Pen Pals
This fun note writing activity provides an opportunity for children to practice drawing, scribbling, and writing while enhancing their emotional connection with you Beginner Writing Skills, Vocabulary 3 years to 5 years Post-its (or paper and scissors) and a pen/pencil/crayon/highlighterHere's a super fun way to have your child practice writing and reading! To start, gather some post its or pieces of paper as well as a writing utensil for both you and your child. Begin by giving your child a piece of paper and something to write with. Then, take a piece of paper and a writing utensil for yourself. Ask your child to write a note to you! As they are writing, you can write a note to them as well. You can write things like, "I love your smile" or "What did we have for dinner last night?" Once they are done, ask them to read the note that they wrote for you out loud! Then, give them the note that you wrote and ask them to read it out loud as well! Reading the notes can help your little one reinforce their understanding of words that they already know, while also growing their vocabulary through being exposed to brand new words. You can write as many notes as you would like with your new pen pal!You may need to adjust this activity to fit your child's needs! In order to make this activity a bit more difficult, you can write more complex notes for your little one to read by using vocabulary words that they may not be familiar with just yet. To simplify the activity, your child can focus only on scribbling or drawing a picture, and then, they can explain what the picture means! The note that you write for them to read can also just be a letter or number, which will help them develop their letter knowledge and numeracy.http://www.getreadytoread.org/early-learning-childhood-basics/early-literacy/building-literacy-every-day