Did you know that at least 76 words can be made from the letters in the word SNOWMAN? 76!!!! While this winter gross motor game isn’t necessarily for the youngest kids in the Treehouse, it can be adapted so that anyone can play. How many words can your child find?
WHAT YOU’LL NEED: White paper, printable cheat sheet of possible words from the letters in SNOWMAN
WHAT TO DO: Using pieces of white paper (if you are feeling inspired, you can cut out circles to resemble snowballs!), write one letter on each piece until you have the word SNOWMAN. Tape the letters at different heights, spaced out along a wall (some really high, some really low, others in the middle). Have your child take his first turn by simply touching each letter in order to spell the word snowman. He should have to move his body all over to get each letter (jump up, squat down, etc). Now, ask him to see how many other words he can spell by touching the letters in sequence in a certain amount of time — let’s say 1 minute.
HOW TO CHANGE IT UP:
-Put the letters on the floor, again, spaced out. Have your child jump, hop, step to spell each word.
-Place the letters on the floor in a circle around a center point. Tell your child that their right leg is frozen and only the left will move. They will then have to touch each letter with their left foot to spell words…a big challenge for the stabilizing muscles in that standing leg!!
-If your child isn’t quite ready for the challenge of spelling out words, use this activity for letter recognition or sound identification.
SKILL AREAS ADDRESSED: Gross motor skills, balance, coordination, motor control, cognitive skills, visual motor integration
Want to take a closer look at the skills kids are using in this activity? Check out our Clinical Closeup page, where we break down the skills listed below in terms everyone can understand.
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