Archive for category: Active kids
You don’t always need books to help your kid read better.
When my son and I go for a walk, there’s always something weird, funny or unintelligible to read, correct or figure out.
Example. We went on vacation and on the buffet we saw this sign. (Click on the picture for a larger image.) I called my son over and showed it to him – I didn’t say anything. He said, “hey, that should be Mandarin!” And together, we showed the buffet lady and we all laughed about it.*
It was a great opportunity to get a bit playful with words, while at the same time showing my son the way to approach typos (and the people who make ‘em) - while it can be helpful to point out someone’s typo, it’s not cool to be judgmental or become some kind of self-appointed ”grammar cop.”
Another time we were playing some miniature golf. As you go around the course, sometimes you have to wait for others to finish their hole. Rather than just wait, I would point to a sign and ask my son to rearrange the letters in the sign to form new words.
OK, it sounds nerdy, but it’s actually a pretty funny game because you wouldn’t believe some of the stuff kids come up with! There are no “rules” to the game – you can use all the letters, or just some of the letters – you can even add some letters if you see a phrase you’d like to create.
The idea is just to take signs that you otherwise might not pay any attention to, and create new meaning from them
The next time you’re out with your kid, even if it’s just walking to school, take a look around you at all the reading possibilities. Every little bit helps.
*If you have a kid like mine, you’ll know immediately why a sign that says ”mandrain” is hilarious. Even the buffet lady thought that one was funny – and then she immediately removed the sign.
+Continue Reading
This could be the perfect literacy game.
So simple and so brilliant.
It has all the elements you could want in a game that encourages reading: it’s fun, it offers an immediate reward for reading, it’s easy for parents to quickly learn and set up and it has lots of “reading helpers” to make sure kids are successful.
uKloo will get your kids reading. It’s as simple as that.
uKloo (“you-clue”) is essentially a treasure-hunt game. You may even have done this yourself with your kids (I’ve recommended the idea – #6) but there’s no work for you to do, other than hiding the clues.
How to play
You hide cards around the house. The child picks the first card and reads, for instance, “look in your mom’s sock drawer.” When he gets there, he’ll find another card: “Look under the mat beside the bathtub.” Under the mat will be another card… and so on, until he gets to the “reward” card.
There are lots of wonderful things about UKLOO:
The “reward” is left up to you. If you believe in offering treats you can make the reward a Hershey’s kiss or some other candy. If your kid loves Lego, maybe he’ll find a Lego character at the end of his journey. Or a book. Or a loonie. Or a card that says, “good for one trip to gramma’s.” You can use whatever you feel will motivate your child, and whatever fits with your family’s values.
Children are set up for success. The game comes with a poster (which you stick up on the fridge or a nearby wall) that helps the child work through the words on the cards. Nouns, verbs and prepositions are listed with a picture to show the child, for instance, what “under” and “behind” mean. If the child can’t figure out a word, he can check the poster for help.
The game has three levels, depending on your child’s reading level. For instance:
Level 1: Look in your shoe.
Level 2: Check in the bathtub.
Level 3: Search behind the pillow on the couch.
As your child becomes a better reader, the game grows with him. Or, siblings can play alongside each other, using different levels.
uKloo was invented by Doreen Dotto, who was having trouble getting her kid to read. That was when he was in grade two. Today, the kid is an English major in university. Just sayin’.
uKloo sells in independent toy stores for $14.99 or on the company’s imperfect website, here. Now, Doreen, how about creating a version for older kids who are reading but still love to play fun reading games and find rewards in their shoes?
Here’s a video (1:18) of the game in action. (Spoiler alert: the kid finds the reward card.)
+Continue Reading
By Nancy Miller
Here’s a fun activity that can take five minutes, or roll out to 10 or 15.
The goal here is to have fun with words — and encourage your kid to get reading!
Play on Words
This activity uses three major learning styles:
• visual: they see the words.
• aural: they hear the words.
• kinesthetic: they act out the words
Here’s how to play:
1. Ask the child to say his name and what he likes to do. For instance:
“My name is Fraser. I like to swim.” (or ride my bike, or run, etc.)
2. Write down the answer in large letters.
3. Then together, pretend you’re swimming hard (lie across a chair and kick your feet while stroking with your arms; diving… make sure there’s lots of action!)
3. Read the words aloud, pointing to each word. Read the words together.
You can also extend the learning:
*Do the actions again. Then ask your child to pick out the words that go with that action.
*Keep a record of the words.
*Later you can also cut out pictures to go with the activities; this is excellent for reinforcement.
Variations
Other times, pretend:
*Animals; “My name is Fraser. I am a lion.”
*Vehicles: “My name is Fraser. I am a train.”
*Sports: “I like to play baseball.”
