"Print-Rich Games" You Can Play at Home
Is your child in the preschool or early elementary years, just beginning to step into the world of reading and writing? For children who are at risk for or have been diagnosed with a specific learning disability (dyslexia), this process can easily become tedious and overwhelming through long desk-based paper-and-pencil exercises. Yet learning letters and words does not have to be a rigid, rule-bound lesson.
One of the most effective and evidence-based ways to turn the reading and writing process into a fun literacy adventure is to draw on the magical world of play. Are you ready to discover print-rich games that will help your child get through this period with joy?
What Are Print-Rich Games?
One important pathway to building print awareness skills is the use of print-rich games facilitated by an adult. Rather than continually drilling letters with your child, you need to naturally incorporate print into the games they already love.
Print-rich games are games in which individuals are provided with opportunities that help them understand the features and functions of written language and allow them to act as literate individuals. During these games, participants gain meaningful skills — such as demonstrating the directionality of print as a feature of written language, or recognizing the function of print by understanding how a shopping list is used.
The good news is that print elements can be added to any type of play that is appropriate for the individual's age and developmental level to create print-rich games. In other words, you can transform any game at home into an educational material with just a few small touches.
A Wonderful Example You Can Set Up at Home: The "Bakery Game"
Designing dyslexia-friendly games at home with your child is actually quite simple. The "Bakery Game," which is especially emphasized in supplementary education programs, is one of the finest examples of this approach.
Goal and Roles: The general objective of this game is to take turns playing the roles of waiter and customer, where the customer places an order from a menu booklet and the waiter brings the requested items.
Required Materials: This game uses toy kitchen utensils and play food and drink items such as cakes, pastries, and milk cartons, along with a pictured and printed menu.
Educational Integration: During the game, the individual's attention is drawn to the written text while reading the illustrated and printed menu, and targeted print awareness skills are taught at that moment. Skills such as demonstrating the left-to-right directionality of print or pointing out a specific word within the text can be embedded into the game.
In this way, individuals are given the opportunity to rehearse early literacy roles and routines within the context of play. Without even realizing it, simply by playing waiter, your child internalizes the fact that reading goes from left to right and that written words represent objects.
Proper Guidance from E-Rehabilitation Specialists
There is a very fine line to be mindful of when designing these types of games. What matters is that the facilitator draws the child's attention to print during the game and serves as a model and guide toward the pre-determined print awareness objectives. As a parent, you may not always be sure which feature of print to highlight in the moment — for example, whether to focus on the spaces between words or on the capital letter at the beginning of a sentence.
This is exactly where the online sessions offered by the e-rehabilitasyon.com platform come to your aid. Our specialist educator connects to your home via live video and actively participates in the bakery, grocery store, or post office games you and your child have set up. Providing real-time guidance from the screen, they offer in-the-moment coaching such as "Now point to the first letter of the word 'cake' on the menu with your finger" or "Tell your child out loud that you are writing the order list from left to right."
In this way, our specialist carries out the intervention in your child's natural environment using their favorite toys, turning your sessions into an unforgettable playtime.
Would You Like to Turn the Early Literacy Process into Play?
Take the first step now to learn how to make your child's reading and writing journey fun using the toys you already have at home, and to receive online play-based guidance from our specialists.
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