I recently shared a post with reviews of over 10 resources to help children with their reading. They are primarily paid services or products, and I do recommend all the products included in that post. I believe it’s definitely worth investing in educational products and services, as anything towards the children’s education and development is money well spent!
However, I did promise that I would share some free literacy activities and literacy games here on the blog too. So here’s a selection, not just posts from me but also from fellow parenting bloggers with some of the best fun and free literacy activities for kids. These are all activities which can be done at home to help encourage kids interest in letters, reading and writing. I’ve also included some posts which are not activities but are really useful resources for children’s literacy.
Some of the literacy games we like to play at home are:
- Using magnetic letters to make up quizzes. Eg miss one letter out from a word and challenge each other to correctly guess. Mix up the letters of a word and have your child unscramble them. Make a list of rhyming words. Make the longest word you can! Foam or wooden letters also can be used in exactly the same way. We have a large magnet board and magnetic letters in the playroom but we often use foam letters in the bath
- Writing letters in the air. Mr Z will write a letter in the air and I have to watch his finger carefully and guess which letter it is. This can also be done by tracing the letter onto each other’s back and guessing by the feel of what has been traced.
- Making up silly sentences. Writing normal sentences would not always keep Mr Z’s attention for so long, by using something a bit silly like “Mum fell in the mud” “Dad sat in the jam” this kept his attention a bit more.
- I-Spy. This is a classic! It’s good for phonological awareness which has a knock on effect on reading and writing.
And now for some of the posts with great literacy activities that I would like to share:
Exploring Symmetry in Letters from Still Playing School
Learn to Write your Name with Post it Notes from Here Come the Girls
Five Active Activities for Practising Beginning Word Sounds from Frugal Fun 4 Boys
15 Fun Writing Activities from No Time for Flash Cards
Lego Animal Alphabet (with free printables) at B-Inspired Mama
Getting Started with Writing from Lemon Lime Adventures
Getting Started with Reading from Lemon Lime Adventures
135 Book recommendations for Toddlers from In The Playroom
I hope you find all the ideas useful. If you have any blog posts on literacy or just ideas that you would like to share, please feel free to leave them in the comments section!
*Blog posts and images included with permission. If you would like to pin those activities, please click through and pin them directly from their source.
February 21, 2014 @ 9:43 pm
some great ideas. It’s always good to have fresh ideas to use with the kids
spicers1976 recently posted…Organising The Entrance Hall
February 21, 2014 @ 11:17 pm
I love the magnetic letters idea 🙂
February 22, 2014 @ 12:43 am
Lots of great ideas there Anna – thank you 🙂
Jenny @ The Brick Castle recently posted…The Price Of Cinema Tickets Kills Me…..
February 22, 2014 @ 3:29 pm
We are just starting out on the formal learning journey and some really fantastic ideas here.
VaiChin @Rambling Through Parenthood recently posted…At Dunham Massey
February 22, 2014 @ 3:59 pm
Great ideas here. Thanks for the links 🙂
Shell Louise recently posted…Photo Challenge – 3 week catch-up!
February 22, 2014 @ 5:16 pm
Great ideas, thanks for sharing. We are a bit young for it at the moment, but I know where to come when she is older x
You Baby Me Mummy recently posted…Challenge Yourself #2
February 22, 2014 @ 5:45 pm
These are great ideas thank you for sharing. We love i spy.
Pinkoddy recently posted…Home-made Superheroes Villains
February 22, 2014 @ 7:25 pm
Love all of these ideas. I remember doing the tracing a letter on someones back when i was younger x
February 22, 2014 @ 8:32 pm
Definitely bookmarked this one for future use, so many great ideas but we’re a way off using them yet!
Lauren recently posted…Outfit: slouchy & flocked
February 22, 2014 @ 8:40 pm
Wonderful ideas as always, I love the literacy tips
Mel W recently posted…Sport Relief and SSE
February 22, 2014 @ 9:20 pm
Thanks for sharing! Lots of great ideas for future use! 😉
Sylvia recently posted…Beef Tli tli (algerian pasta dish) / Tli tli z wołowiną (algierska makaronowa potrawka).
February 22, 2014 @ 9:55 pm
Some great ideas here, I’m feeling rather clueless about promoting literacy at the moment with Bud.
Pippa Ainsworth recently posted…Axel Scheffler’s Noisy Jungle – Review and Giveaway
February 23, 2014 @ 7:23 am
Thanks for this there are some really great resources here!
Kizzy recently posted…Saturday is Caption Day #SatCap
February 23, 2014 @ 8:40 am
Some good ideas there. We found flashcards worked really well for Ethan.
mummy of two recently posted…Silent Sunday #8
February 23, 2014 @ 8:47 am
Brilliant ideas (as always) xx
[email protected] recently posted…Half Term at home….
February 23, 2014 @ 9:30 am
Some lovely ideas for making learning fun!
Lucy Dorrington recently posted…Silent Sunday
February 23, 2014 @ 11:13 am
Oh I like the idea of a Lego Animal Alphabet – learn and create at the same time
Agata Pokutycka recently posted…Weekly Photo Challenge: Threes
February 23, 2014 @ 1:02 pm
Some fab ideas there 🙂 x
Charlotte recently posted…Silent Sunday 24/02/2014
February 23, 2014 @ 9:33 pm
The lego animal alphabet would go down well in our house
kara recently posted…Silent Sunday – 23rd February2014
February 24, 2014 @ 12:19 am
Another super useful resource and particularly handy for the stage we’re currently at. thanks for sharing.
Emily @amummytoo recently posted…Draw all over the tablecloth with washable felt tips! (review)
February 24, 2014 @ 8:08 am
A great round up of activities. Thanks for sharing them!
Michelle recently posted…Condensed [Project 365:2014 – Day 54]
February 24, 2014 @ 9:55 am
some brilliant ideas! x
Fritha Strickland recently posted…Rocket Dog boot giveaway
February 24, 2014 @ 4:39 pm
Some nice ideas here. Thank you
February 25, 2014 @ 5:40 am
Great. Kids will be so happy to have these 🙂
February 25, 2014 @ 11:10 am
Thank you for sharing these great ideas! My youngest would love to sit and do some of these with me!
Jo Laybourn recently posted…The Mummy Tag
February 25, 2014 @ 12:14 pm
Love all of these ideas, I think my girls would really enjoy these activities!!! thanks for linking up with #readwithme I have tweeted and pinned this post x
chantelle hazelden recently posted…A Winter Adventure With Barny
February 25, 2014 @ 9:30 pm
Fantastic! I love the Lego! I know my two would respond well to lots of these ideas, thank you!
Bek recently posted…End of the holidays
February 25, 2014 @ 9:52 pm
Fab ideas. we are at this phase now. Aaron is so enthusiastic about learning letters numbers and the time.
xx
liska recently posted…The Quest for the Right Vitamin Water – not all Vitamin Waters are created equal
February 26, 2014 @ 1:42 pm
Wow! Lots of great ideas 🙂 Thank you for linking to PoCoLo x
Verily Victoria Vocalises recently posted…Barnys Little Winter Adventures: A Half Term Jaunt
February 27, 2014 @ 10:35 pm
love your post – so interesting as usual!
February 28, 2014 @ 2:48 am
Great ideas..:)
Liya loved writing in the air. As a toddler when she used to write in the air, all letters were reversed and I learned that she was watching us writing in the air from opposite side and she got everything in the reverse order.. lol!
Legos ideas, I am sure many mum’s will be easy to do that cause there is nothing that can beat a set of legos for children, mine is no different..:)
Thanks for a great post!
MumLee recently posted…10 things
February 28, 2014 @ 3:05 am
Great sites. Very useful and I am going to use it immediately. Thanks a lot .
February 28, 2014 @ 12:36 pm
Some great ideas here that I will be able to use with Bee!
Foz recently posted…Friday Wisdom 28/02/2014
November 9, 2014 @ 4:04 pm
As always, Anna – you have some good ideas, and have linked to some awesome resources as well. Thanks for linking this one up to the Parenting Tip post too xx.
Helen Neale (@KiddyCharts) recently posted…Teaching kids loyalty through football #HelloNatWest