Alphabet Hunt

Ask a child if he wants to practice his alphabet and you'll likely get snubbed. But ask if
he'd like to play letter detective? You just might hook yourself a fish.

This game helps kids practice their letters, test out their vocabulary knowledge, and
get some writing under their belts all at the same time. You only need is a magaz ine,
a big sheet of paper, markers, glue, and a willing participant to get the sleuthing
started.

What You Need:

Children's magaz ine (we like "National Geographic Kids," "Time for Kids," and
"Chickadee")
Large sheet of paper, cardboard, or poster board
Markers
Glue

What You Do:

1. Have your child use the markers to write all the letters of the alphabet in a column running down the left side
of the large piece of paper, cardboard, or poster board. (Just one letter per line.)
2. Once she's written all the letters, it's time for her to find them! Give your detective the magaz ine and ask
her to hunt for a picture of a suspect that begins with each of the letters. (An "acrobat" would work for A, a
"baseball player" would fulfill B). As she finds them, she should write the suspect next to its appropriate
letter on the chart. If she'd like, she can cut out the picture and glue a "mug shot" next to the name. The
game continues until there's something for each letter of the alphabet.

Not only is this a wonderful way to reinforce the alphabet and practice writing, but it's a good activity for the kitchen
table. So the next time your child is whining for something to do as you gather materials for dinner, put them to
work. Detective work, that is!
Making Shapes
If your child is just learning about shapes, this matching activity is a great way to
practice shape identification. Each craft stick will have only half of a shape. She'll have
to match up the stick pair an place them side by side to complete each shape.

What You Need:

At least 20 craft sticks (make sure you have an even number and maybe even
some extras in case of mistakes)
Markers in assorted colors

What You Do:

1. Place two craft sticks directly next to each other.

2. Help your child draw a shape on the two sticks. Try to split the shape equally
between the sticks.
3. Repeat step 2 until your kid has created as many shape stick pairs as she wants.
4 . Have her mix up the sticks.
5. Encourage your child match the sticks to create shapes.

The shapes you use don't need to be complicated. Have your child try drawing a circle, square, triangle, and
whatever else is easy. Also, take the opportunity to talk about the concept of symmetry and help your child
understand which shapes she created for her puz z le game are symmetrical and which aren't. Before you know it
your child will be a master matcher.

If you want, you can extend this activity into a shape observation game. How many different circles can she find in
your house? What about squares? As she plays games like this, it will become easier and easier for her to
recogniz e different shapes and their special characteristics.
Cause and Effect Card Game Activity
Help your child master cause and effect relationships with this hands-on card game!
Perfect for practicing creative thinking, this group activity allows kids to practice
putting together real-world cause and effect situations, and amps up the fun by
making it a competitive game.

What You Need:

Pencils, pens or markers

Sturdy paper (such as cardstock or construction)
Scissors

What You Do:

Before diving in, review the principle of cause and effect with your child.
Remind her that writers use cause and effect to show the relationship between two facts, concepts, or
events, in which one is the result of the other (or others). Give her some examples to put the concept into
context. For example, She got 100 percent on the test (effect) because she studied hard (cause). He had a
stomachache (effect) because he ate junk food (cause).
With your child, fold two sheets of sturdy paper down the middle lengthwise. Draw a line on the fold to split
the paper into two columns, and label one column Effect and the other column Cause. Separately, write
down 10 examples of cause and effect relationships, leaving enough space to cut each situation into a card.
Some examples could include:

Effect Cause
Aiden was not able to go to soccer
because he had the flu.
today
because all of his friends wanted him to make dinner for
Mike spent all day in the kitchen
them.

Cut up each piece of paper into cards, so that each cause and each effect has its own card. There should
be 20 cards total. Shuffle the cards together, and then lay them out face down. Draw 7 cards each, and
leave the rest in a stack between you and your child. Flip the card on the top of the stack, and put it face-up
next to the stack. You and your kid should both be able to read it.
Play the game following the rules below.

GAME RULES

On their turn, players have the option of picking up the face-up card or choosing a new card from the stack.
The object of each turn is to match a cause card with an effect card.
Players must discard one card into the face-up stack after each turn. Players should always have 7 cards in
their hands.
When a player thinks shes made a match, she must show the matching cards to her opponent. If the match
makes sense, the match will be approved. If not, then shell have to try for a new match during her next turn.
The game ends when one player has no cards left. The player with the most matches at this point wins.

To determine what makes a match, read the cause and effect together. If they make sense, it counts! Two cards
that dont represent the original cause and effect pair can be a match.

Mat ch: Aiden was not able to go to soccer today/because he needed to make dinner for all of his friends. This
counts as a match, even if it's not the original cause and effect pair.

Not a mat ch: Mike spent all day in the kitchen/because he had the flu. This pair doesnt count as a match
 because it doesnt make sense.

This game offers a fun, hands-on way to practice this skill that will help in the classroom and beyond!
Make a Straw Skeleton
Does your budding biologist want to learn more about the human body? Infuse a fun
craft with an educational science lesson on the skeletal system. This project may be
just the thing to spark her interest in science.

