Letter formation comes with practise. You child will become familiar with the letter shapes the more they practise looking at them too!
This activity is a very hands-on one, which helps child recognise the letters, sound out words and build the word up to help with both reading and spelling.
Let’s get Stamping with Plasticine!
Materials Needed:
We have included links to the products we have used to create this activity. If you purchase via the links we may earn a small commission.
PLEASE NOTE:
Plasticine was our material of choice, but you could use…
* Clay: This would preserve your words so your child can practise reading them over and over once
dry.
* Play Doh
* Make your own play dough
How to Build Your Words with Stampers
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- Roll out your plasticine to create a flat ‘page’.
- Pick the word you want to spell.
- Choose the stamps you need.
- Sound out the word and stamp the letters in the correct order.
Made a mistake? SIMPLE. Just press the plasticine to erase the mistake and stamp on top.
How do I choose my words?
There are lots of ways that you can choose the words to want to create, but here are some ideas to get you started.
Write the word for them (or spell with magnetic letters), get them to find the correct letters and copy.
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[/one_half_last]method is great for developing your child’s tracking and copying skills as well as they letter recognition.
Use an object or picture as a visual prompt.
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Carefully select objects or find (or draw) pictures that represent the word you wish your child to spell. Say the word together and ask them to sound it out several times before stamping.
What words can I create?
For ideas on the words you can create with the letters we’ve learned so far, please look at our word lists.
Extending your Building the Word Activity
Digraphs and Trigraphs
Your child learning consonant digraphs (2 letter sounds) like ll, ss, zz? No worries! Just remind them that they will need 2 stampers for that sound.
Capital Letters
Write the word as capital letters (ABC). Can your child recreate the word in lowercase (abc)?
Write the word as lowercase (abc). Can your child recreate the word in uppercase (ABC)?
This helps them to become familiar with the uppercase letters and relate them to the same sounds as the lowercase letters they learn.
Call out the word
Call out the words you want your child to spell. They need to listen with care and then break the word down mentally before stamping.