To date, for December activities we have explored shapes, thought of words that rhyme, matched initial sounds, and used oranges for science and imagining combined with simple Christmas preparations. All these authentic activities have lots of learning and help children develop kindergarten readiness skills.
Is it time to wrap presents and label gifts? If your child is old enough to hold a crayon without eating it, he or she can add a few marks to gift tags as you write out the names. This gives kids an early opportunity to be involved in writing right along with you. Children a little bit older might want to add a meaningful drawing like a happy face or cookie shape. Those that are experimenting with letters may be able to copy names. Or, you may choose to write out the names in fairly big letters and let your child trace over them with washable crayons and felts. If your child is interested, name the letters and talk about their sounds. For example, “This carrot is for Rudolph, so I’ll write the letter R, like this. Can you hear that letter? It goes rrr. Does Mommy start rrr? Does Daddy start rrr?” If possible, point out some letters that are the same in names. What names are short, which ones are long?
Names are often the form of printed language that children read and write first. Christmas is the perfect time for reading and writing names on presents, placecards, Christmas cards and letters, and more. Can you wrap up this learning activity?