Many kids find themselves especially challenged by writing in third grade. Here's how you can help, using a technique called "storyboarding."

Help your first grade child figure out contractions and their original two words by playing this simple game, Contraction Concentration!

Compound words get easier if kids can spot two smaller words that they already know inside. Add some fun to the process with this card game!

A pangram is a sentence that uses all the letters in the English alphabet. In this group game kids might just learn a thing or two about word choice in writing!

By using watercolor paints to practice writing letters, sentences, and math problems, your child will practice first grade skills in his "Sidewalk School."

Communicating using the written word doesn't have to be tough! It can be as simple and fun as composing a comic strip.

Build second and third grade writing skills by using pictures to help kids "see" how to use details in their stories.

Here's a great activity to get your child using imagination and artistic skills to create a handmade vocabulary book, complete with illustrations!

Here's a fun activity that will help your child become familiar with both punctuation marks...by using pasta shapes!

Parents can help their children at home by using a dialogue journal to model good writing.

This treasure hunt gets kids comfortable using the dictionary, and makes looking up words a lot of fun!

Make going back to school a fun time! Let your child create her own pencil topper creatures using everyday materials and a Styrofoam ball.

Here's a fun holiday activity that will have you and your child singing, laughing, and using a thesaurus!

Helping your child learn to read doesn't only have to mean using books from the library or from the store. You can make a book of your own - a nonsense book!

For Read Across America Day, challenge your first grader to come up with a story using magnetic words inspired by "Green Eggs and Ham" by Dr. Seuss.

Your child can explore color mixing and design while folding together a paint-filled paper and then using a marker to outline it.

In this design thinking activity, your child will choose an animal to research, learn about the animal’s habitat, and then replicate the animal's habitat using household items.

Write a letter to Santa and bring back the lost art of letter writing. Learn how to write a carefully crafted wishlist using proper letter form.

In this parts of speech fall scavenger hunt, kids will search for all the hidden leaves, sort them into parts of speech categories, and then practice creating their own sentences using the words they find.

Help your child create an autumn poem full of colorful sensory details.

If your child enjoys drawing, here's a fun way to learn about compound words that uses art as a visual aid.

Try this concrete, hands-on organization system and you can count on more efficient, less stressful evenings this school year.

Here's a hilarious alternative to those sugary conversation hearts...and a way to keep building first grade literacy skills while you're at it!

This simple fall-themed syllable game is a great way to introduce the concept of a syllable to your young learner.

People have identification cards, why not pets? Make an ID card for your family pet, a fun activity that also gives your child some writing practice.

Here's an wholesome arts and crafts activity for your kid: create awesome handmade apple note cards with just some paint and blank paper!

Challenge your first grader to wordsmith her way to victory with this puzzle! Who can find the most words in the letters of "Saint Patrick's Day"?

Make this creative "story cartoon" tray to help your first grader build reading comprehension skills while having a hilarious time!

Help your first grader gain new reading skills in this fun, homemade phonics game that the whole family can enjoy!

Practice reading with this fun game, where your first grader will "hunt" for hidden words around the house.