Playtime Activity: 5 Years

Gather a variety of your child’s favorite toys/animals from around the house (e.g., puppy, Lego, dinosaur, etc.). Ahead of time, write the corresponding beginning uppercase letter for each object on a small piece of paper or index card (e.g. P, L, D, etc.). Put all of the items in a paper or cloth bag. Ask your child to reach her hand in and grab an object. After she selects her object (e.g. Lego), ask her, “What is the first letter in ‘Lego’?” and ask her to pick the right letter card. You can make a number grab bag too! On small pieces of paper, write down the numerals 1 to 10. Ask her to pick a number card out of the bag. On the side, have a large group of objects handy, such as checkers, stickers, plastic chips, wooden blocks, etc. If she draws the number 6, for example, ask her to get six blocks to make a “match.”

Possible Intervention Strategies & Supports

• If your child does not immediately tell you the correct letter, ask her to listen to the word again while you say it slowly (e.g., say, "L – ego," stressing the /l/ sound). Ask her what sound she hears at the beginning of the word. If she guesses the sound and connects it with the letter L, that's great! If she still needs a cue, get out the letter cards to give her a visual. You can show her two of these cards and ask her, for example, "What letter does Lego start with - L or D?"

• The foundation for fine motor skills should be well in place by now, but opportunities to practice continue to be important. Children should be improving in their ability to manipulate objects, so picking up one small item and holding it in their palm while they pick up another one, and then bringing each to the tips of their fingers (like securing coins to put in a bank) are higher level fine motor skills that they can work on at this age. Bead stringing with smaller beads and following patterns or making more complex constructions with blocks are all important foundational fine motor activities that help with development of later academic skills.

• To reinforce letter recognition, write uppercase letters on standard size (8.5 x 11 inch) pieces of paper with a thick marker (one letter per page). Have your child use macaroni, string, beans, or buttons to glue items on the letters, following the written lines. Encourage your child to trace the letter with her finger before gluing on the objects. Also try searching for pictures or words in magazines that begin with specific letters, cut them out, and glue them on the pages too.

Tips

Frustration is a very normal part of life and your child may experience it when playing games!  Learning to cope with frustration takes practice. A little silliness can go a long way toward healing a frustrated 5-year-old.  Pointing out that something is hard and following it up with something silly is a great way to break the tension.

Family Handout

Click here to download an editable one-page handout of this age range's playtime activity, interventions, and tips.