Summer Learning Series: Rhyme Time with Children, Cakes & Creations: Moments Of Joy

 Every child loves summer. Summer is a time for playing outside, swimming in the pool, and hanging out with your friends. Unfortunately, summer is also a time when kids lose a lot of what they learned during the previous year of school. As an elementary school teacher, it was frustrating to watch my students struggle at the beginning of each year with objectives that they had mastered the previous year. As a parent, I want to make sure that this doesn’t happen to my children. This summer, I will be setting aside a little time each day for some fun learning activities for my kids. Clarisse from Children, Cakes & Creations: Moments of Joy feels the same way.  Today she is sharing a great way to practice rhyming and reading with our kiddos.  I know my 5-year old is going to love this.  Don't forget to swing by Clarisse's blog and check out all her fabulous ideas.  With all her ideas, your kids won't have time to get bored this summer!

Rhyme Time

I don't know if most people are aware of just how cheap I am, but I pinch pennies so hard Lincoln screams. We do not mind budgeting for fun stuff, but if we can make or do something for free, I'm all over that! So when I came across this idea, I knew it was PERFECT for us. It not only satisfies my need to be cheap, but it is fun and educational. This is not only something a child can grow into, but it can grow with them!
All you need are:  Paint swatches (courtesy of Lowes - I like theirs because they already have the squares in there!!!), Scissors, and a Permanant Marker. That's it.
I used about 14 of the large ones (with squares) and about 45 - 50 of the smaller ones

Step 1; Next to the squares (to the right of them) you'll want to write a word ending like "an", "ack", "op", etc,
Step 2; Bust out those scissors and cut along the white line separating the colors. I also trimmed the color's name off of the left hand side so that it was more aesthetically pleasing, and I made sure to leave a little bit of room between the square and the edge.

Step 3: On the small color swatches write the letters of the alphabet AND various letter sounds like "ch", "sh", "st", "qu", etc. I then trimmed the color names and numbers off of the color swatches so that we didn't have to look at them.

Step 4: Place the paint swatch with the square over the top of the letter and create a word like "can" change letters and you'll have "pan" or "ran" - see??? It's a great way to teach kids how to rhyme, and it helps them learn their letters and letter sounds!

To see another application of this idea, check out Multi-Colored Math.  This idea is easily adapted to fit your child's particular educational needs.