Literacy & ABCsKindergartners6 Comments
Creating a secret code for kids to decipher, or crack the code, is great for reading, great for writing, and even great for problem solving! This simple secret code is great for kindergartners practicing their sight words.
Alissa of Creative with Kids shared on Google+ a photo of her son deciphering a secret code using a very cool decipher tool that you can print off and put together yourself. I immediately wanted to do this with Henry as a way to get him to practice reading simple sight words.
But what should it say? That a 5 year old can read. He’s only in to the beginning sight words.
So, I asked on both G+ and Facebook what it should say, and Shauna of Fantastic Fun & Learning came up with the best phrase, that I love, and that Henry can also read.
“I am so glad I am your mom.”
So I set off to make the secret code for Henry to crack.
Instead of using the decipher tool, I made my own because I thought it would be easier for Henry.
On one sheet of paper I wrote the letters of the alphabet with numbers underneath. I made it easy on myself and just did them in numerical order.
I later found that No Time for Flash Cards did a secret code with addition problems, which would have been great for Henry since he’s starting addition problems now!
On another sheet of paper, I made the code using the corresponding numbers.
Then Henry began to crack the code!
It didn’t need much explaining, he figured it out.
Halfway through the code, he read what it was saying…
Thoroughly interested in what the rest was going to say, he eagerly kept at the code.
When he was finished, he wasn’t as excited about my code as I was. He just smiled and went on with his day.
To find the secret code… he practiced his writing… his reading… and his problem solving ability. What a great tool for kids to learn!
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katepickle says
Oooh this is SO cool! My 6 year old has just graduated from readers to chapter books and is loving a series about a boy spy… he will be so thrilled to come home to a coded message tomorrow!!!