Let your child search for letters in everyday magazines.
- old newspapers
- magazines
- scissors
- colored markers or pens
Step 1: Cut several advertisement pages out of a newspaper or magazine. Choose pages that have a combination of pictures and text in various sizes.
Step 2: Name a letter that appears quite often on one of the pages. Ask your child to search for the letter and circle it with the marker. You might say:
Find the uppercase letter F and circle it.
Find the lowercase letter f and color it yellow.
Step 3: When your child has found all of the letters, make the letter sound and ask your child to repeat. When your child is finished, count how many letters he found. How many were uppercase? How many were lowercase?
Step 4: Repeat the activity with different pages and different letters.
To make it easier, start with the letters in your child’s name and provide visual models as needed. Name a letter that appears in your child’s name and that appears quite often on one of the pages. You can write the letter on an index card to give to your child as a visual reminder. Ask your child to search for the letter and circle it with the marker.
To add some challenge, ask your child to locate simple sight words. Write a simple two- or three-letter word on an index card (examples: is, the, and, at). Make sure that the word appears quite often on one of the pages. Tell your child the word. Ask your child to search for the word and circle it with the marker.
