Create a non-competitive game that reinforces letter-sound recognition. Print the letters of the alphabet on individual index cards and cut pictures of various items that begin with each picture out of magazines. To play the game, children spread the cards out, sort through the pictures and place them on top of the letters that they begin with.
Build memory in your students and reinforce a variety of skills with a homemade memory game. Cut poster board into an even amount of squares. Write letters, numbers, sight words or draw pictures on sets of cards. To play, the cards are shuffled and placed face down on a flat surface, children flip over two cards, trying to find matching pairs. If the cards flipped over match, the pair is removed; if the cards flipped over don't match, they turn them back over and flip two more cards over, trying to remember where matches are located. The game ends when all pairs have been matched.
This homemade game reinforces different skills while promoting gross motor development. Tape five paper or plastic cups together to form a straight line; on the bottom of each cup write a number, a letter, a shape or anything else that you want to reinforce. Set the cups on the floor, provide children with a small ball and encourage them to try to throw the ball into a cup. Upon throwing the ball into a cup, the child must try to name the item inside the cup.
Promote one-to-one correspondence or letter-sound recognition by creating a simple game made out of construction paper. Cut out triangles from construction paper and glue them onto a larger piece of paper -- these will serve as ice cream cones. On each cone, write a number or an uppercase letter. From different colored construction paper, cut out circles to represent the scoops of ice cream. On each scoop, write an amount of dots or a lowercase letter that corresponds with the cones. To play, children match the scoops to the correct cone.