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What a busy day you’ve all had! I love all the dragons you made, I made one at home today too with the help of my wee girl, Niamh, here it is her name is Mrs Spicy!!

We are working together at JH Hub to make dragons. Mrs Irving and Mrs Findlay made Eggbert – a friend for Dee who  loves to eat and share his Crème Eggs. Derryl made another friend for Dee  and he called him Spikey.  Miss Adam, Mrs McKie, Cameron  and Corey  made  pictures of Dee- our Friendly Dragon .  Have you posted your dragon on your Blog or sent it to Dee’s email address?

deethedragon101@gmail.com

 Top five literacy games to try at home:

Reading games don’t have to be overcomplicated or boring. Let’s have a look at five simple games you can start playing with minimal to no resources – best of all, your kids will love playing them!

1. I Spy

A tried and true game that’s been keeping children around the world occupied for centuries, this one is an oldie but a goodie. Simply pick an object and describe it by using the first letter of the object or the colour. For example, “I spy with my little eye, something that begins with the letter S.” Or, “I spy, with my little eye, something green.” You can start by working your way through the alphabet or the colours of the rainbow.

Other talking games to try:

• Adjective game – Ask your child to describe a friend or family member with as many words as they can.
• Rhyming words – Start with one word such as ‘cat’ and ask your child for words that rhyme.
• Sound combinations – Have your child pick a sound and then come up with words that sound similar. For example, “So, soap, some, song, etc.”
• Talk about the past/future – Ask your child to talk about something they did in the past and something they’d like to do in the future.

2. Take turns reading

This sounds quite simple, but alternating reading pages or paragraphs with your child can help keep them engaged in the story line in addition to helping them expand their vocabulary and learn how to pronounce new words.

Other reading games to try:

• Talk through stories – Pause when reading to your child to talk about what they think may happen next or how they felt about a certain character and what happened to them.
• Read alphabet books – Choose a book that suits your child’s interest such as animals or flowers and ask them to come up with a word that starts with the same sound as the letter they see on each page.
• Sound out words in environment – Taking inspiration from shop fronts, street signs or the grocery store, ask your child to sound out letters in their everyday environment.

3. Write out a grocery list

This is a great way to get your child involved in a weekly activity and show them a practical application for writing. Ask your child to help you write down your grocery list as you go through the fridge and the cupboards, then have them to read it aloud to you at the store.

Other writing/spelling games to try:

• Name writing – Have them start out writing their own name and then progress to writing out the names of their immediate and extended family.
• Alphabet game – Choose a few letters such as t, a and c and ask your child to mix them around to make a few combinations, for example: tac, cat, etc. Then ask them to identify the real words.
• Pretend café menu – Ask your child to write up a menu for pretend play, complete with categories and prices.

4. Plan a scavenger hunt

Compile a small list of simple items for your child to photograph and/or collect such as a flower, a stick or dirt. Meeting in a backyard or a local park, give your child a specific time limit and have them report back with the items they’ve found.

Other outdoor games to try:

• Spell out street signs – Ask your child to sound out the names of street signs and then spell them out loud.
• Go on a nature walk – Pick an outdoor spot for your child to explore and ask them to record five things they’ve seen. Once they’ve done so, ask them to label each item on a piece of paper along with a photo or sketch and a description.
• Play the ABC game – Starting with A, have your child go through the alphabet and name one thing they can see with each letter. You can do this virtually anywhere.

For more outdoor inspiration check out 5 Outdoor Games that Build Kids’ Literacy.

5. Play a DIY game

Do it yourself games require a tiny bit more effort but are generally hassle free as long as you have your child’s spelling or vocabulary list handy. If not, you can always look online for age appropriate lists.

• Rubbish Ball – Gather a clean rubbish bin and some paper. Pick 8–10 words from your child’s spelling or vocabulary list from school and write each word on a piece of paper. Crumble each one up and place into the bin. Ask your child to take a piece of paper out, read the word, then crumble it back up and spell it without looking. For each word they spell correctly they can try and shoot a basket. Continue until each ball has made it into the basket
• Roll it – You’ll need a die and a set of 8-10 focus word cards (choose vocabulary words from a school assignment and write them on individual pieces of paper). Have players take turns picking up a card from the stack and either read it aloud or turn it back over and spell it. If they are correct, they can roll the die for a score. Record the number for each turn, the first player to reach 25 points wins.

I checked the iPad today and found that we’d had another friendly visitor. This note was next to the Dragon post box.

Join the Fairyland gang and let’s get dancing!

Send Dee your videos  – deethedragon101@gmail.com

We hope you are all well.🌈.
Here are a few fun activities to keep you busy this week. ☀️ Let us know how you get on.

Over the next few weeks, we challenge you to tick off as many of these challenges as you can!

Good Morning P1, we hope you all had a lovely first week busy at home and enjoyed some quiet time at the weekend! We are missing you all lots and love to hear what you have been up to!!

Here’s a challenge – When I was a little girl I loved watching ‘Art Attack!’ and the ‘Big Art’ the presenter made (like these)–>.

Using things from around your house or from a shed/garage, could you make your own Big Art? Maybe a portrait of Dee or a Spring picture, and label it.

This is my try of Dee! 

I’m sure Dee would love to see your finished masterpieces -deethedragon101@googlemail.com

Good morning all, we hope you have been busy and have tried to have some fun this week. It’s difficult for us all just now, but remember we’re still here to help you or  if you just want to say ‘hi’! 😀

We like this idea of making your own wee office den somewhere in the house. You could read in there, write in your jotter, draw a picture for Dee.
Send us or Dee a picture of what you get up to you in your cosy den! 😊

Follow the link below to get some ideas!

30 Days to Hands on Play Challenge: A Reading Tent