Literacy and Play

It seems that when I'm reading or thinking about something, the kids in my classroom always do something that fits into that. I'm reading Literacy Beginnings for our book study blog party. As you can read in Vanessa's post today, part of chapter 1 emphasizes that play is an important part of all learning including literacy. And the authors emphasize that literacy should be infused within all parts of the classroom.

This week we were making mountain collages. I had the word mountain on the table. And a pencil for writing names when the children completed their collages. (Not a lot of literacy integration, but okay.) I moved to the table at one point and saw this.

I was truly amazed. I asked her if she had drawn the letters or just cut them out. "Just cut them out," she said.

Now granted, these kids are 6 and preparing for first grade. But I still think this is quite an achievement. B has shown she knows how letters are shaped and can think about letters more 3-dimensionally. This was a great intersection of literacy, art, and small motor skills. Perhaps our approach to playing with letters and words throughout the classroom gave B the "permission" to experiment in this way.

How have you found kids playing with words and letters in your classroom?