Does your child love LEGO? Take advantage of that enthusiasm to bring fun into reading instruction by using LEGOs to teach reading!
Using LEGOs to Teach Reading
Beginning reading instruction should be fun. It should look more like play than school.
Letter recognition, phonemic awareness (hearing the sounds of letters), and blending letter sounds can be a fun activity with the right approach.
Your reading lesson can be enjoyable and educational if you try using manipulatives like LEGO bricks!
This article contains affiliate links to things that you might like.
LEGO Products to Enhance Reading
If you want to use LEGOs to teach reading, these LEGO products can help.
LEGO Duplo Alphabet Town
This set comes with LEGO Duplo blocks for all 26 letters of the alphabet. This set is ideal for practicing letter recognition.
LEGO Duplo Alphabet Truck
This set also comes with the 26 uppercase letters. You don’t need both sets.
Choose this one if your child is enthralled with vehicles.
LEGO Dots
This set of LEGO dots has smaller LEGO tiles you can use to string into words. This set is best for teaching blending.
LEGO Base Plates
A LEGO base plate gives you a sturdy surface to assemble all your LEGO letters.
LEGO Creative Classic Bricks
You can use regular LEGO bricks to form letters (more on this later).
9 Ways to Use LEGOs for Teaching Reading
Using LEGOs to teach reading is creative, enthralling, and effective.
Build a Letter
Forming letters makes learning them a hands-on activity.
This kinesthetic activity is not only enjoyable but also helps with retention.
Use a base plate and classic bricks to form the letters.
LEGO Letter-Sound Sculpture
Use the LEGO Duplo alphabet blocks, a base plate, and classic bricks to create sculptures to teach the sounds of the letters.
For each letter, make a creation that corresponds with the letter sound.
For example, you can build an alligator for A.
LEGO Minifigure Alphabet
Alternatively, you can create LEGO minifigures with names that start with the letter. A could be for Alan or Allison.
Create a character next to their starting letter. You can even create short stories about them to emphasize the letter sound.
For example, “Allison is a farmer who grows apples and alfalfa. She lives in Alabama.”
You can write these out and have your child circle all the A’s.
Reading LEGOs
You can use LEGO Dots letters to build words for your child to sound out.
LEGO Word Families
You can also write individual letters on a classic brick with a permanent marker.
You can click the LEGO bricks together to form the word. Then, switch out the initial letter to form word families.
Assemble Sight Words
Make sight word flash cards. Show your child the card and have him copy it using LEGO Dots letter.
Run and Recreate Relay
Write a word on a whiteboard or index card.
Set out various LEGO letters (either classic bricks with letters written on them or LEGO Dots letters) in front of the written word.
(Add extra letters if your child is experienced at this task.)
Run a relay race where you work to form the word letter by letter with the LEGOs.
You can work cooperatively or compete against the clock. How fast can you assemble a 3-letter, 4-letter, or 5-letter word?
Story Sequencing
As a post-reading activity, have your child assemble, in order, scenes from a story.
He can use a combination of drawing and LEGO bricks and Minifigures to showcase a scene.
Creative Writing
Ask your child to create a character and setting with LEGO bricks and Minifigures.
Then, have him compose a story to practice his storytelling skills.
He can even narrate the story from the perspective of the Minifigure character.
Ideas for Using LEGOs to Teach Reading
With these fun and creative ideas, you can help your child progress in his reading skills brick by brick.