Let the magic of reading start in your own home. Play some of the games listed below and watch the sparkle in their eyes as they have fun with letters. Allow your children to immerse themselves in the wonderful world of reading through games and if you get a chance, send me an e-mail to let me know how it went!

MAGNET LETTERS
1. Place lowercase magnetic letters on your refrigerator and write some words, then read them to your child.
2. Put 4 letters out on the refrigerator and say all of the sounds to your child. Next, have her close her eyes and you take one away. Finally, have her attempt to guess which letter is missing. Have her say the sounds and not the letter name because, for the most, part we read phonetically.


WORD HUNT
Write each word listed below on a separate piece of white paper. Then place those words, if you can, next to the representing object. Have your child try to find the words. When he finds one, say each sound and then blend the sounds to make a word. If you want to add more adventure to this game, have a time limit.
a. cat or dog
b. mat
c. sap
d. rug
e. top

RHYMING WORD HUNT
Tell your child that you are going to go on a rhyming word hunt and she has to guess what the rhyming word is.

Examples:
a. This is where I sleep and it rhymes with red. (bed)
b. This is where your rubber ducky is and it rhymes with math. (bath)
c. This is where you hear a ringing noise and then me talking and it rhymes with cone. (phone)

SANDPAPER
Fill a dish washing bucket with sand and water. Give your child a paintbrush or have him use his finger as a writing tool. Next, call out a letter sound and have him write it in the sand.


WEBSITES
All of these websites are places your child can go to and play reading games for FREE!

www.starfall.com

www.eduplace.com/kids/index.html

http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/KidsClick!

www.kidport.com/