This activity encourages your child to practice “writing” letters in the air. By using larger motions with their fingers and forearms, they are learning to write and recognize letters. This also helps them to develop a mental image of the letter in their memory.
Learning Area(s): Language and Communication; Reading and Writing
MATERIALS
- Paper
- Pen/marker/pencil
LET'S PLAY
Pick two or three letters to begin working on. You may want to start with the first letter in a child’s name. On a piece of paper, write down a letter. Show your child how to correctly print the letter and describe how you are doing it. For example, “Your name is Lucy. It begins with an L. For the letter L, start at the corner, draw a line down, then a line across.” Then say those same words while skywriting the letter in the air using your index finger in front of you.
Next, have your child practice by extending her forearm and finger, and make the motion together as you repeat the description. Take turns picking letters with your child and “writing” them in the air together.
TIPS
- In addition to practicing in the air, your child can practice writing letters on the floor using her index finger and large motions.
- Pretend that your index fingers “spray” different colors, glittery sparkles, water (like a fire fighter’s hose), lightning bolts, whipped cream, slime, etc. as you skywrite together.
- You might show your child what real skywriting looks like (words made by airplane vapor clouds) by finding pictures or videos on the internet.
- Your child may come up with her own phrases to remind herself how each letter is written. You may suggest words such as “up,” “down,” “across,” “loop,” or “curve,” but allow your child to be creative in finding her own ways to describe the strokes of the letters.