Kids love to learn by engaging all of their senses (which is also why I have a slight obsession with sensory play), by touching objects and using gross motor skills while acquiring information, their little brains are just firing like crazy.
This is a really fun, hands-on activity that uses learning with trains as a pre-spelling activity for kids, making it a great learning activity to do with 4 year olds and 5 year olds.
*This post contains affiliate links.
Learning with Trains: Pre-Spelling and Early Reading
You can use any kind of magnetic trains or cars for this activity. Learning with trains can be really beneficial for young kids who are interested in transportation and automotive. By engaging the child’s interest, they will be more willing to participate in the activity, and might retain information even better!
What you need:
Index cards
Marker
What you do:
- Place a sticker with a letter written on it on each train car. (Letters in your predetermined sight words)
2. Write sight words on index cards. We chose to do ‘at’ words this time.
3. Present your child with a sight word and a few trains. Start with the letters in the word, plus a couple extra. This sets them up for success and will not overwhelm them. As they get better and building the words, add more ‘extra’ letters to make it a bit harder.
4. Build the word by attaching the train cars!
*You can do this with colors, numbers and counting, etc.
Fun AND easy!
Check out some of our other pre-reading posts:
Have so much fun learning with trains!
*This post has been edited from it’s original publication in 1/16.
My son loves trains, so this is a perfect activity for him! Pinning!