It never fails… sticky notes never last long in my house. I JUST bought new ones too! But since my 1 year old already took them all apart, I figured I would put them to immediate use with my 4 year old.
We played a little game today that you can play with your little one once he/she has mastered letters of the alphabet and the sounds that each letter makes; also, he/she must have a basic understanding of blending/segmenting sounds (/b/ /a/ /t/ = bat) and rhyming/word families (bat, cat, sat, mat).
Materials needed: sticky notes, marker/pen
Version #1: Write letters on each sticky note. Your child must find things around the room that start with the letters on the sticky note and post it on that object!
(I learned that it is super cruel to hand my son the letter “q” when there is no quilt in sight.)
I also learned not to give my child the letter F. He immediately said “FAT! I’m gonna stick this on your belly!”
My, my. Kids are just too darn cute for their own good ::sigh::.
Version 2: Play “I Spy”… “I spy something that starts with /n/.” Let your child come up with some too!
Y’all, “nap mat” was a tricky one! Props to the kiddo! He’ll get his Ns right one day 😉
Version #3: For the child who has not mastered letter sounds: You write the letters on the sticky notes and post them on the objects while your child hides his/her eyes. Put the letter T on the TV, the letter B on a box, etc. When he/she opens his/her eyes, call out a sound and he/she has to find the letter that is on an object. (You can play hot/cold if he/she can’t find it right away). When he/she finds it, you say, “Great job! You found the /t/ for TV! Say it with me /t/ /t/ TV!”
Version #4: Instead of searching for the BEGINNING sound, search for the END sound of a word! “What object ends in /l/? That’s right, you found the doll!”
Version #5: Rhyming: Hold up a letter (ex. “B”) and say, “I’m looking for something that rhymes with “fox” but starts with /b/.”
Version #6: Early reader, basic understanding of blending sounds in CVC (consonant/vowel/consonant words such as “cat”). Write down simple words such as “mat,” “cup,” “box,” “doll,” “TV” (my kids love when I throw that easy one in there ;-)) and your child has to sound out the word and stick it on the object.
Version #7: Onset/Rime: The “onset” is the first letter in the word and the “rime” is the part of the word that links it to other words in the same family (the part that makes it rhyme with other words with the same rime… get it?). Write the “rime” of the word and your child has to write in the onset, and then go stick it on the object. “What object ends in “-ook”? Your child looks around the room, sees a “book,” writes in the first letter, and sticks it on the book.
Version #8: Vowels: search for the vowel in the middle of the word. “Which object has the /o/ sound in the middle of the word?” bOx, robOt, pOt, clOck, sOck
Version #9: Vowels extended: Go on a hunt to find 5 things that contain each of the 5 vowels. Find 5 things with an /a/ sound as in cat, 5 with an /e/ sound as in bend, 5 with an /i/ sound as in pig, 5 with an /o/ sound as in lot, 5 with an /u/ sound as in under.
Version #10: Syllables: Choose an object and count the number of syllables in is name. Put that number of sticky notes on that object. Ex: window: win/dow = 2 sticky notes. You can do this with the number of sounds in a word too! Ex: doll: /d/ /o/ /l/ = 3 sticky notes.
Now, we’re experiencing an extremely rare “snow day” here in South Louisiana, so these are perfect games to play with your little ones while stuck inside, because, who doesn’t have sticky notes lying around? Oh wait, ME! Because we used them all up today!
I’m sure we will be pulling out all of the randomness that is in the “junk drawer” tomorrow to keep the kids happily entertained… or if the power stays on, it’ll probably be a junk food, pajama, and movie day in our house! You just gotta have those sometimes!
