Using pre-made letter flash cards, or making your own from index cards, create a deck of upper case and a deck of lowercase letters. In order to keep the game from overwhelming the children, choose about 10 letters from each deck. Be certain to choose corresponding letters so that you will have a deck of 10 capital letters with their 10 matching lowercase letters.
Randomly turn the letters upside down so that the writing cannot be seen. Be certain that all cards look the same on the back. Have the children take turns flipping over two cards. If the cards match, the child keeps them. If they do not match, the child turns them back over. As the children get faster at the game, introduce the rest of the deck.
This game teaches letter awareness and identification which is a preschool skill needed for kindergarten success.
Create riddles and leave out a rhyming word for the child to fill into the sentence. Examples of riddles are "I saw a goat wearing a (coat)." "The bee flew into a (tree)." "The cat chased a (rat)." "The mouse lives in a (house)."
If the child has trouble producing words that make sense in the riddle, practice simply saying a word and having the child produce one that rhymes with it. Once the child has mastered this concept, begin using riddles.
This game can be played without using any type of manipulative. Therefore, it is great for car or bus rides, waiting rooms, and last minute time fillers. Rhyming is a good way to help children increase their phonemic awareness.
Create a 4 by 4 box grid. Inside of each square, write a number or draw dots to represent a number. Play the game by calling out numbers. The children will cover the box with the number or with the same number of dots. The player wins in the same manner as with regular Bingo.
This game is wonderful for helping children quickly recognize numbers and match objects that represent numbers.
Write the child's name on a sheet of cardstock or tag board. Space the letters apart. Cut between the letters. Place the letters in a zipper bag. Give the bag to the child and ask him or her to put his or her name back together.
Recognizing their name is one of the very first skills that children should develop in literacy. A name is meaningful to the child. Once the child has accomplished his or her name, begin using names of other people in the family.