These activities were proposed by Eric Shopler, a professional interested on children with communication handicaps. I divided them in groups according to the function area they aim to develop.

Funtion area: Perception, visual, 5-6 years

Activity 1- Sight Reading

Goal: To read 5-10 words by sight

Objective: To match written word to object and say the word

Materials: Index cards, tape, printed words (table, door, light, TV)

Procedure: Print the words in the lowercase letters on the cards. Make five of each word. First teach the child to sort the words to be sure she can see they are the same. Now tape one card to the object it matches (tape one card saying table on the table, door on the door, and so on). Seat the child in a chair, hold up one card, and ask "What does this say?". If she does not no, tell her, and then have her match it to the card on the real object. As she matches it, reassure her, "Yes, this says table". Then have her repeat the word. Continue with this game each day, giving help as soon as she hesitates. When you see she can remember the words, test her by removing the cards taped to the objects and see if she can still read the cards and point to or label the object.

If the child can remember these words for as long as a week without needing the cards taped up, the try to teach a few more. Teach her words that will be useful later when you want to give her a written direction such as "Turn off the lights" or "Dirty clothes here".

Funtion area: Gross motor, arms, 5-6 years

Activity 1- Wheelbarrow walk

Goal: To develop arm strength and coordination

Objective: To walk forward on both hands while someone holds up both legs

Materials: None

Procedure: Tell the child that she is going to be a wheelbarrow and have him get down on the floor on his hands and knees. Stand behind him and grasp his legs firmly around the ankles. Lift his feet a few inches off the ground while he supports himself on his hands and arms. Do not old him in this position for longer than a few seconds at first. Praise him immediately after putting him down. As his arm strength and confidence increase, gradually hold his feet up a litle longer. Also begin to lift his feet slightly higher, but be careful not to put too much pressure on his arms before he is ready for it. When he feels comfortable resting on just his hands, have him walk forward by moving his hands while you hold up his feet. Draw two lines about 5 yards apart and have him walk on his hands from the starting line to the finish line. Make sure that he knows exactly how far he has to walk.

Activities/Games for Learning Letters (English) or Names of Things

Note: The general instructions for each game are for learning letters but are the same for learning names of things. These games facilitate memorization, but are more interesting for students than "drilling".

Materials:

Teacher has sets of letters:

2 sets of capital letters
2 sets of lowercase letters

Ideally 1 set of small-size letter cards for each student. (Older students or tutors /volunteers might help make these.) They will be used for ordering activities.

Deck of playing-size cards of  the Alphabet (large and lowercase letters). These can be made by gluing white paper with letters printed on them over a regular inexpensive playing card deck and trimming around the edges. There must be at least two of each letter for matching activities.

Activities/Games:

Ordering - Ages 3 - high school, if beginners

Teacher puts one set into correct order as a model. Students use their set to try to match, sort their letters into the correct order. Teacher helps and corrects each set as students get stuck or are finished.

The teacher and students sing an alphabet song to reinforce while the students work towards trying to touch each letter as it is sung. ( In English lessons, "The ABC Song")( Tape or MP3 more appropriate ?)

Fish Game - speaking, recalling   Ages: 4 - adult

Students try to make matched pairs of cards.

Using a deck of letter playing cards that contains at least two of each letter, each student is dealt 4 or 5 cards.The rest of the cards are put face down in the center of the table. The first one to start is the person on the left of the dealer.

Starter says "Maria (name of student chosen), do you have an 'A'?"

Maria answers "Yes" and gives the card to that student or "No. Go Fish".

If "No. Go Fish", the asking student then takes a "fish"/card from the center pile and the next person has a turn. Anyone may be asked, but the student should say the person being asked's name as a cue to who is being asked. The matched pairs of cards may be placed in the center of the circle or on the center of the table in alphabet order.(From A to Z)

Students stop playing when the first person puts down all their cards, or may continue to try to complete the alphabet set. To make this easier, the teacher can assist students who don't know the names of letters ( by saying the letter name and then the child repeats it) or the card can just be shown, for example, "Do you have a ___? (show card). This game is also effective for more advanced students to learn to match capital and lowercase letters; in this case the deck consists of at least 1 set of capitals and 1 set of lowercase letters.

"What's Missing?" Game -- recalling, speaking, learning individual letters  Ages 4 - 12

This game can be played with other objects for teaching the names of things. Almost anything can be used.

Materials: Any of: a set of Alphabet cards, set of numbers, colours, animals, set of geometric shapes, kinds of plants, foods, clothes, etc.