What You Need:

Black construction paper

Plastic drinking straws
Scissors
Clear drying, non-toxic glue
White chalk

What You Do:

1. Cut the straws into pieces of several siz es to represent the skeleton's bones. Make segments that range
from an inch to a few inches long.
2. Ask your child to piece together a skeleton from the straws. Compare this to putting together a puz z le. If
you wish, have her refer to a diagram of the body to make her model more accurate.
3. Your child can now gently lift each straw piece and place a line of glue underneath to hold.
4 . Add a head "skull" by drawing one in with white chalk.
5. Set aside to dry.

This activity can be just as fun with non-human skeletons. Does your little one love dogs? Investigate the biology
of canines by creating a doggie skeleton.
Solve Toothpick Puzzles!
Looking for a way to engage your family over dinner? What if you could practice
some spatial reasoning skills as well? These fun toothpick puz z les are easy to set
up at the dinner table, and if your child gets stumped all you'll have to do is refer to
the answers for help. The best part about this activity is that you'll be challenging
your child to think geometrically while still having fun!

What You Need:

A copy of the toothpick puz z les (see below).

24 toothpicks
A coin

What You Do:

1. Pick one of the puz z les.

2. Lay out the toothpicks in the pattern you see on the paper.
3. Tell your family how you want them to change the pattern.
4. Watch them go!
5. Once they've solved the first puz z le, move on to the next one.
6. The answers are included, but its more fun if you only refer to them as a last resort.

PUZZLES:
ANSWERS:
Guess My Word: A Vocab Game
The key to learning new vocabulary doesn't lie in reviewing rote lists, sad to say.
The research is clear: for new vocabulary to stick, kids need to connect new words to
their world. Play this guess the word game to ensure that new vocabulary
words "stick" in the mind of your youngster.

What You Need:

Two players
Your childs vocabulary list.

*Feel free to think outside of the box, too. You don't need to limit yourself to lists of
words from the language arts folder; you could use new words from your child's new
math unit in measurement, such as volume, capacity, length, height, width, weight,
and temperature. Oftentimes, teachers will provide vocabulary lists at the beginning
or ending of units for the purpose of studying at home. Check with your childs teacher for a list of words your
child is learning.

What You Do

1. Start by explaining to your child that you will be playing a guessing game together. Let her know that you
will be giving her three clues to try to guess which vocabulary word from the list you are describing. It may
be helpful to have the list of vocabulary words available for your child to look at when playing the game. As
your child begins to feel more comfortable with the vocabulary words, she can try to guess words without
the list.
2. Give your child three clues to describe the vocabulary word you have in mind. For example, when thinking
of the word weight, the first clue may be: You use a scale to measure this word. Your next clue may be:
A pound is one unit of this type of measurement. The third clue may be: Ounces is another unit of this
type of measurement. If your child is unable to guess the word at this point, give her additional clues as
needed.

Variat ion: For a fun twist on the Guess My Word game, switch roles. Let your child give you three clues to
describe a word, as you try to guess. This strategy will allow for a deeper understanding of the vocabulary words,
as your child will need to generate her own clues to describe the word. And kids will love getting to play the
teacher by giving you clues.

What's going on? You're helping your child move beyond the overwhelming and often tedious job of sifting
through lists of words, and you're building strong foundations of language development that can last for years to
come. So guess those words, and remember them, too!
Sink or Float: A Science Experiment
Do toothpicks float? Does a plastic spoon sink? Find out which types of objects float
and sink with this exciting science project. Your kids will get to practice making
hypotheses about what they think will happen to each object and then test whether
they are right through experimentation.

What You Need:

Plastic dishpan
5-7 Small household items. Examples include a paper clip, plastic spoon, coin,
toothpick and sponge.
Notebook or binder paper
Newspapers
Towel
Marker or Pen
2 sheets of construction paper

What You Do:

1. To set up for the project, pace the newspaper on a table. Write the word Sink on one sheet of
construction paper and the word Float on the other. and the other piece with the word Float. Put the
objects on the newspaper.
2. Review the meaning of the words sink and float with your child. Explain that we are going to do an
experiment to see which of the objects sink down when they are placed into water and which ones float.
3. Ask your child to guess which objects will sink and which one will float. Place each object next to the
appropriate sheet of construction paper based on the prediction.
4 . Divide a piece of binder paper into thirds vertically. Ask your child to draw each object on a piece of binder
paper and write her prediction next to each object in the middle column of the paper (sink or float). On the
right column of the paper, add a label that says Result.
5. Next, add some water into the plastic dishpan. Choose one of the objects and place it into the water.
Observe whether it sinks or floats and record the result on the binder paper next to each prediction. Repeat
this for each of the remaining objects.
6. Have your child compare the prediction for each object to the result. If any of them do not match, discuss
why your child thought about those objects and what he learned. Your child should now have a better
understanding of what types of objects sink and float!