Today, we’re diving into a fantastic CVC word activity where your beloved LEGO DUPLO sets meet early literacy skills. It’s all about the remarkable journey of spelling and sounding out CVC words, those simple three-letter words that follow the consonant-vowel-consonant pattern. Think of words like ‘cat’, ‘hit’, and ‘sun’. These little words are a young reader’s first step into the incredible world of reading.
Why CVC Words are Important
Now, why are these CVC words so pivotal in a child’s language development? Well, understanding these words often mark a child’s initial venture into reading. It nurtures their phonetic skills, allowing them to sound out words one letter at a time, and fosters a deep understanding of word patterns and their sounds, helping them become fluent readers as they grow.
So, grab your LEGO DUPLO train sets and a handful of single blocks because it’s time to foster some young readers while having a blast with bricks!
WILL YOU TRY SETTING UP THIS LEGO CVC WORD ACTIVITY WITH YOUR CHILD? PIN IT FOR LATER!
LEGO CVC Word Activity Setup
Materials:
- LEGO DUPLO train car
- LEGO single blocks
- A sharpie
- Sensory Bin or basket
CVC Words and Word Families
CVC words and word families go hand in hand in nurturing a budding reader’s skills. CVC words, which stand for consonant-vowel-consonant words, often form the basis of word families, groups of words with a common feature or pattern, sharing a particular sound and letter combination.
Focusing on one word family at a time can be a powerful educational tool. It allows children to understand and recognize the phonetic pattern that a set of words shares. For instance, concentrating on the “at” family (cat, bat, mat, sat, etc.) offers a focused pathway to quickly recognize similar sounds and patterns, encouraging a deeper understanding and a more robust vocabulary over time. It makes the reading journey a bit smoother, as it adds a fun twist to learning with a sense of familiarity and repetition, which can be both comforting and empowering for young learners.
Choose a Word Family
Here are 15 word family examples to aid in learning:
- -at family: cat, bat, rat, mat, fat, hat, pat, sat
- -an family: can, man, pan, fan, ran, tan, van, plan
- -ap family: cap, map, tap, nap, gap, lap, sap, trap
- -it family: bit, kit, lit, pit, sit, fit, hit, split
- -ig family: big, dig, fig, pig, rig, wig, jig, twig
- -og family: dog, log, fog, hog, jog, frog, blog, clog
- -ot family: hot, pot, lot, not, got, dot, rot, slot
- -ug family: bug, dug, hug, jug, mug, rug, tug, snug
- -ip family: dip, hip, lip, rip, sip, tip, chip, skip
- -op family: cop, hop, mop, pop, top, shop, stop, chop
- -in family: bin, fin, kin, pin, sin, tin, win, grin
- -et family: bet, jet, let, net, pet, set, vet, fret
- -en family: den, hen, men, pen, ten, yen, zen, then
- -ed family: bed, fed, led, red, wed, shed, bled, sped
- -un family: bun, fun, gun, sun, run, spun, stun, shun
How to Set Up LEGO CVC Word Activity
Choose your word family.
Pick out a LEGO DUPLO train car and on its side, using a sharpie, write a simple CVC word, one that your young reader is familiar with or one that’s new but easy to sound out.
Next, grab three single blocks and write one letter of the CVC word on each block. So, if your word is ‘cat’, you’ll have a block for ‘c’, another for ‘a’, and a third for ‘t’.
Now it’s time to set the stage for the activity. You can place the single blocks in a sensory bin or basket. You can fill with rice or lentils to add a tactile element to the learning process or simply put them in a basket.
Let’s Build and Learn!
Encourage them to find and pick out each letter block and then place them on the LEGO DUPLO train, making a perfect match with the word displayed.
As they find each letter, have them sound it out loud. This way, they’re not just building a LEGO train but constructing a word, letter by letter, and sound by sound. Once all the blocks are in place, celebrate their accomplishment as they read out the full word.
To level up the fun, you can create a series of words for them to build, turning it into a delightful LEGO DUPLO word train adventure.
The beauty of this activity lies in its simplicity and the multifaceted learning it offers. Children not only get to bolster their understanding of CVC words but also fine-tune their motor skills as they engage with the LEGO blocks.
Before you know it, your little ones will be building words as quickly and eagerly as they build their tall LEGO towers. Here’s to learning that’s as fun as playtime, and to playtime that’s as enriching as learning! Let’s build, learn, and grow, one LEGO CVC word train at a time!
Age Suitability
This activity is good for toddlers aged children 3 years old and up with adult assistance.
Mess Level
The mess level for this activity is low.
Difficulty to Create
Low.
Skills Developed
Language development, shape recognition, color recognition, hand-eye coordination, fine motor skills, imaginative play, creativity.
Toddler and Preschooler Curriculums, Books & TV Show!
Play2Learn Toddler & Preschool Programs for Curious Toddlers
There is no limit to your toddler’s energy and curiosity. That energy and curiosity although a joy can be challenging at times. Their interest in just about everything around them is what makes them great learners. One and two year olds can soak up so much just from their senses!
