Reading Play  

 

See some highlights on the Day of Play website!

Reading Play1. Go on an ABC Treasure Hunt! Label 26 small paper bags, one with each letter of the alphabet. Find items to fill the bags whose names begin with the letter on each bag. Sort through the house, then go outside! Ask your child questions like, "What is this?" or "What sound do you hear at the beginning of the word?" Once each bag has at least one object, have your child go through and recite the names of the objects and the letters they start with. Keep the bags and review one letter each day!

2. Play "Drop Everything and Read Tag"! Go outside and decide the boundaries of your playing field and the "library." One player is "It," and they try to tag the other players, who each carry a book. To avoid being tagged, players can stop running, open their book, and read out loud. Tagged players are sent to the library where they sit and read. To free them, players have to run to the library and swap books with the tagged players. The last player tagged becomes the new "It". The game ends when everyone is in the library! 3. Play Rhyme a Rhyme! Write at least 20 words on slips of paper, fold them, and put them into a hat. Have the children sit in a circle and have one of them pick a word from the hat. That child says the word out loud and then going around the circle, each child must say a word that rhymes with the word from the hat; they can make words up if they're stuck. The round ends when a child repeats a word, or is completely stumped. (Play this outside in the summer!)

Construction Play1. Build a Recycled Box City! Start by creating a city plan, what kind of buildings do they want? Where? On a large sheet of cardboard, have your child mark where the town's buildings and other features will go and choose the boxes that best fit the buildings they want. Have them cut out windows and doors and add decorations with pieces of magazines and markers. Add any other features using paper towel tubes and extra cardboard. Don't rush, this is a big project! 2. Make Stilts! Take 2 large tin cans and make 2 holes in the same spot on opposite sides of the can. For the 4th of July you can paint them red, white and blue! For the handles, tape one end of a length of clothesline to a skewer to push it through to the other side of the can. Have your child stand on the can, holding the line's ends. Knot the line at hip level and trim. Repeat for the other stilt, and they're off! 3. Make a Summer Wind Chime! Have a parent drill small holes in