This will work with whatever your child’s interests are.
This activity is a shortened version of a longer learning-to-read program. If you would like more information on the program, please contact: Nancy Miller at millerneighbour@rogers.com.
+Continue Reading
By Julia Mohamed
The next time you go grocery shopping, make it a more educational, enjoyable and literate experience for your kids with a Supermarket Scavenger Hunt!
1. Give each child a list of items to gather. Be as specific as possible (include a brand name, size, etc.) For instance, you might put:
□ One 18 oz jar of Kraft Crunchy peanut butter,
□ Three small green zucchinis,
□ One loaf of Dempsters 100% whole wheat bread.
It helps if your list is divided into categories, such as produce, meat, canned foods and, of course, snacks. That way, the kids will be in one specific area of the store at a time and you can keep an eye on them more easily.
For older children, throw in a few challenging items, such as ethnic foods. For instance, One jar of Red Shell Teriyaki sauce.
2. As each child brings you items, check to make sure they’ve picked out the right ones. If not, send your troops back out into the field.
3. Reward your kids with a healthy treat!
You can continue this activity when you get home. Include them when you’re making dinner by asking them to read out the ingredients in your recipe to you.
You’re going to have to go grocery shopping anyway, and you know it’s always a hassle. This great game is fun, it gives the kids a bit of freedom, and it gets them reading. A win-win! (Just do keep your eye on them, eh? I don’t want to be getting any letters from parents saying their kids were lost for days in the zucchini aisle…)
Julia Mohamed is a freelance journalist. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.
+Continue Reading
Brains – especially young brains – benefit from exercise.
Here’s an exercise that Bernadette Tynen (the brain researcher) does with her students. She says that if you do it with your child once a week, it will help to make his thinking more flexible and creative.
She gives the child an object. It could be a stuffed animal, like a snake or a gorilla, or it could be a hat or a scarf – any kind of object. Then she asks the child to tell her what could be done with the object.
At first, the child may say, “you can sit on it,” or “you can put it on your head,” and his thinking may stall there.
You can prompt him by saying, “what else could it be used for?” and he may start to come up with less conventional uses: “You could wear it as a bracelet,” or “you could use it as a frying pan,” or “it could be a garden decoration.”
In Tynen’s documentaries (“Make Your Child Brilliant”), it’s astounding to see how quickly children change their thinking from the usual, normal ways of looking at an object, to finding truly creative and out-of-the-box ideas for things.
We know that brain-training exercises like this help the young brain become more agile, which helps with future learning. Plus, it’s fun!
I tried this with my son – I gave him my glasses case. Within a few seconds it became a hat, something you could balance or float, a toy… I was laughing my head off at the crazy and wonderful things he came up with. Playing with your kid like that is better than TV, I tell ya.
+Continue Reading
There are lots of fun literacy activities for active kids.
I was talking to a mom yesterday who said she has two sons – one of whom isn’t a good reader. He likes video games and is quite physically active.
Here are some fun suggestions:
* Write a simple sentence on a long piece of paper. Cut it up into words and place them around the room. Time your son as he runs around, finding words, and making a sentence from them. (Remind him to use clues like the period at the end of the sentence, and the capital letter at the beginning.)
* Sink Scrabble tiles into a large bowl of rice. As he finds the tiles, he makes words.
* Show him how his Nintendo DS can be used for messages.
* In the summer, toss letters into the pool. He can dive for letters and make words by the side of the pool.
* Give him 8 Scrabble tiles (for instance, E L R E T I A S). Get him to make as many words as he can in two minutes, using those letters. See if he can make more the second time around.
* Make everything a fun contest! Time him, or get him to compete against someone else or simply beat his own score.
For more active-kid literacy ideas, check out this post on kinesthetic learning.
+Continue Reading
Reading doesn’t have to be on a page.
If your child is a kinesthetic learner – he learns by touching and doing rather than by seeing or hearing – here are some great ideas.
Use letters made from blocks, cards, fridge magnets or Scrabble tiles.
Toss seven large letters (blocks, or wooden cut-outs) in the pool. Have him dive for them and make a word when he surfaces. Don’t worry about how many dives it takes – let him just have fun.
In the bath, toss in a handful of foam letters. It probably won’t be long before he starts making words that float around him!
Toss a handful of Scrabble tiles into a large bowl of rice. As he digs for the letters, he has to try and make words with them.
Play word games like Scrabble, “scramble” (online), or Word Thief (board game). Simplify the rules so it’s more about making words and less about beating the other person.
If you’re giving your child letters to make a word, look at them first. Make sure there are Es and As, and simple consonants like Ms, Ss and Ts. Consider adding in a “wildcard” that can be used for any letter.
+Continue Reading
You don’t always need books to help your kid read better.
Recent Comments