A set of alphabet cards or a part of a set (for example, A-H) is put in the center of a circle of students (at a table or on the floor). The teacher asks everyone to close their eyes

(hands cover eyes--say:"Don't look!") The teacher takes one letter and hides it in a small bag or in her hands. When ready she says "Okay", and everyone opens their eyes and looks to see what letter is missing. The teacher asks the student on her left (or any student) "What's missing?" and gives the student a chance to guess a letter or "pass". Each student is asked in turn. When each has had a turn the teacher cues everyone to say, "What's missing?" in unison in a louder voice. The teacher reveals the letter and students can say it. Then each student gets a turn to take a letter, following the same procedure. The student must ask each other student, "What's missing?" and wait for the student to guess. If a student takes too long, the teacher/tutor can help them to "pass" and maybe take another turn at the end after they have heard other students' answers.

This should be played with smaller groups (3-6 is best). If it takes too long to go around the circle children can become restless. Break bigger groups into smaller circles whenever possible. A teacher/tutor must usually lead each group to keep the pace timely.

Concentration Game:   Ages 4-12

 

Very versatile, can be played with many kinds of cards such as big and small animals, colours, numbers, words and pictures, geometric shapes, etc.

Materials: Set of cards with two of the same or matching items.

A simple matching game can be played where the students try to remember the location of letters placed face down randomly on the table. (They are in a circle around the letters). Students try to find pairs of cards by turning over two cards per turn. If they find a pair they may have another turn or two (at the discretion of the teacher). The cards can be put in one pile in the center as they are found or may be arranged in alphabet order as the students try to complete the whole alphabet set. The game is finished when time is up or all the cards are used.

Easier: Use a small selection of cards about 2 sets per student. For example, for 5 students you would use 2-A's ( I set), 2-B's, 2-C's, 2-D's, 2-E's, 2-F's, 2-G's, 2-H's, 2-G's, and 2-H's. That way there will be 2 sets for each student to (possibly) pick up.

Harder: Use the full Alphabet set or a set or selection of capitals and lowercase letters. Students will need to know each because they may get some of each on the random deal. It's not necessary to know all of them though, as they can show the card to the other student and the teacher can help them say it.

For other sets of things: The more things the harder it is. Adjust the number for the level of difficulty you wish for your students.

    Bingo Games: New Vocabulary or Numbers, any age

  Materials: 1 Bingo card per person (or 2 can share), markers (each person needs as many as squares on their card)

  
  Bingo games are a tried and true way of teaching new vocabulary or numbers and they are usually enjoyed by people of all ages. Of course they can be played for prizes, but when I play these in class with children I like to de-emphasize the winning aspect of them and emphasize the fun aspect. I ask students to call "Bingo" when they have a line of squares covered ( one line in any direction) but then we go on until everyone has  a Bingo or the time is up or we have had enough. I let the students count the number of Bingos they get. They like to say Bingo Number 1, Bingo Number 2 etc.

   You can teach vocabulary by holding up the picture and saying its name at the same time while students try to find th esame picture on their card and cover it with a marker( paper square). make the game harder by waiting for a few seconds to show the picture while students think of what the word is. The hardest is if you never show the picture or have a few "secret" pictures which you don't show. This game is good for listening practice and integrating vocabulary.

  I am adding url's of two websites that have a range of Bingo cards and games, and they can be printed in Black and White as well as colour. The best site for Black and White is MES English. I use it all the time and the cards are easy to just cut out and fold over. You can secure them with 1 piece of tape in the middle ( fast) or use a glue stick to put them together more securely. Make simple markers from little squares of paper or lentils or beans. They can be used again and again. I keep them in a paper cup or bag along with the Bingo cards held together with a clothespin or paperclip.

MES English:
http://www.mes-english.com/flashcards.php

DTLK's Make Your Own Bingo Card:
http://www.dltk-cards.com/bingo/bingo1.asp

Activities/Games related to maths 

Materials:

a rubber ball

an ordinary deck of playing cards

real objects collected by teacher/tutors such as leaves, small flowers, grasses, sticks, beans or seeds, stones, anything available from nature

small pieces of coloured or white paper

Ball Pass:

 

Materials: a rubber ball -- Any age from about 4

Students sit in a circle on the floor or around a big table (or a few tables pushed together). The teacher puts the ball in play by rolling it to another student and saying "1". The next student rolls it to another (the next one around the circle works well because you avoid missing any students or them taking too long to think about who to pass it to and losing the game momentum, but it's at the teacher's discretion.) The teacher counts out loud for the students for the first few rounds, say "1-10". After that the children repeat the number before the play moves on.

