Road to reading!

Zeru does not always "like" his lessons. One of his greatest pet peeves is when I try to get him to read the words in a story with me. It interrupts the story I suppose. Silly me.

I know one thing he loves though- driving his hotwheels cars, especially on roads! So lets make learning fun, and applicable.

Now for sale! Fabric color-yourself road map with flash cards and signs!

You can make the board as big or small as you like. If your kiddo prefers dump trucks, make it an excavation site! If they like princesses make it an enchanted land with castles- or whatever girls like these days.

I used a roller stamp that we conveniently had which looked like a road- but using a pen or marker is just as simple. Map out the road- we added arrows for which "way" the car could drive. Make sure you allow free driving all directions if you have to back track!

(We actually later had to add some bridges because our cars were stuck on the one way road!)

You can print the plain, simple , decorate yourself road template.

Afterward I added magnet (I got a roll of adhesive magnet for a few dollars at a craft store). We put about a dozen all over the road side. Feel free to use whatever you may have handy- like Velcro- or that stretchy tacky stuff to hang pictures on the wall.

I printed off some flash cards from a free kid's printable website or you can get some for about a dollar at a discount or craft store. I chose 12 with words Zeru is working on.

Next I cut scraps (from cutting out the flash cards) and wrote the words from the cards. I used magnet, so I placed little magnet pieces behind the word scraps. I could have also used paper clips, staples, or brads.

For fun let the kiddos decorate the bored! Zeru put road signs and other scenery.

To play:
I let Zeru place the "road signs" (word scraps w/ magnet on the back- in your case it may be Velcro or whatever) in whatever road sign place he wants. (This way they cannot memorize where each word is).

Place Hotwheels car at start and pull a flash card from the deck. Have little person look for the word on the board. When they locate it, drive to it- following the road direction. Next player takes a turn. Zeru really like to help me find my destination.

To "win" the game- if you are so inclined to make it competitive, double the flashcards and whoever gets to the last posted road sign first wins. Or, whoever gets their first after collecting 3 cards. Be creative!

The main point is: Letter and word recognition disguised as playing with toy cars on a cool road!

And yes, he actually likes this game and is learning!!!