[Alphabet Games] With My Son

During an excursion to the big mall this past Saturday to see Hop, I brought my little family to Barnes & Noble for our customary last stop before plopping in front of the big screen. There seems to be something new and interesting every time we set foot inside any B&N (though I could do without the person badgering everybody about the Nook the second they walk over the threshold), and this time was no different.

This is the only thing I ever think of when I see the B&N Nook.

This time around my wife came upon a very cute-looking game called "Alphabet Squiggle". We were all very excited to play it when we got home -- Deacon even exclaimed that he would rather just skip the movie and try out his new game. We may have obliged him if we hadn't already paid in excess of $3 million for the tickets. Let's move on lest I begin a rant on the ridiculous price of movie tickets.

Deke is no slouch in the alphabet department. We've already covered the fact that he knows his numbers, but his ability to recite the alphabet and recognize any letter we show him is quite impressive. He's not perfect with handwriting (who can expect him to be... he's not even 5 yet), and this game has thus far been a very fun way of helping the process along. The basic idea is that you roll a die (like in the vast majority of the board games we all know and love) and move the amount of spaces that correspond with your roll. When you land on your space, you must write the letter and then get creative. There are two routes: write a word that starts with that letter or turn the letter into a picture. That's how we play.

Not bad, but my drawing scored more points.

If your drawing starts with the same letter as the one you landed on and wrote down you get to move two spaces ahead on the game board. Deke's drawing got him one extra space while mine garnered two:

This one was definitely deserving of the pat on the back I gave myself.

I foresee this game helping him a significant amount as he pushes further ahead in his journey to learn how to read. I think my favourite part of this particular outing was when he not only correctly identified "F" but also decided to let me know it made the "ffffffffffff" sound, and he did that without prompting. I was very proud.


- Nicholas A. Marsico


Other Sources:
Games That Help Kids Learn the Alphabet
Alphabet Games