Learn through Play - Rhyming words for Preschoolers

This would be a fun way to teach rhyming words for Preschoolers😊This is my mama's idea. Basically she is a Botany teacher, but she also handles English for Tamil medium students here in my native. Student's friendly teaching is advised in most schools, so teachers prepare teaching aids, captive charts etc to get the student's attention. So she would have many ideas in hand,  and this is one among them. LO loved it much and sliding the card up and down the strip to see new words made him so excited!!😍😍 I too loved making the cards with different shapes and pictures on it😍

Happy learning and Parenting!!😊😊😊

🎲 Alphabet Dice Word Game – A Fun & Brain-Twisting Literacy Activity for Kids!

Want to make alphabet play more exciting? Here’s a mind-twisting activity that turned out to be a huge hit at our home this week — the Alphabet Dice Word Game!

It’s a perfect mix of fun and learning, helping kids strengthen their vocabulary, spelling, and quick-thinking skills while playing.

And the best part? You don’t even need alphabet dice to play!

 What You’ll Need

• Alphabet Dice – or any substitutes like:

  • Magnetic letters

  • Foam or wooden alphabets

  • Paper chits with letters written on them (for a sweepstakes-style draw)

• Paper and pencil – for noting words and keeping score

• A partner or two – because competition makes it even more fun!

(If you’re using letter chits instead of dice, decide beforehand how many alphabets to draw per turn — for example, 8 or 10 letters.)

 How to Play

1. Roll the dice (or pick your letters).

2. Note down the alphabets showing on the top face.

3. Form as many words as you can using only those letters.

4. Write your words down on your sheet — and see who scores the most!

We used nine alphabet dice, and things got pretty intense fast!
Both LO and I had our sheets labeled with our names and were ready to battle. 😄

 Real Mind-Twisting Fun!

At first, it seemed simple — but soon we realized how tricky it can get.

When we rolled A, A, A, B, B, Q, Y, L, we could hardly form any sensible words! It really made us think hard about which letter combinations work best.

LO helped me to write the words as I found them during my turn😍.

By the end of the game, LO had discovered an important little secret —

“We always need at least one vowel to form proper words!” 😄

This realization made the game not only fun but also educational.

 Learning Outcomes

This alphabet dice word game helps kids:

• Build vocabulary and spelling skills

• Strengthen word formation and phonics understanding

• Practice logical thinking and memory

• Improve focus and patience while having fun

🎯 Final Thoughts

Trust me — this is a real brain workout! 🤯
It’s amazing how such a simple setup can challenge both kids and adults alike.

If you’re looking for a quick, no-prep literacy game for home or classroom, this one’s a must-try.

Give it a go and share your experience in the comments below — I’d love to hear how your little ones enjoyed it! 💬

Happy Parenting😊😊😊

Dino Land - DIY Kids Sensory play table

Dinosaurs... One of the coolest creatures on the World, that went extinct...very unfortunate! If they were now, we don't know to what extent the kids would really love them!😍 Kids generally at any age will automatically be attracted towards dinosaur, no surprise LO have started to get an obsession with dinosaurs. It could be because of the dino toys or the dino books, Im not sure.

I was planning to make a Dinosaur sensory bin for the kids to explore. But later thought they are grown-up to dig up a sensory bin, so tried the Dinosaur table. 

I discussed with LO and LOB before start of the setup... How to arrange the table? They gave me valuable ideas, from which I got reminded of the easter eggs which we saved for play, when LO was in his Pre-school. So the plan was like to introduce the life cycle of dinosaur to the kids. 

So the first step would be hatching of eggs.

Next in the life cycle is Baby Times.

The strongest dinosaurs were decided to let free near the caves and rocks..!

And finally the skeleton fossils excavation were setup for the kids to explore some Archaeological work!

We also tried to make some fossil prints and foot prints with the skeletons on the play dough🐾🐾

Fossil print and foot print....

To increase the curiosity level I made the display of Fossils book...

And the book following book I got from Chennai, a sure treat for dinosaur lovers. This has ample dinosaur stickers, a giant poster, colorful pictures of the mighty animal and reads about their habitats, their history... everything the kids want to know about dinosaur. 

Post activity, the free play... After a while I kept the fossil dig sand tray outside, as I can't bear the mess they made with the sand. In few minutes you can see the sand over the entire table!! So be prepared to take up the mess or have some protective sheets underneath!

If you are not able to reduce the screen time, encourage the kids to browse about dinosaurs, sit along with them, get to know about the amazingly huge animal together!

Hope you loved the Dino land. Please leave a comment in the comment box below and let us know how are we proceeding with our work.

Happy Parenting!😊😊😊

DIY activity for Kids : Beat the heat with Ice-cubes painting!

In India, the summer is at its peak and we are finding new ways to keep us cool!! 🌞And also keeping kids at home during this lock down is quiet challenging. Kids get bored with repeated activities, but not with colors and paint. This time to make it more creative and enjoyable we made colorful ice cubes to paint with!🎨

What a fun way to spend the summer afternoon! Easy to setup and extremely fun!🎭 The only set back is the colored ice cubes melts in a jiffy!!!   

As I said its easy to setup. There are ample variations of preparing these ice cubes for painting. But I tried this way. 

We used Crayola kids washable paint as I don't want the kids to stain their hands, if at all they touch the cubes with hand. Instead you can also use food coloring. For yellow and orange I tried this way. Instead of yellow paint I added turmeric power and for making orange, I added kesari food coloring powder. If you don't have colors you can think of alternatives like these to make colorful cubes!

Initially I had many ideas as on which surface to use the cubes, either on paper or white cloth or on white floor, etc. So as precautionary measure to wash the paint easily off after play, I added few drops of liquid dish wash to the cubes. 

And as a weird idea to make the cubes last longer, I added small amount of corn flour to the cubes! Though it didn't turn out as I expected but wasn't an issue. Either we need to add large proportion of flour or simply use only water and colors to freeze!🎨

So simply add water to the ice cube tray, add drop of paint to each cube, freeze it! I added toothpick sticks to each cube after freezing the cubes for half hour to one hour. You can either use ice cream sticks, as a holder. 

Allow it to freeze for 4-6 hours. Then we are ready to paint! 

Day 1:

LO and his cousin both set to work immediately as the ice cube was taken out of freezer.

The thing is that we have to work really fast, else the ice cubes would melt away! Keep your papers and everything ready before you set to work.

And guess what LO tried with them! Yeah, alphabets!!

The ice cubes started to melt very fast and the tooth pick left its hold off the cubes, so we stopped the coloring. I froze the left over colors to use for text next day.

Day 2:

The next day we used the cubes not on the paper, but on a white board!

When all the cubes were put together in a cup, they melted to form a multi colored water! On seeing that, you know what the kids did! They told its ayurvedha medicine, and immediately went to pick some leaves to soak in it! To prepare some "mooligai kashayam"!!😂😂😂 (Meaning, medicine made with plant extracts in Tamil!) I didn't expect this twist in the activity!😄

It was completely fun to watch the kids discussing about the preparation of medicine and mixing all the colors together.😍

And finally the "kashayam" was poured on the board to make a 'mordern art'!!!😉

One of my friend asked to post the off camera snaps! Like the bloopers... and here they are!😁😁

Empty the left over water in ice cube tray...

Pour water on the board...

Rub it and make a mess!!😁😁

Ultimately it was a different experience for me!!!😊 Try these out and let me know how your family enjoyed! Please post your views in the comment box below!

And check out our previous post - Coloring on Snow - Melting Rainbow

Happy Parenting!😊😊😊