I got this idea from my husband- who read it in one of his literacy books for his masters program. I spiced it up a little bit, of course.
The idea is for the child to match capital letters with lower case letters. So, using the child’s name, I made a card with each letter, twice. One capital letter, and one lower case.
I attempted to do this many ways- including drawing out block letters on cute paper. But, in the end I decided this was easiest. (Then, I realized that if I had a Cricut, it would be ten times easier!)
So, I chose the size for my cards and drew them out on heavy cardstock, using an example card that I measured out.
Then, I chose colorful, fun paper for the borders on my cards, and cut those out using the same example card. (I did this over a period of many days, whenever my boys would give me a chance to work on it…And, yes, I am working on the carpet!)
I cut out a square from each of the border pieces… I wasn’t very particular about not cutting through the border, because I knew I was going to laminate them later, and you can’t see those cuts anyway. (It saved me a lot of hassle of folding and cutting out a perfect border.) (When I make yours, I’ll make sure it’s flawless!)
Then, I cut out each letter, as close as I could. (Like I said, a Cricut, or even stickers or something, would have made this much easier!)
The, I taped them onto the cardstock! (yep, tape, it’s easier than glue and, I planned on laminating, so I knew it wouldn’t matter.)
Since my son is only 2 1/2, I made it as simple as possible- I chose the same borders for capital and lower case, and I did letters with multiples, in the same border as well. (ex. C and c, and also H and h, twice because Christopher has 2 H’s.) I also used two different colors of cardstock, just to make it a little bit easier. (Some letters are cream, some are a tannish color.)
And- the finished product!
Christopher likes that I spent all this time making a game just for him! He plays it with them facing up and he definitely needs a lot of help still!
You can play that way, or with the cards facing down like Memory, for older children. This would be great for children ages 4-6, especially. This is a skill they work on in kindergarten and first grade.
Nope, not a match.
Yeah! A match!
Do you think your child would like this? Maybe you should make them one! Or, better yet, sign up for my giveaway, and I’ll make them one!
They can be for girls, or boys, or if their names are short, I’ll do both! I have lot’s of cute paper to choose from, and if you win, you can even choose your own colors!
Here’s how to sign up!- You only need to leave me one comment stating that you did all of this!
1. Check out my children’s book blog, and become a follower! (If you’re reading about this on my children’s book blog- you’ve already accomplished task #1!)
http://iwritechildrensbooks.blogspot.com
2. Post my children’s book button on your blog, or, if you already have one, leave me a comment telling me.
3. Refer one friend to check out this giveaway! (They don’t have to drop your name or anything, I’ll trust that you did it!)
4. Then, leave me a comment letting me know that you did all that! (Don’t forget your email address, so I can get in touch with you!) You can even leave the name of the child you want the game made for!
This might seem like a lot, but it should be pretty easy. And believe me, your son or daughter will thank you when they have a new matching game, and learn how to write their own name! Plus, you never know, you might find something kind of interesting on my children’s book blog! :)
While you’re at it, feel free to take a button for this blog too! And hey, if you don’t care to enter the giveaway, please leave me a comment anyway, with a link to your website, so I can come check out your blog! I love sharing blogs!
Oh yeah, one last brag!
This is what I found when I was busy cutting some of the letters! I’ve let Christopher use scissors, often, always supervised. Recently I noticed he could cut with one hand. Then, suddenly, he can cut on straight lines! I’m so proud!~!
