April 27th is “Tell A Story” day. We all love to tell stories, and as parents, teachers, and friends of young children we also get the opportunity to hear a lot of stories. Stories can be fun to make up as well, especially as a family. When you’re sitting around the dinner table, or hanging out together in the family room, try one of these ideas to build literacy into your home in fun and creative ways. You never know, you may find some unexpected laughs.
Why … Because
On the top of a piece of paper, write a why question (why is the sky blue). Fold the paper to cover your question, and pass it to the next person. They are then to write a “because” statement (because I walked the dog today). Fold the paper covering the response, and pass it to the next person. Continue in this way, until everyone has had a chance or the paper is full. Read out all the questions and answers together.
Silent Hangman
Hangman with a twist – NO TALKING! Set up your game the way you normally would, but in order to guess letters, those figuring out the words are to use their “finger writers” and write the letter in the air. The person who knows the word is to write the letters either on the lines, helping to complete the word, or off to the side as a sign that the letter has already been guessed. Remember, NO TALKING FROM ANYONE.
Rhyme Time
Think of words that have rhyming words. Have your children think of as many real rhyming words as they can. To add a little competitiveness to this, for each real word that truly rhymes, give them a point – the first person to 10 points wins and gets to pick the new word. You may want to be sure to remind your children to use nice words only.