Activity #1

Marble Painting

You need colored paints, egg carton, marbles, paper
and tissue boxes.

Cut the top off the tissue box.
Cut paper to fit bottom of the box.
Place small amounts of paint in egg carton.
Put a marble in each color of paint to coat.
Drop marble into box and roll it all around the paper.
Repeat for as many colors as you like.

HAVE FUN!!

Activity #2

Finger painting

Finger painting is always lots of fun for little children.
If you use proper finger paint paper wipe with a very wet
cloth first.  It will make the paint glide over the paper
easier and let little hands paint longer.  Use things like  plastic forks, spoons, tooth picks, paper clips, etc., to draw in the paint.  A great tool for teaching how to print first name.  Adult prints a letter and child copies (use just your index finger for this).

Try this for a tasty activity.  Instead of paint use Jell-O
pudding on wax paper.  Chocolate is always a favorite or try vanilla with  food coloring added.  Finger licking is a must to help with this creative process.

Activity #3

Number Book

Take 5 sheets of paper and cut in half.  Use enough of the half sheets to make a booklet of 10 pages plus a cover when folded in half.  Title of the book could be "My Book Of Numbers 1 to 10".  On each page print numbers 1 through 10 (one number per page).  Have child cut out pictures from catalogues or magazines and paste in booklet.  For example,  1 bed, 2 shoes, 3 noses, 4 hands.  More advanced children could print the numbers or copy numbers themselves.  A sentence about each page can also be written.  Share the book with a family member or friend.

ABC & 123 Hide and Seek

Write the letters of the alphabet and numbers to 10 on pieces of paper.  Hide them around the house (maybe start with only 5 letters or numbers and gradually build up to all).  Have your child count to ten then go look for the letters and numbers.  As the letters and numbers are found have your child say the letter or number (may need help if just learning to recognize abc's & 123's).  When all have been found have child line them up in the proper order (again encourage naming each, may need help).  As child improves you can encourage  naming of things that begin with each letter.  For the numbers you can encourage your child to make groups of objects for each number (1 button, 2 bottle caps, 3 chocolate chips).
A little twist to the game;  let the child hide the papers and you find them.

Activity #5

Homemade Concentration

Print uppercase letters of the alphabet on individual pieces of card (file cards work well).  Also print lowercase letters on individual pieces of card.  (Total of 52 cards.)  Mix them up and place them face down all spread out.  Child picks two cards one at a time and turns them face up. If a match (uppercase to lowercase) is made child gets to keep the two cards.  If no match is made then the cards are turned back over (for beginners the cards can be left turned up).  Now it is your turn to make a match.  Player with most pairs wins.
GOOD LUCK!!

Activity #6

Playdoh ABC's & 123's

Use playdoh or homemade dough to form the letters of the alphabet and numbers to 10.  If you use homemade dough you can paint them when they are dry.  Better still use sugar cookie dough and bake them (Mmmm, Mmmm Good).

Activity #7

Alphabet and Number Find

Look through old magazines, newspapers or catalogues.  Cut out letters from A to Z.  Cut out uppercase and lowercase letters and then match them up.  Find and cut out numbers 1 to 10.  Make a collage of the alphabet (glue all the letters onto paper in any way you like).  Find and cut out pictures that begin with each letter of the alphabet.  Make an ABC book using your cut outs.

Activity #8

Recognition of ABC's and 123's

Design a simple bingo game on paper.  Use a marker to color over the letter or number that has been called.

Activity #9

Play School

Children love to pretend they are in school.  You can read stories and talk about them.  You can create work sheets for your child to complete.  Keep a scrapbook of things done and maybe give stickers to encourage good work.  Create your own book together based on a story you have read.  A good book to start with is Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?.

Activity #10

I Spy

Play "I Spy" with your child.  Instead of saying, "I spy with my little eye something red", try saying, "I spy with my little eye something beginning with the letter T".  (Try as many letters of the alphabet as possible) This will reinforce beginning sounds recognition and also help with listening skills.

Activity #11

Letter Writing and Card Designing

Write letters together to friends and family.  Talk about what you can put in your letter before you actually write it.  Keep it simple and to the point.  Draw a picture to go along with the letter.  Create a card for someone for no particular reason.  Encourage those you are writing to, to write back.  This shows children writing is a way of communicating with others.

A helpful hint I once learned... When your child draws a picture and you have no idea what it is supposed to be; don't say, "That's beautiful, what is it?"  Say instead, "That's beautiful, can you tell me about it?"

Activity #12

Homemade Board Games

Using poster board or bristol board, design a board game.  Some ideas for the games are:
abc letter and sound recognition

addition and subtraction game
 

Activity #13

Printing Houses

Printing is an important part of a child's learning and fine motor development.  It can be very frustrating for children, but it can also be made easier for your child to learn.  First let your child print on unlined paper with no rhyme or reason.  Gradually you can encourage your child to print in printing houses.  These are little houses with solid lines and dotted lines in them.  Great for practicing and fun to look at.

Activity #14

Basic Sight Word Recognition

Basic sight word recognition is an important part in learning to read.  Click here for a list of Basic Sight Words.  Many of the above activities can be used with the sight words.  Also use the list words to help with sentence reading and writing.  Choose several words and write them on separate pieces of paper.  Your child can then put them in the proper order to make a simple sentence.
 

Activity #15

Life Size Portrait

Using a roll of brown wrapping paper (kind used for sending parcels through the mail) draw a full bodied portrait.  Role out the paper (use something as weights to keep from rolling back up).  Have your child lie on the paper and then trace around his/her body with a pencil.  Your child can choose a pose to lie in.  Next, get your child to draw in the face, hair, a line to show sleeves and pant legs and also a line to separate upper and lower body.  Color (paint works best) the portrait to match the child's clothing.  When dry, cut out.  For added fun let your child trace your body.   Place your portraits on a wall for all to see.

Activity #16

All About Me

Making a book is fun and gets you thinking.  It also is a great learning experience for both child and parent.  You will need plain paper, construction paper, crayons/markers and imagination.  Use two sheets of colored construction paper (child's choice) for a cover.  Plain paper (we used 10 sheets) for the pages.  Staple down the left side to join.  Print the title of the book on the front cover (All About Me).  Now you are ready to begin.  A good starting place is a self portrait.  Your child can then tell his name, age, and a little description of him/herself.