Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Letter Sound Sorting (Gross Motor Activity)

This game is very simple and a great way to strengthen letter recognition and sound skills. We used the letters 'c' and 't' because we have been working on those in particular this week.
Lately Squeak has been exhibiting a high level of self stimulatory behaviour in the form of hand flapping and clapping. It has been becoming so frequent that it is a problem for her so we have been including upper body strengthening exercises as often as possible throughout the day to help her regulate and provide sensory input (check here for more information about Autism and self stimulatory behaviour).
Her brilliant OT suggested using the scooter board so we have been incorporating this into our learning as well as skis and a peanut ball. This game can be played any number of ways; you could use your child's bike or scooter, skateboard, or a physical movement such as jumping or skipping.

WE USED:

* two tubs for sorting our letter sounds
* letter sound picture cards
(document at the bottom of this post)
* scooter board, skis and peanut ball

We used two tubs for our letter sorting, Squeak is young and still learning her letter names and sounds, but you could use as many as you think your child is capable of. Each tub was labelled with a different letter (we are working on 'c' and 't' this week so those are the letter sounds we used).
I then used Google Images to find silhouettes beginning with 'c' and 't', printed them and then cut them into cards. I deliberately used pictures and no written words because I wanted her to focus on the letter sound. The document we used is at the end of this post.

We laid our picture cards face down and Squeak picked them up one by one. She had to identify the picture and letter sound then sort it into the correct tub. To get between each tub she used either the scooter board or peanut ball to strengthen her gross motor skills (and make it way more fun :D).

Scooter boards are a great way to build upper body strength and co ordination.

The peanut ball is another great gross motor tool and more stable for younger kids than the rounder gym balls or hoppers. 

Bubble used the scooter board and skis which require much more strength.


Letter Sound Pictures



1 comment:

  1. I LOVE this idea! I am always trying to think of physical activities that can be done inside to help burn off that restless energy. This is perfect combining a learning component. Now my mind is spinning with other possible ideas. Thanks!

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