Description:

           This activity is designed as an educational tool to assist young children from the ages of 3-7 years old. The objectives are to target sight-reading, math, and spelling. There are three levels to the game, each challenging the child further. The child will be challenged to read a number and its corresponding symbol and then place that many Legos on the play mat. For example, if the child sees the number “4,” and the word “four,” the child should place four Legos on the mat. Once the child is comfortably answering correctly, then he is ready for the next level.

Directions:

            Set-up:

• Take a piece of fabric and draw a grid as shown below using a marker.
• In the first row, write down the number of your choice (i.e. “4”).
• In the second row, write down the corresponding word of that number in the first row (i.e “four”).
• Leave a pile of Legos on the side of the fabric

Gameplay:

• Begin by speaking aloud the number in the first row and second rows to your child.
• Next place Legos in the appropriate column of the third row in the amount of the number that was chosen in the first and second row (i.e. four Legos).
• After practicing with the child, allow the child to try for himself/herself.
  • Have the child read aloud the symbol and the word of the chosen number, and then ask them to place that many Legos in the appropriate box.
• Once the child is comfortable with this exercise, challenge them by drawing a new grid without the symbol of the chosen number (i.e. “4”) in the first row and have then do the exercise again.
  • This time, have the child re-write the missing symbol in the corresponding row.
• Once the child is comfortable with this exercise, repeat the exercise without the word of the corresponding number.   
• Finally, when the child is comfortable, challenge them by giving them a blank grid and let them write the symbol, the word and place Legos in the corresponding box on the grid.

Learning Outcome: 

             This activity focuses on acting as a supplemental tool to assist in strengthening a child’s ability to sight read, count, write, and number recognition. Thus, this activity is meant to be implemented for children aged 3-7.  This activity can also be evolved to match the level of the child as they further progress. The overall goal for this activity is to be an engaging method of learning basic skills while challenging and thus increasing a child’s level of confidence and work ethic.  

Additional Materials:

• At Least 4 Pieces of Fabric
• A Marker
• A bag of Legos

Picture: