Author: Tabitha Coles

Tongue twisters and language games
Make up and play with tongue twisters like Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers or Betty Botter bought some butter ...
Find poems and rhymes that play with language, like Michael Rosen’s ‘There’s mustard in the custard’.
Make up guessing games during meal times, e.g. I’m thinking of an animal. It can gallop. You can ride it. What is it? Take it in turns.

Tactile games
Put a dollop of paint onto a piece of paper and help your child to blow tricky words or letters, using a straw!
Play dice games by changing the dice faces to letters and asking your child to roll dice to see if he or she can make a word from the letters. Say the sounds when making the word.

Cook together
Cooking with your child is an excellent way to practise and talk about key maths skills – counting eggs for a cake recipe, measuring and weighing ingredients together. Best of all, you both get to enjoy a tasty treat at the end! Why not try making banana bread?

Phonic games
Use the levelled reading books your child brings home from school to see how many words your child can find with a particular sound e.g. the sound ai even if it’s spelled in different ways: ay, a-e – in two minutes!
Play full circle! Use magnetic / draw and cut out letters to make a word. Change one letter each time to make a new word until you get back to the original e.g. park-part-tart-dart-dark-park.

Reading books together
Make books together for younger siblings or grandparents.
Try reading books to your child that are above their reading age so they can listen and enjoy your reading and expression.
What child doesn’t love hearing a good story? Visit ‘Storyline online’ to watch videos of storytellers reading favourite traditional stories.

Action games
Set up treasure hunts around the house or challenges and encourage your child to read the clues to find the treasure.
Play games such as charades or What a Performance (Orchard Toys) and make sure you encourage your child to read the instructions.
Play timed word games like Boggle. Set an egg timer to one or two minutes and tell your child a sound, e.g. short vowel o and ask them to think up as many words with that sound (e.g. top, job, coffee) before the timer goes off.

Tactile games
Put a dollop of paint onto a piece of paper and help your child to blow tricky words or letters, using a straw!
Play dice games by changing the dice faces to letters and asking your child to roll dice to see if he or she can make a word from the letters. Say the sounds when making the word.