Get a plain coloured mystery bag. Preferably black or dark blue/red. Mystery mah…. Why not bags with polka dots or stripes, you may ask? Answer is…. so as not to distract the child’s concentration from the task at hand. Mystery bag should ideally be a large cotton drawstring bag, so items of multiple sizes would be able to fit nicely without giving hints of content (in the bag)?
If you are teaching letter a, put in apple, apricot, aeroplane into it.
As child dips hand into the bag, ask child to guess what the item is by the feel of the item shape.
When child removes item from the bag…. say the word of the item. If its aeroplane…. linger on the aaaaaaa… sound and say, aaaaaaeroplane…
Show child the card of letter a and say – a for aaaaaeroplane.
Repeat steps for the other items – ie. a for aaaaapple…. a is for aaaapricot.
End the simple game by re-emphasizing that – aaapple, aaapricot and aaaaeroplane begins with letter a.
Play the game again with the same items and the same letter until the child can manage the words introduced and gets the concept of the game. You may include more items into the bag if your child likes the game and enjoys the guessing game.
Don’t be too quick to skip to following letters. Repetition is encouraged.
.Work with say… one whole week dedicated for letter a items and so 3 weeks to associate letters a, b and c with items beginning with corresponding letters. Vary the items in the bag for the week you’re doing that same letter.
4th week – Try to place all or some items done during the past 3 weeks into the mystery bag. Now is truly the mystery moment… Ask child to place the item picked out and place it under the letter card that starts with its beginning letter. For example if child picks out aaaaeroplane… Guide the child, "Where should we place the aaaaeroplane? Hmmm… Now which letter does aaaaeroplane begin with?"
Continue until all the items in the bag have been placed under the corresponding letter cards. If child does wrongly, it’s ok. Just play the game again.. Wink
At any time if the child seems to lose concentration or is tired, just stop the game and continue another time. Pushing ahead may not conceive positive results. Patience and practice makes it perfect.
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