SMMART Reading: Cards for Soldiers

This Veteran's Day take a moment to serve those who sacrifice so much to serve each of our families.  Encourage your little ones to share their artistic talent and writing skills by making a card or two for the service members of the United States.

You know how a child's artwork and handwriting can bring a smile to your face.

"Holiday Mail for Heros" is a program run through the Red Cross.  "The cards and personal messages, sent by tens of thousands of Americans, provide a welcome “touch of home” for our troops during the holiday season.

Each year we collect cards between October and early December and then distribute them at military installations, veterans hospitals, and in other locations.

There are several ways to be part of the Holiday Mail for Heroes program. In addition to sending cards on your own, you may want to start making plans to host card signing parties or card making parties. Here are a few guidelines to help you on your way:

Card Guidelines:      

Every card received will be screened for hazardous materials and then reviewed by Red Cross volunteers working around the country.

Please observe the following guidelines to ensure a quick reviewing process:

• Ensure that all cards are signed.
• Use generic salutations such as “Dear Service Member.” Cards addressed to specific individuals can not be delivered through this program.
• Only cards are being accepted. Do not send or include letters.
• Do not include email or home addresses on the cards: the program is not meant to foster pen pal relationships.
• Do not include inserts of any kind, including photos: these items will be removed during the reviewing process.
• Please refrain from choosing cards with glitter or using loose glitter as it can aggravate health issues of ill and injured warriors.
• If you are mailing a large quantity of cards, please bundle them and place them in large mailing envelopes or flat rate postal shipping boxes. Each card does not need its own envelope, as envelopes will be removed from all cards before distribution.

All holiday greetings should be addressed and sent to:

Holiday Mail for Heroes
P.O. Box 5456
Capitol Heights, MD 20791-5456

The deadline for having cards to the P.O. Box is December 6th.
Holiday cards received after this date cannot be guaranteed delivery.

SMMART READING: SUGAR LETTERS

Works every time...

What kiddo can resist dipping their finger into straight sugar for an instant reward after they correctly draw a letter (or word).

You may wish to reserve this activity as a postlude to a healthy meal.

Pour out just enough sugar to cover the bottom of a cake pan, or a cookie sheet. If you have a beginning letter writer, the cake pan is sufficient. If you wish to work on spelling words, then you need the room that a cookie sheet provides.

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You can guide your child's finger in the correct letter formation first and then let him try it on his own.

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After a while, the sugar gets a little sticky. We also use rice for this activity as a good substitute. (You can try flour, oats, split peas, lentils...) It also makes times that we use sugar a little more special.

SMMART READING: SCENTED LETTERS

This activity provides an opportunity for your child to practice writing her letters with glue, and explore her olfactory creativity. It also introduces your child to other ways to enhance food's flavor without using salt.

You will need:
Piece of Cardstock, Cardboard, or Construction Paper
Craft Glue
Cotton Swab
Rice
Spices (Rosemary, Crushed Basil, Mustard Seeds, Cinnamon, Pepper-a grinder makes it more fun…)
Colored Gelatin in a shaker

Use a sturdy piece of paper, such as cardstock or even cardboard, for this activity.

Let your child use the glue to create lines, shapes and letters on the paper. If the glue is too hard to squeeze, then let them dip a cotton swab into a blob of glue that you squeeze onto a separate piece of paper.

Children who are just learning to write their letters may practice by copying lines. You can make straight, curvy and zig-zag glue lines on the paper for your child to trace with a glue cotton swab. Older children can draw letters with glue…and may enjoy writing their names.

Now, provide a variety of items for your child to shake onto the paper. If the item has a scent, let your child smell it as you talk about its name and what it smells like. Discuss which types of food you could enhance with each spice.

Your child may enjoy sniffing the letters of her name when she finishes this activity.

Allow your child to shake in some of these spices when you are cooking dinner together.

Lisa

SMMART READING: SQUISHY LETTERS

Fill a zipper plastic bag with a little squirt of shaving cream (not too much). You can also use tempura paint, pudding or yogurt to use in the plastic bag. Seal the zipper bag and let out all of the excess air.

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Lay the bag flat on a table and spread out the shaving cream inside so it fills into the corners of the bag. Tape the top (seal part) and bottom of the bag to a hard surface, such as a table top or even onto a glass door or window.

Now your child can practice writing letters with her finger or with a round end implement (like a rounded pencil eraser, capped pen top, even a crayon or capped marker with a round top).

-For little ones just learning to master their hand coordination, you can draw a straight line on the bag. Let your little one try to trace the line with her finger. Now try a curvy or zig-zag line.

-Your child may be just learning the letter sounds to start words. Ask your child to write the first letter of a word. “Write the letter that ‘ball’ starts with.”

-Your child can practice spelling words. Dictate a word from your child’s spelling list and she can spell the word letter by letter.

Squishy Spelling = Squishy Fun!

Lisa

SMMART READING: SHAVING CREAM WORDS

As your child plays in the bathtub, spread some shaving cream up on the bathtub wall. Use your finger to spell words and ask your child to read the words to you. If the word is too difficult, have your child sound out the word or tell you the letters that make up the word.

Your child can practice letter shapes by writing letters and words into the shaving cream. This would be a fun activity to practice spelling words. You can ask your child to spell “S-A-T” as you write the letters on the bathroom wall. Your child can even practice cursive lettering in the shaving cream.

You can also use the shaving cream can and spray the letters directly onto the bathroom wall. When your child has read the word, then your child can smear the shaving cream around to erase the word and make shaving cream artwork on the wall. This is a fun way to retain interest when your child is just beginning to read.

Another reading idea is to write two letters of a three-letter word on the wall with the shaving cream. Write the third letter on the wall. When your child has read that word successfully, smear off the third letter and replace it with another letter to form a new word. For example, fist you write “_AT” and fill in the blank with “S” to form “SAT”. Then smear off the “S” when your child has successfully read the word. Now write in “H” instead of “S” to form “HAT”. Your child will practice reading words with the same sounds.

The shaving cream rinses off easily into the bath water with a handheld shower head or a few cupfuls of water. (Take notice to make sure that the shaving cream doesn’t irritate your child’s skin.)

Lisa