Use a flashlight to reinforce letter recognition in preschool children. Draw the shape of a letter on a wall and have children try to guess the letter that you've draw. If children have difficulty recognizing the letter, offer them some clues -- for instance, if you're writing the letter A, tell them the letter "apple" starts with the letter and it's the first letter of the alphabet. Play this as a non-competitive game, or to make it competitive, divide the class into teams and award a point to the first team to correctly identify the letter -- the team to earn the most points wins.
Sight words, or high frequency words are words that are often seen -- stop, go, color words, days of the week and children's names are all examples of sight words. Children should start building their sight word vocabulary in preschool. Practice reading these words with a flashlight game. Point the flashlight on a sight word and have children read it out loud. If kids are having difficulty, provide hints -- it's the first day of the week if you're shining the light on the word "Monday," or this color starts with B if you're shining the light on the word "blue." As with the above game, play this as a competitive or non-competitive game.
This flashlight game focuses on discovery, as children guess what different objects are by the shadows they cast. Show children a variety of different items to give them background information before playing the game. To play the game, hold an item in front of the flashlight, allowing it to cast a shadow on a wall. Conceal the item being held in front of the flashlight by placing a tall piece of paper in front of the light and the object. The child who correctly identifies the object first earns a point. The player with the most points wins the game.
Promote gross motor development and good sportsmanship with this flashlight game. Clear a large, open space in your room and dim the lights. Choose one child to be "It" and give him the flashlight. Instruct the rest of the children to disperse while "It" counts to 10. Upon counting to 10, "It" chases his classmates, trying to shine the flashlight on one. The first person he shines a flashlight on becomes "It" for the next round of the game.