Easier: Roll the ball around the circle to the next student. Start with 1-10 for a month or so or until it becomes a bit easier then add a few numbers until learned, then move up, slowly. The object is a lot of repetiton that will make counting automatic (as it is in a students native system), but in a fun format that the kids like.

Harder: With older students you can allow them to decide who to send the ball to to try to surprise the next person, or invent fancier rolls, but the focus should remain on counting in a rather quick way than on too many fancy tricks. It's very possible for students to count up to 100 using this method, and then to learn counting by 5's, 10's, 20's, even 100's to 1000. Play it once a month or so when the numbers are pretty well learned, as a refresher.

Fish Game: Ages 4-adult

Materials: Regular deck of playing cards.

See procedure under Activities for English and learning the names of things. The same method is used but here a regular desk of playing cards using numbers is used to help students recall numbers from 1-9. Before the game starts, show the children the special cards and get them to say them a few times: Ace(A), King (K), Queen (Q), and Jack (J). You can help them with the names, numbers they don't remember.(Say them and they repeat.)

Real Objects: The children can examine the objects with the teacher and count things like how many seeds there are, how many veins on their leaves, how many petals on their flowers etc. The teacher can ask inquiry oriented-questions such as "How many petals does a (Daisy-- plant name) have?"

Teacher/tutor can ask each student to put 5 beans on their paper, give 2 to their neighbour, count how many are left. Take 3 more from the center and count how many they have now etc. If you have coloured beads, students can put them on a string to make a bracelet that they wear to practice counting at home.

Older students might like to count coins or paper money, and play a pretend shopping game where they ask the price of real objects and hand over money (or paper play money). They are both shopkeepers and shoppers so they have a chance to ask for things and "make change." You allow each student to choose about 5 things and set up a "shop" around a table or on a desk, or even a floor space. The other students visit them and shop. Each student has a turn to go to each shop and buy something, and they all go to heis/her shop. Of course you need enough items at each shop so each student playing can "buy" one item.

 

Student A: How much is the hat?

Student B: It's 1 dollar (or local money).

(Case1) A: Okay, I'll take it. Here you are (gives money).

B:Thank you. Here you are. ( gives item and change)

A: Thank you!

(Case 2) A: "That's too much!. How about 50 cents?"

B. Oh, okay./That's too cheap./

A: How about 75 cents?

Okay, I'll take it. Here you are (gives money).

B:Thank you. Here you are. (gives item and change)

A: Thank you!

The "How Many?"Game:  Ages 3-7

Materials: 5, 10, or up to 20 small objects

Teacher/ tutor gets some small interesting or natural objects /toys ( I use plastic ants). A good number is 10 but up to 20 can be used. The teacher shows the toys to the children and they look, touch them a bit to get up some energy/interest.The teacher may ask, "What's this?" to see if anyone can say what it is.

 

Then the teacher can hold up each one and help the students to count them out loud, in unison.

The teacher then puts the toys in a small bag or box so they can't be seen. Children close their eyes (Hands cover eyes -say Don't look!") or the teacher turns her back and takes out some of the items and puts them in her cupped hands or a pocket. The teacher says, "Okay", and the children look. The teacher shows her hands or points to her pocket and says, "How many "ants"? (name of item). Each child gets a turn to say a number or hold up some fingers to indicate how many they think are in the bag/pocket. The teacher helps the student to say the number that represents the number of fingers she is holding up.

After each student gets a guess, all students say together, "How many?" in a big voice and the teacher shows the toys and the students count them together with the teacher.

This is very easy for even small children as they can use fingers to answer.

 

Activities/Games related to Food 

 

The following section is a lesson plan and activities/worksheets for teaching children about Food Groups.

Food Groups Lesson Plan

Age:	3-5
Subject:	Other
Length of Time:	30 minutes
Description:	In this lesson, you will teach pre-schoolers about the different food groups: meat, vegetables, fruit, dairy, and breads. They will also place pictures of food in the different categories.
Goals:	Students will learn: * Discuss prior knowledge about good nutrition. * To recognize different food * Identify food groups * Place food in categories
Materials Needed:	You will need pictures of different foods or plastic food that represents the real food. You will need two charts. These can be made out of poster board. The charts need to have five columns. You will write a food group in each column. Chart One - You need pictures that show the children the different foods in the group. Chart Two - You will need the titles of the food groups at the top. The columns will be blank. Each student will take a picture and place it in the right food column.
Procedure:	First, you need to explain the food groups. You will do this by showing the students pictures of the food groups. You can make a chart and cut out pictures of each food group to show the students. Then, you can make another chart that has just the categories of the food groups. You will also need pictures of various foods in the different food groups. Have the students place the picture under the title. This will teach students to categorize different items. Explain that people, like all animals, need food for energy. We need the right amounts of good food to keep our bodies healthy so we are able to play and work at our best. Ask students to name foods that they enjoy from each of the food groups. Emphasize that the food pyramid is a guide that helps us make choices. Ask the students to recall choices they have made about eating that either had positive or negative consequences.
Tracking	Observe student participation in the food group game and in the building (and discussion) of the food pyramid.

