Sunshine. Cupcake. Applesauce. What do these words have in common? They’re all compound words! Early childhood literacy is an important part of every preschool classroom and compound words are a great way to introduce early literacy skills to your students. Working with compound words can help improve listening skills, increase understanding of early literacy concepts, and bring a little fun to the classroom.
From sharing compound word list, to playing word games with your little learners, there are plenty of ways to bring compound words into your classroom! Jumpstart your students’ early literacy development with this compound word activity from Reading Games for Young Children!
Word Listening
- Say a word with two parts (compound word) to a child, for example “sunshine.”
- Note: A compound word is a word made up of two smaller words, in this case “sun” and “shine.”
- Ask a child to repeat the word after you.
- Now say the first part of the word “sun” and let him fill in the second part of the word “shine.”
- Do this with several words, such as “baseball,” “raincoat,” “motorcycle,” and “cookbook.”
- Make up a story using the words that you have been talking about. As you tell the story, only say the first part of the word.
- Hearing and saying the parts of the words helps prepare children for reading.
