A brilliant grapheme–phoneme correspondence game in which children race to find the one matching grapheme between one card and another. Every card is unique and has only one grapheme in common with every other card in the deck. The match can be difficult to spot as the size and positioning of the symbols can vary on each card. All phase 3 and 5 phonemes appear in the game. In order for the game to work mathematically, there are additional images which I've based around the theme of literacy. These images do also help to break up the graphemes and add to the fun. Game 1) Set-up: Draw/ turn over two random cards and place them face-up on the table between all the players. the players look for the identical grapheme between the two cards (same shape, same colour, only the size can be different). The first player to find the right grapheme names it out loud and puts their hand on it, as in snap. When all of the cards have gone, the winner is the player with the most cards. Game 2) Set-up: shuffle the cards, place one face down in front of each player and make a draw pile with the remaining cards, which will be placed face-up in the middle of the table. Object of the game: to be the player who has gained the most cards from the draw pile when the game ends. On go, the players flip their card face-up. Each player must be the fastest at spotting the identical symbol between his or her card and the first card of the draw pile. The first player to find the symbol names it, takes the card from the draw pile and places it in front of him or her, on top of his or her card. By taking this card, a new card is revealed. The game continues until all the cards from the draw pile have been drawn. The game stops once all the cards in the draw pile have been gained. The winner is the player who has gained the most cards. Game 3) Set-up: deal all the cards, one at a time, to all players, starting with the player who won the last game. Place the last card in the middle of the table, face-up. Each player shuffles his or her cards and makes a draw pile placed before him or her, face down. The object of the game: to be the fastest to get rid of all your cards – make sure you’re not the last! How to play? On go, the players flip their draw pile face-up. Players must be faster than the others to discard the cards from their draw pile by placing them on the card in the middle. To do that, they have to name the identical symbol between the top card of their draw pile and the card in the middle. As the middle card changes as soon as a player places one of his or her cards on top of it, players must be quick. The winner: The last player to get rid of his or her cards loses the game. See here for the original game https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TfDH0Rnpyc

10 simple activities for children to use during rainy day play or busy time. I printed the sheets and put them in a little folder, with some coloured pencils, at the start of the Summer Holidays with the suggestion that it might be fun to do in the car on long journeys.