Your child will name the letters of the alphabet, and recognize words that begin with those letters, as they toss a soft ball into a muffin tin.
Learning Area(s): Reading and Writing; Physical Development
MATERIALS
- Muffin tin
- Set of magnetic letters (can substitute marker and masking tape or paper muffin liners)
- Soft ball (e.g., pom-pom, small foam ball, or plastic ball)
LET'S PLAY
Begin by placing one magnetic letter in each muffin tin. Alternatively, different letters could be written on masking tape or on paper muffin liners and placed into the tins (one letter per tin).
Next, say “Let’s play a game called Muffin Tin Toss! I’m hungry for a pretend snack. Let’s see which tin we can toss the ball into.” Have your child gently toss the ball into a muffin tin and identify the letter it lands on. You can also ask, “What sound does the letter make? Can you think of a food that starts with that letter?” Help your child with these parts of the game as needed. For example, “That letter is ‘S.’ ‘S’ makes the /sssss/ sound. Let’s think of something we could eat that starts with the /ssss/ sound, soup? salad? sausage? strawberries?”
Take turns with your childand continue this game until the ball has landed on all of the letters or your child is ready to stop.
TIPS
- The letters in the muffin tins can be in alphabetical order or can be randomly placed to make it more challenging.
- Once your child has mastered letter recognition, you can ask him to find the correct letters using just the words as clues. For example, “I’m hungry for a BANANA muffin.” The child then must find the letter ‘B.’
- If your child needs help thinking of a food beginning with one of the letters, you can think of one and give him clues to guess it.
- Pretend to eat each food named and react to how the food tastes using facial expressions (sour face or lick lips), sounds (yumm, eewww), or words (i.e., “This sausage is delicious!” or “This soup is disgusting!”)