But as a teacher or parent that thirst for learning can be exhausting. That is why I created this toddler and preschooler program. To help you get the most out of this time with your curious toddler without having to come up with creative ways to play and interact with them.
Play2Learn for Toddlers includes 20 Units for toddlers. Each 2-week toddler unit has 20 super easy to set up and engaging activities for toddlers 18 months to 3 years.
Play2Learn Preschool which includes 20 Units for preschoolers. Each 2-week preschoolers unit has 20 unique and easy to set up and engaging activities for preschoolers 3 years to 5 years. That’s over 800 learning activities for your toddler and preschooler at your fingertips! So many ideas you and your child will never be bored again!
These toddler and preschool lesson plans and activities will definitely keep you and your toddler and preschooler busy playing and learning!
Click here for more information: Play2Learn
Designed for toddlers 18 months and up.
Book: Exciting Sensory Bins for Curious Kids
Did you know I wrote a book of sensory bins? Click here for more information Exciting Sensory Bin for Curious Kids. Or grab your copy at Amazon.
Boring afternoons are made exciting with awesome animal-based bins, like Salty Shark Bay or Yarn Farm. Pretend play bins like Birthday Cake Sensory Play or Bubble Tea Party encourage creativity and imagination. And your kids will have so much fun they won’t even know they’re getting smarter with STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math) activities like Sink or Float Soup, Magnetic Letter Hunt or Ice Cream Scoop and Count.
Designed for toddlers 18 months and up.
Book: Super STEAM Activity Book for Kids
Learning all about science, technology, engineering, art, and math sets kids up for scholastic success―and it can be so much fun! Watch kids enjoy building STEAM skills as they color friendly fish, help water find its way to tree roots, solve math problems with mazes, and more.
Find out more and grab your copy here.
Designed for preschoolers 3 years old and up.
Book: Big Book of Riddles for Kids
Riddle me this: What’s an exciting way to practice critical thinking while having a blast? The Big Riddle Book for Kids, of course! From hilarious puns to tough brain teasers, kids can build problem-solving skills with hundreds of riddles tha. t show them how to think outside the box.
- 350 riddles for kids—Have hours of fun with riddles, puns and jokes, and math and logic puzzles that’ll get their wheels turning!
- Level up their skills—Riddles get trickier as kids progress through the book, challenging them as they get better at solving puzzles!
- Double-check their work—Kids can check their answers in the back of the book with a handy answer key.
Help children expand their minds while having fun with this puzzle book for kids!
Designed for kids ages 6 years old and up.
TV Show: Curious Crafting
I’m so excited to share my crafting TV show Curious Crafting which launched in July 2022 on TVOkids and TVOkids YouTube! Season 2 aired in August 2023! My show was also nominated in 2023 for Best Live Action Preschool Series by the Youth Media Alliance Awards of Excellence.
Curious Crafting Season 1 is also now airing in Australia on ABC! Watch it here!
Set in the ultimate crafting space, Curious Crafting is a short form pre-school age series about the joy of making crafts. I lead a rotating cast of adorable little preschoolers (including my own) making magic out of common household objects.
In each episode we transform recycled items into magical crafts like a milk carton school bus, paper bag puppet or cotton pad turtle. The crafters learn and laugh their way through each activity while demonstrating what their young imaginations can create.
Curious Crafting shares the adventure and joy of making art with takeaway lessons for creating crafts at home.
This show designed for toddlers and preschoolers 2.5 years old and up.
The Best Sensory Play Kits for Kids
Play is at the core of learning during the early years and it can take many forms. One of the most important of these is sensory play because it engages all of a child’s senses (taste, touch, smell, sight and hearing) and has a enoumous positive impact on brain development.
Our Sensory Play Kits are some fun and easy ways to keep your child engaged while at the same time using sensory play to nurture their mind!
Shop our ready made play kits here.
Designed for preschoolers 3 years old and up.
LEGO CVC Words Activity for Kindergarten
Materials
- LEGO DUPLO train car
- LEGO single blocks
- A sharpie
- Sensory Bin or basket
Instructions
- Choose your word family.
- Pick out a LEGO DUPLO train car and on its side, using a sharpie, write a simple CVC word, one that your young reader is familiar with or one that’s new but easy to sound out.
- Next, grab three single blocks and write one letter of the CVC word on each block. So, if your word is 'cat', you'll have a block for 'c', another for 'a', and a third for 't'.
- Now it's time to set the stage for the activity. You can place the single blocks in a sensory bin or basket. You can fill with rice or lentils to add a tactile element to the learning process or simply put them in a basket.
- Encourage them to find and pick out each letter block and then place them on the LEGO DUPLO train, making a perfect match with the word displayed.
- As they find each letter, have them sound it out loud. This way, they're not just building a LEGO train but constructing a word, letter by letter, and sound by sound.
WILL YOU TRY SETTING UP THIS LEGO CVC WORD ACTIVITY WITH YOUR CHILD? PIN IT FOR LATER!
