My Reading Place

Soon many families will be piling into the car and heading out for some extended travel to share the holidays with friends or family. The long ride can afford some good family time and opportunities to enhance children’s literacy skills along the way. For younger children who know their colors, play the “I see something ” game.  To play, select something either inside or outside the car and say, “I see something that is…” and then  provide a few physical clues to the item such as whether it is inside or outside the car and then “big” or “red” or “green.”  Children then think about the clues and try to guess the identity of the item.

Another version of this game that can be played is the more traditional 20 questions where one person in the family thinks about an item and the other family members must ask questions (up to 20) to try to determine what the other person is thinking about. If no one guesses correctly, the person thinking of the item is the winner of the game. This game enhances critical thinking abilities as well has helps develop questioning abilities.

For older children who can identify letters, another fun game is to look for the letters A-Z on signs and billboards until all letters in proper sequence have been located. For example, the letter A might be found on an Applebee’s Restaurant sign and a B might be found on a sign for a neighborhood bakery you pass. The letter C might be contained on a street sign naming “Central Avenue.”  Play can either be as an entire family searching for the letters in order or by each individual in a more competitive manner. Of course, you can make up your own rules for the game but in my family, when we played the individual, more competitive version, we required people to call not only their letter but also the location where they saw it so that others could also verify the “find.”  Once the location was used to contribute a letter, it could not be used by other people waiting for the same letter. That rule was contributed by my husband – a highly competitive type  who wanted to win when he played with us. The letters Q and Z do tend to be tough to find but with persistence you can find all of the letters somewhere along the way.

Another fun game is telling the continuing story. One person starts a sentence and then each person in the car in order  has to add the next sentence to the story taking up the story from where the last person left off. The story can take some unusual twists and turns as it develops over the course of time and with additional contributions from each family member. Not only do games reinforce literacy and thinking skills, but they also make the time on the road pass faster.

Happy holidays to you and yours and may your journey be safe as well as fun this holiday season!