Use a children's song to help your kindergarten child listen for the beginning sounds of words. Select and sing a familiar song such as "The Farmer in the Dell." Replace all the beginning sounds in the lyrics with one sound. For example, sing the song in the following manner:
Bu barmer bin bu bell,
Bu barmer bin bu bell,
Bigh boe bu bairy boe,
Bu barmer bin bu bell.
Ask your child to identify the new beginning sound used in the song. Let your child select a song and change the beginning sounds.
Make listening fun for your kindergarten child. Besides having fun, he will learn how to contextualize words in stories, songs and nursery rhymes that you read. Read a children's story, song or nursery rhyme that your child is familiar with. Substitute incorrect words that are easy to detect. Ask your child to say "Beep!" every time he hears an error. Make the game more difficult by substituting words that sound similar or that have a similar meaning.
Use old magazines, index cards and photographs to make a game that teaches your child to match words with pictures. Write simple sight words such as "dog," "cat," "egg" and "bug" on one set of index cards. Cut out a magazine picture to represent each word, and glue the pictures on another set of index cards. Place the cards on a table, and ask your child to match the words to the appropriate pictures. Make a similar activity to help your children recognize the names of family members and friends. Write each person's name on an index card and glue the person's photograph to another index card. Let your child match the photographs with the correct name cards.
Two-digit counting can present a new challenge for your kindergarten learner. Let your child practice counting with this easy-to-make game. Use masking tape to label 11 cups with two-digit numbers from 10 to 20. Place at least 20 beans, plastic chips or buttons in a pile. Ask your child to count out the number of objects equal to the number written on the cup. Check her work, pour out the counted objects and repeat the process until the child has successfully counted items for each numbered cup. Relabel the cups when your child is ready to practice with new two-digit numbers. Stack the cups, and pour the counting items into a zippered plastic bag for easy storage.