Overview
The children will play a game to help Mother Alphabet get to the word factory as they practice identifying vowels and real words versus non-words.

Literacy Activities 
Get to the Word Factory game

• Prepare the game.
  • Print and cut out six copies of the game board shapes (found below) and arrange them on the floor in a U-shape, with the factory at the top of the right side. 
  • Print the die block (found below) on a sheet of cardstock and follow the instructions on it to form it.
  • Cut out the picture of Mother Alphabet (found below), then fold and tape as marked.
  • Draw a star on the first envelope and insert the Choose the Correct Vowel cards (found below).
  • Draw a circle on the second envelope and insert the Word and Non-word cards (found below).
  • Draw a heart on the third envelope and insert the Count the Vowel cards (found below).
  • Draw a sun on the last envelope and insert the action cards (found below).
• Place the Mother Alphabet game piece at the top left of the game board and have the children sit in a circle around the board.
• Choose a child to roll the die and move Mother Alphabet down the left side of the U-shape. 
  • If a shape is rolled, have the child advance to the nearest space with the matching shape.
  • If +1 is rolled, have the child move one space forward.
  • If -1 is rolled, have the child move back one space. 
• Have the child pick a card from the envelope corresponding to the space he or she lands on:
  • Star: Have the child choose a vowel to fill in the blank and complete the word. 
  • Circle: Have the child read and answer the question on the card. 
  • Heart : Have the child distinguish between the real word (has a vowel) and the non-word (no vowel). 
  • Sun: Have the child read the card aloud, point out the vowel in the word on the card, and then lead the other children in doing the action. 
• Once Mother Alphabet reaches the word factory, have the children sing Mother Alphabet’s favorite song, the ABC song.

More Practice
Write about the game

• Help the children make a list of words that they learned in the game (referring to the game cards as needed), underline the vowel(s) in each word, and read the words aloud. 
• Encourage the children to write short sentences using words from the list and allow them to illustrate the sentences.