My friend Joulie is a supermom. That needs to be said right off the bat. There is no way to live up to the things that Joulie does with her kids. And for the kids at the school. And for the neighbourhood kids. Luckily, I don’t have to be as good […]
Tag: toys and games
"Picture It" book giveaway
“Picture It” picture book giveaway. Toronto hosted Word on the Street on Sunday. I’m always blown away by the sheer number of people who come out to the one-day festival. There are kids’ literature lovers, fantasy and sci-fi afficiandoes, magazines, alt literature – even Harlequin had a booth. I picked […]
Blocks With Letters On 3
Oh my, this one’s tricky! If you have a kid who’s a real fan of puzzles, he’ll love the newest Blocks With Letters On online game – their third in the series. Once again, you have to figure out what word the jumbled letters spell, and then try to manipulate […]
Scrabble Flash (Boggle Flash)
Don’t you wish there was a board game that encourages literacy – but which your kid would actually enjoy? Scrabble Flash goes one better… it’s also electronic, which kids love. And it’s completely portable, packing down into a little holder about the size of a small TV remote. (Which parents […]
Supermarket Scavenger Hunt
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, […]
License Plate Game
Our family recently took an 11-hour car trip. And guess what we did in the car? Played Julia’s License Plate Game. It was great! First of all, it took our son away from his DS video game (curse you, Pokemon!). Secondly, it did exactly what Julia said it would – […]
Survey for research on "enhanced books"
GKR readers, the U of C needs our help. The University of Connecticut is doing a study on illustrated children’s books. They’d like GKR readers to help by taking a brief (four-minute) online survey. Before passing along their request to you, I called them and spoke to them about their […]
Literacy games for in the car
By Julia Mohamed Going on a road trip? Here are some great literacy games you can play in the car. THE LICENSE PLATE GAME● One person begins by spotting a license plate and announcing the letters (not the numbers) on it. ● Everyone else, in turn, must come up with […]
The "Air Mail" game
My son’s friend likes to play “air mail” whenever he comes over on a playdate. It’s a great game and I know that it works on their literacy skills because I’ve seen improvements. It involves a bit of the adult’s time, but it’s such a fun game that I indulge […]
Physical literacy games
It’s a good idea to link learning to physical activity. I was inspired this week by my son’s teacher, who was teaching them fractions by having them throw balls into various buckets marked 1/7, 1/3, 1/4, etc. They had to add them up and avoid making an improper fraction. I […]
