Educational Eggs

Springtime presents many EGGcellent opportunities for language and learning.  Easter makes some very affordable therapeutic tools readily available...Plastic eggs! We are EGGstatic about all the different ways they can be used to teach kiddos.  In this post, we will outline eleven EGGciting different methods to target  language or literacy skills so that everyone can find EGGsactly what they need! Feeling EGGravated? We promise not to use anymore puns!

1. Hunt for Functional Items

Simply place pictures of common items in your eggs.  Give your child a checklist of items they need to locate. You can either use a simple picture list for matching, or a written list that identifies the function of each item (i.e. “Something used for cutting” would be the clue for the picture of scissors).  You can choose to print your pictures and generate a list with corresponding clues, or you can use ours. It will be released later this week as one of our freebies. This task does not just teach about how items are used. The important skill of using a list and checking off completed portions is being practiced. This can be applied to a variety of areas in life.

2. Letter matching (uppercase to lowercase)

Write an uppercase letter on one side of the egg. Write the corresponding lowercase letter on the other side. Separate all the egg halves and mix them around. Your kiddo can practice matching uppercase to lowercase by putting the pieces back together.

3.  Word families

Open your eggs. Write single letters on one side of the egg in a vertical line and one word family ending that corresponds with all the listed sounds, on the other side of the egg. Have your kiddo close the egg and turn the single letter side to create new words.
Some popular word family endings include:
-at, -in, -it, -op.
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4.  Rhyming Pairs

Separate ten eggs in half and write one rhyming word on each side.  Mix the halves and have your child find and match the rhyming pairs.
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5. Same letter matching

If your kiddo is still working on letter identification, some of the above mentioned skills may be too difficult. Instead, increase their exposure to the alphabet by practicing letter to letter matching. Simply write the same letters on each egg half and allow your kiddo to connect the matching pieces.  You can reinforce their learning by labeling each letter matched (i.e. “You got a match! That’s the letter T.”).

6. Sensory eggs

Host an egg hunt and fill the eggs with a variety of textured items for your kiddo to explore. With each egg, you can model use of adjectives to describe the item inside. Use whatever you find in your home! Some suggestions for fillers with vocabulary include:
Play-doh - squishy
Cotton balls- soft
Velcro- scratchy
Scented tea light candle- sweet (or whatever scent you include)
Beads- small, round, hard

*Children should always be monitored for mouthing to ensure no small items are ingested.*

7. Color matching

Separate a set of multicolored eggs into halves. Show your child how to match the halves so that each whole egg is only one color. Practice identifying or labeling the colors during the task.

8. Sorting by size or color

Collect a group of many different colored eggs. You can also use a variety of sizes. Create bins for different colors or sizes and help your child sort the eggs into the appropriate categories.

9. Preposition practice

Place eggs in various locations around the house. Ask your child to identify the places the eggs are found.  Model responses if necessary. (i.e. “Where is the egg? UNDER the table.) If your kiddo cannot independently respond, provide choices. (i.e. Is the egg ON the couch or UNDER the couch?)

10. Following Directions

You can approach this skill in two different ways. You can give your child commands to follow as clues to find the eggs. (I.e. “Go to the kitchen. Open the cabinet.”) Or you could allow your kiddo to hunt for the eggs and practice the skill after the hunt. (i.e. Put all your blue eggs on your bed.”)

11. Core Vocabulary Practice
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For kiddos working on using one word utterances, “open” can be a powerful word that can be useful in many different scenarios. Put desired items or treats inside the eggs and emphasize use of the word (i.e. What should we do? OPEN the egg!) If your kiddo needs help with each egg, this is better because you have several natural opportunities for your child to request “OPEN.” You may also choose to keep the eggs hidden or out of reach to target use of the word "more."  Again, emphasize the target words when you model requests for your child (i.e. MORE eggs please!).  

Have you tried any of these or other activities with Easter eggs? Let us know by hitting reply below!


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