By incorporating natural materials and the powers of observation, your child will become a backyard naturalist while building early writing and drawing skills!

Go on a storytelling adventure using your kindergartenerâs five favorite picture books.

Does your child love to play with their food? Then they'll get a big kick out of this activity, where they'll practice handwriting skills...using rice.

Try this patterned story activity with your kindergartener to help her build up her reading and writing skills using some of her favorite books from preschool.

Children will read a book, then retell the story with pictures they have painted on stones.

Build up those kindergarten letter-sound reading skills...and create a whimsical, practical craft at the same time.

Play a phonics scavenger hunt no matter where you are. This game will have your child sounding out words and finding letter sounds in the objects around them.

Encourage your preschooler to learn about the letter "W" by creating a wonderful work of art.

Help your kindergartener develop his sequencing skills in this activity that teaches him about a story's beginning, middle, and end.

Ask a child if they want to practice the alphabet and you'll likely get snubbed. But ask if they'd like to play letter detective? You might hook yourself a fish.

Make learning word families more hands-on and interactive with this simple craft that has your child making "word sliders" out of paper plates.

Help your child make an imaginative scene come to life by making a diorama. Your child will be practicing three dimensional thinking and language arts skills.

This alphabet hunt is pure pirate-loving fun. And it gives kids practice in learning to recognize letters and sounds-- a key skill for reading readiness.

What are you the most thankful for? Challenge your kid to think about all the reasons he has to be thankful and make a turkey featuring one particular thing.

Help your first grader build sight word knowledge by creating a reading pointer and taking the family on a house-wide reading tour!

Here's a sweet gift you and your child can make together, sure to please the most finicky valentine.

This activity allows your kindergartener to translate what they observe into a beautiful poem.

Any decent Halloween celebration isn't complete without a cat. Even though this cat has an arched back to look as if it's hissing, it's still cute!

Help your child pick up spelling, alphabetical order, sight word practice, and reading fast with just simple clothespins and paint sticks.

Is your child learning to write the alphabet correctly? In this "kinesthetic" activity, use movement and art to help your child with letter-writing.

Once your child has mastered the letters of the alphabet it's time to start building words! Try out this activity that encourages simple word recognition.

This project combines arts and crafts with writing, as your child writes a story and publishes it into a book made out of a paper bag!

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways ... on my eight limbs and eight hearts!

This fun game helps to strengthen your kindergartener's speaking skills, by teaching him to answer questions with complete sentences.

Take a nature walk in your backyard or local park to find one object for every letter of the alphabet. Then put them together in this handy nature book.

Help your child learn to read! By making their own book, your child can get creative, and practice ten key sight words at the same time.

Use the appeal of the common road sign to your advantage by creating a game with hidden learning opportunities.

Few places are as dense with words as a grocery store. The next time you find yourself trolling the aisles with an impatient kid, make it a reading adventure!

This silly game is a fun way to introduce and reinforce sight words--by fishing for them!

This version of the carnival game where you try to toss chips into a cup, to win a fabulous prize, gives kids a boost in early writing and reading.