Letter Recognition on the Las Vegas Strip

Mommy Vegas Idea #33

“Mommy! I SEE SUPER LETTERS!”

What better place to teach your toddler or preschooler letter recognition than Vegas, RIGHT?! Ok, so you have to be sure to avoid the card thumpers and questionable “entertainers,” but seriously, when it comes to early literacy skills, what could be more engaging than a sky full of sparkly flashy letters? This idea comes to you from the Little Bug, Super Letter extraordinaire!

It all started on the way to meet our Daddy Bear at work for a picnic (in the vicinity of the Strip), when Bug yelled, you guessed it, “Mommy! I SEE SUPER LETTERS!” Obviously she did not coin the term, Super Letters are actually these fancy sparkly letters that float in mid-air on PBS’s (PBS’?), “Super Why.” Her brother introduced her to an App earlier that day, and the flashy letters over the Strip caught her attention just like the ones from the App.

Of course Little Bear and I jumped on the opportunity to make another scavenger hunt, so this is what we came up with. After returning to take a few sign shots and play with the idea a bit, the Bear (with a bit of help from Mom) exercised his new graphic design skills, and viola! We give you our take on PBS’s awesome “Super Letter” concept.  We’ve played a few different ways, so here are a few of our methods, and we can’t wait to hear all about your own variations.

WHAT TO DO:

Print out our handy Vegas Super Letter Hunters sheet.

Scoop up the littles just before dusk (any time is fine, but they aren’t sparkly until later and the kids seem to get a huge kick out of being “out on the town” after dark)  and head down to the Strip for a quick letter hunt. You can stay in the car and just cruise the Strip, this is especially fun if you’re visiting town or on your way to pick up visiting dignitaries. Or you can just keep a sheet or two in the car and let the kids pick out letters periodically when you’re out and about (for older kids you may want to suggest they look for the actual letter from each picture, while novice letter hunters may be encouraged to just find any A,B, or C that comes their way). Our favorite method thus far is to park somewhere centrally located, like the Bellagio, and go for a stroll to hunt out as many as we can find in one direction or another.

With really little ones be sure to point out the letters and ask lots of questions. You can even modify the game to look for all the A’s one day, and B’s another, and so forth.  Mine like to trace the letters in the air with their “magic wands,” AKA, fingers. Bear, in true Bear fashion, will only mark off the letters as he finds the EXACT letter, and is adamant that all other players follow suit, Little Bug (also true to form) is much less particular and is clearly happy with all available variations. So find what works for you little ones and go with it! Let us know how it goes!

HAPPY SUPER LETTER HUNTING!

-Candice

PS: Have a perfectionist in your bunch? Get the answers here!