Fingerspelling Blocks

Product Description

Communicative 5

Skills

• These blocks can encourage children to begin spelling and reading especially when they are drawn to play with the blocks.
• Multiple pieces encourage social interaction and working together towards a common goal.
• Language and vocabulary development, as well as picture/first letter identification can be learned and reinforced utilizing the pictures on the blocks.

Play Ideas

• Have children spell words to each other using the blocks.  The children can verbally say the word or make the individual letter sounds to practice speech.
• Fingerspell a 3-4 letter word that does not have repeated letters and have children pick out the letters and read the word.  This can be done one letter at a time for early learners to match the signed letter to the hand shape on the block.  This can be done faster for children working on memory skills and reading.
• Make picture cards with just the picture on one side and the picture and word on the other.  Have children spell the word pictured using the blocks. Utilize the side of the card that matches the child's level.  Have child say and sound out each word.

Adaptation Ideas

• Write the word on the bottom of the picture on each block.

Cognitive 4

Skills

• Children can learn to associate the hand shape on the block to the letter and the letter to the picture on the block. 
• Letter recognition and spelling is a fundamental part of this toy and is taught in a kinesthetic and visual manner. 
• Pre-literacy skills such as visual letter recognition and association of the familiar alphabet song to the actual letters can be learned using these blocks.  These skills can be reinforced through the kinesthetic act of making the hand shapes associated with the signed letters.

Play Ideas

• Have children work together to put the letters in alphabetical order.
• Have an adult or child start a word by placing one letter in the middle of the table. Have another person add a second letter to begin spelling a word. Continue until every person has had a chance to add a letter. Then have children sound out the word and see if it is a real word or a silly word.
• Have one child do the hand shape and have other children find the letter block that matches.

Social/Emotional 4

Skills

• Multiple pieces encourage social interaction and working together towards a common goal. 
• Various levels of literacy from letter recognition and alphabetical order to reading and spelling simple words can be addressed using these blocks. 
• Communicating with others in sign language can promote self-esteem. 

Play Ideas

• Learn signs for words to expand sign language beyond the alphabet.