songs using the children's names—for example, "Hello, Costanza. How are you? How are you today?" Have the children clap out the syllables as they say the names: two for Joey, three for Costanza, four for Alexander, and so on.

Silly Songs

Teach the children songs that involve rhymes and sound play:

• "Ring around the Rosie"
• "The Ants Go Marching"
• "This Old Man"
• "There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly"
• "Anna, Anna, Bo-Banna, Banana Fanna, Fo-Fanna, Fi Fie Fo-Fanna, Anna" (substitute each child's name for Anna)

The Sound Game

Say a compound word—such as lunchbox, beanbag, or playground—and ask a child to repeat it. Then ask the child to say it again without one of its parts. For example, "Say lunchbox. Now, say it again, but this time, don't say box."

Rhyme Cards

Make a set of rhyming picture cards—cat/hat, shell/bell, key/bee. Color code the backs so that rhyming cards match. Encourage the children to find the rhyming pairs. Four- and five-year-olds can also identify words that have the same beginning or ending sounds.

Invented Spelling

Using letter stamps, a computer, or paper and markers, have children write words by writing letters for the sounds that they hear. Some children like to write notes to friends; others like to write captions for their drawings or to make books or journals. If any of the children want you to, you can ask them to read what they wrote "their way" and then write the words underneath "The way I write it."

Print Concepts

By the time they get to preschool, most children already know a lot about print. They may recognize some favorite cereal boxes, store logos, and even books and videos. If they have been read to frequently, they can probably hold a book right side up and turn its pages from front to back. They may even realize that the reader reads the words, rather than the pictures, and they may correct someone who doesn't read every word of a favorite book they have memorized.

Most preschool children are ready to master more advanced print concepts, such as naming letters, recognizing words, and following along.

Letter Naming

By the time they start kindergarten, children should be able to name some letters. Usually, the ones that most interest them are the letters in their names. Here are some fun ways to help children who are interested learn the names of letters:

Name Games

Help children identify the letters in their names and find them in different contexts, such as on food labels or on signs in the classroom. Children might also learn to recognize the first letters of each others' names. You might point out the first letter in a book title and ask, "Whose name starts with this?"