Food Groups

Activities & Worksheets

Lesson 1: What Is the Food Pyramid?

The Food Pyramid

Food Groups

Activities & Worksheets

Label the Dairy Food

butter cheese cottage cheese

cream ice cream

milk yogurt

 

 

 

 

Food Groups

Activities & Worksheets

Label and Color the Fruits

apple avocado banana

cherry grapes lemon

orange pear strawberry watermelon

Food Groups

Activities & Worksheets

Play a game called “name that food group.”

To play, divide the class into two teams. Have one person from each team come to the front of the room at a time. Place a bell between the two players.

  When you name a food, the first player to ring the bell names the food group to which the food belongs. If he/she cannot name the food group, the second team gets a chance to name the food group.

  The team whose player correctly names the food group receives a point. Play continues with new players until each child has had a turn. The team with the highest number of points wins the game.

Create a nutritious meal plan.

They should decide on breakfast, lunch, and dinner, as well as a snack. Give each group a large piece of paper on which they can glue their choices. They may want to draw rows and columns with labels like this:

	Grains	Vegetables	Fruit	Milk	Meat & Beans
Breakfast
Lunch
Snack
Dinner

Food Groups

Activities & Worksheets

Play a game called “Food Group Relay.”

This fun game helps students learn the Five Food Groups.

Materials and Advance Prep

•  7 large paper grocery bags

•  Marker

•  Label one grocery bag "Team A" and one bag "Team B"

•  Label the five remaining bags for each of the Five Food Groups - Milk, Meat, Grain,  Fruits and Vegetables

•  4 x 4-inch pieces of drawing paper in two colors - 5 per student; make half one color and half another color

1. Divide the class into two teams.

2. Provide each student with five pieces of 4 x 4-inch drawing paper, using a different color for each team.

3. Have students draw a food item for each of the Five Food Groups on their drawing paper. Make sure they draw pictures only - no labels.

4. Have everyone from Team A place their food pictures in the bag labeled "Team A" and everyone from Team B place their food pictures in the bag labeled "Team B."

5. Place the grocery bags labeled with the Five Food Groups on one side of the room and have the two teams of children line up on the other side of the room, as they would for a relay. Give each team their bag of food pictures.

6. Have the first player from each team reach into their bag and grab one piece of paper, run to The Five Food Group bags and place the picture of the food in the correct bag. Repeat until all of the pictures have been placed.

7. Check to see that all of the pictures placed in each bag are in the correct food group. On the chalkboard or a chart paper, record tally marks.

 

 

Food Groups

Activities & Worksheets

Word Hunt

How many 2-, 3-, and 4-letter words can you make using the letters from the following word?

ARTICHOKE

1.	11.
2.	12.
3.	13.
4.	14.
5.	15.
6.	16.
7.	17.
8.	18.
9.	19.
10.	20.

Food Groups

Vocabulary

carbohydrate
Definition: Starches and sugars that provide the body with most of the energy it needs
Context: Eating whole grain breads and cereals are a good way to make sure your body gets enough carbohydrates.

diet
Definition: The foods and drinks you usually eat
Context: To stay healthy your diet should include foods from all of the food groups.

fat
Definition: A high-energy nutrient
Context: Some fat is important for good nutrition, but too much can cause health problems.

fiber
Definition: The part of fruits, grains, and vegetables that can’t be digested
Context: Getting enough fiber in your diet is important for good digestion.

nutrients
Definition: Substances in foods that people need to stay healthy
Context: Apples are rich in nutrients, including fiber and vitamins A and C.

protein
Definition: A naturally occurring substance found in animal products and some plant products
Context: Our bones and teeth need protein, which is found in meats, fish, eggs, beans and nuts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Introduction of Math and Logic concepts to 3 year old children:

Activities:

 

By the time child reaches the age of 2 years, he/she has already developed the concepts of size, shape and weight as he/ she plays with things in their environment. Now child is able to match shapes and colors, count and manipulate objects . As child approaches 4 years of age, he/she is able to comprehend concepts like around, in front, high, next to and so on. Child is now able rote counts up to 20 and begin to understand simple math concepts. This is the best time to introduce math and logic concepts through play which will make learning more fun.

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