My two alphabet jigsaws from the 1980’s are a big hit because they look and feel different. There is sponge in the spaces for the jigsaw pieces which fascinates Finn, “Look! Bounce, bounce. They are on a trampoline!”

Resources

  • 2 x 1980’s alphabet picture jigsaws
  • 1 x alphabet jigsaw

Method

Step 1: With the first jigsaw, Finn was saying the letter name and letter sound as he found the letters. E.g. “That’s an ‘F’ for Finn, we say ‘ffffff’. Ooh that is your letter Mummy, it’s an ‘M’, can you say ‘mmmm’? Now Cian, yours is tricky because it is a ‘C’ and it sounds like ‘ck’ but so does a ‘K’. You can remember which yours is because it’s called a ‘curly c’ and you are Cian Curley!”

Step 2: With the second jigsaw, Finn took all the pieces out. He found the pictures for the letters of his name. There was only one ‘n’ so he suggested other pictures and words they could have used to make a second ‘n’ jigsaw piece. He put all the pieces back, but left his name out.

Step 3: With the final jigsaw, he proudly showed Daddy how to match the pictures, by saying the word and emphasising the initial sound.

DfES Early Learning Goals (2017)

Physical development

ELG 04 – Moving and handling:

Children show good control and co-ordination in large and small movements. They handle equipment and tools effectively.

Literacy

ELG 09 – Reading:

Children use phonic knowledge to decode regular words and read them aloud accurately.