Letter recognition eggs

So, Easter is over and you seem to be left with lots of empty, redundant plastic eggs. Instead of storing them for next year, put them into good use and change them into a fun literacy game to promote letter recognition. All you need is some sticky labels/masking tape and a pen.


Who can play?
This activity is intended for children aged 3 years and above, however all activities depend on the child's age and stage of development.

Safety:
The plastic eggs could cause a choking hazard if your child puts them in their mouth. Supervision is recommended at all times.

What do you need?

• Empty plastic eggs
• Sticky labels/masking tape, to write the letters on
• Marker
• Container to store the eggs

What did we do?
To set up the activity, I took a plastic egg and wrote an upper case letter on one half and a lower case letter on the other.

1. Make 6 eggs with the upper case and lower case letters s,a,t,p,i and n (The first letters that are taught in the Department For Education and Skills Letters and sounds document) I did this by writing the letters on the sticky label (but you could also use masking tape) and sticking it to the upper and lower half of the egg.
2. I then separated the eggs so that when my daughter visited the activity, she would have to firstly recognize the letter and then find its corresponding upper/lower case letter
3. Once she had recognized the correct pairs she attached both halves together, developing her fine manipulative skills.

What did we learn?

• Communication and language-Speaking and listening.
• Physical development- Fine manipulative skills when trying to open and close the eggs and coordination.
• Personal, social and emotional- Making relationships, social skills, feelings and self help
• Literacy- Linking sounds to letters, learning and how to read. Recognition of upper case and lower case letters.
• Mathematics- Matching and sorting. Finding the correct sized other half of the egg

What could be done next?

• To add an extra twist to this game, you could add small objects that begin with the letters on the eggs and that can fit inside. The children can sort and classify them into the correct egg.

• Hide the eggs in the garden or in the home. Once they have been collected the child has to tell what the letter is on the front.
• You could write the rest of the alphabet on the eggs to complete the set
• If this activity proves too challenging for your child, instead of writing upper and lower case letters, you cold write the same letter on both sides of the egg. You could also write a letter on the top half and then a drawing of an object that begins with that letter on the other.