Magnetic Letters

Who can forget those colourful magnetic letters we all had sticking on metal panels in our houses, especially on the fridge door? I know that most of you are thinking that those are just for kids, but tell me honestly, have you played with them or used them now that you are adults? Quit denying, I know that majority of you guys have been playing around with these interesting toys.

There are a lot of uses for magnetic letters and they can be so much fun. As with today’s developments, they come in different forms, colors, and sizes. They have also migrated from fridge doors in your homes to metal boards in your offices.

Uses

1. Children’s Learning Tool – Do not limit the learning process inside the bedroom or the study but take it everywhere. Constant brain stimulation is a must to increase the retention of lessons for your children. Play is a great venue for learning and the possibilities with regards to activities that can be done with Magnetic Letters are endless.
2. Messages – Whether you are at your office or at home, you can move the letters around and voila! Message entered and is ready to be received by your recipient. A loving note for your children or from your children, a reminder for your spouse, a random message to brighten everyone’s day, grocery or shopping list, or a reminder for yourself at work. They can convey feelings of love and care. They can also convey feelings of anger. Sometimes siblings inside the household find it difficult to confront each other, this can be an avenue for a conversation that can lead to a compromise and forgiveness. These are but a small fraction of the possibilities that you can accomplish with magnetic letters.
3. Fun and Games – Word guessing games, Charades with a little twist, spelling games with your kids, and a whole lot more. Think of all the word games that you know and take it to the fridge door. Fun and Games done with a different twist slowly or never goes stale.
4. Gifts – An ideal gift for all ages as they can be used in all stages of life. A birthday gift for the young tot, as a Christmas gift for the small children, or as a welcome gift for the new employee, these are just some of the situations that you can give these products as useful and fun gifts.

Product Varieties

There are different products available for use of both children and adults. The most basic of which are Magnetic Letters. However, in today’s world, there is a demand for different types of magnetic products. Magnetic Numbers, Magnetic Shapes, and also Magnetic Figures are just some of the improvements that manufacturers have done to comply with the demands of consumers.

Magnetic Letters, in league with text messages and emails, can also be called a means of communication. If you do not have these around, buy some because you will be using them day in and day out. If you do have them around, tell your friends that these cheap items are both useful and fun and will continue to show its importance stretching from childhood to adulthood.

If you are not one of those people who had them when you were a child, then you must have known someone in your life that must have had them. What am I talking about? Of course I am talking about those brightly coloured magnetic letters on the most peculiar place, the refrigerator. Remember now? As adults, we may find it a bit unimportant and we just use them as magnets to hold our grocery lists in place. But to children, they provide a very interesting and stimulating effect on the brain that helps strengthen their ability to read.

There are a lot of advantages that can be had when it comes to using magnetic letters. There are so many types, depending on the age group that is to use them. There are those that are bigger in size; ideal for younger children who practice their gross motor functions; and then there are those that are thinner; for children who practice their fine motor functions.

Importance

You see, education and learning should not be limited inside the study or the child’s bedroom but has to be all around him. Constant and early stimulation to the centre of the brain responsible for word and sentence association is crucial for a child to develop proper receptive and expressive skills. Encouragement must be given to the child starting from an early age and continuing onwards through preschool to obtain a good base when it comes to letters, words, and sentence construction. This is where Magnetic Letters come in.

Tips and Tricks

As we all know, a child’s attention span is quite short as compared to an adults, therefore certain techniques should be used to keep them interested. With the use of medium – large figures, brightly coloured, and engaging equipment is the first step to draw their attention. Games can also be initiated as these will encourage and challenge them to use their cognitive functions more often. Here are some games that can help with this task:

• Word Combinations – using 4 to 6 Magnetic letters and practicing with your child to make simple 3 – 4 letter words with the available letters. As they mature, longer words can be attempted. When skills have increased, sentences can also be attempted.
• Colour Focus – ask your child to gather a certain colour of magnetic letters and to put them on one side of the refrigerator door and do the same with the other magnetic letters.

As the child’s ability increases, encourage him to play around with words. Introducing letter combinations such as TH and SH is important so as to improve his skills. Play is a great avenue for learning especially in his young years when autonomy is being developed.

The use of Magnetic Letters is a great way to start your child’s education and to create a strong bond early on.

Have you ever had the chance to see letters in a magnetic form posted on metal objects? These are what we call ‘Magnetic Letters’. They are usually seen in a day care center, a preschool, or in a child’s room. They are not meant for display alone. These magnetic objects were created with a purpose in mind. They were specially made for kids as tools in learning the ABCs.

Usefulness of Magnetic Letters

As we all know, children, young as they are, their motor skills are not yet fully developed. Thus they manipulate big objects using their hands. As such, magnetic letters were designed in a way that the size is just fit for a child’s motor development. Furthermore, these letters are also very beneficial for children who are yet to learn reading concepts; children who are just starting to develop their visual-motor coordination; and children who are on the process of familiarizing themselves with alphabets. Using magnetic letters can be very interesting when incorporated with games.

Choosing Quality Magnetic Letters

In choosing magnetic letters, always take into consideration the qualities such as thickness and durability. Make sure that the letters are durable enough since children will be playing with these almost all the time. Choose also the bright and colourful ones so that you can also incorporate colors with alphabets in your activities. Moreover, ensure that the letters stick well on metal surfaces.

Using Magnetic Letters in an Interesting Way

There are a number of ways by which you can utilize magnetic letters in a very entertaining and interesting way thereby catching the child’s attention. Below are just some of the many interesting activities that you can take advantage of using magnetic letters.

#1: Guessing Game

Using creative techniques in teaching the alphabet can surely capture the attention of young toddlers. Since kids move a lot and hate being still for a moment, try to play a guessing game with them. Let the children recognize the letters by naming it and giving the sound.

#2: Mix and match

Mix all the letters, both big and small ones, and let the children find the pair. Example: ‘M’ and ‘m’.

#3: Spell-it-out!

In this activity, you got to have a magnetic board ready. Next, all you have to do is to mix all the letters, both the vowels and the consonants. Think of simple words, 3-letter or 4-letter words will do, for the children to spell. This will be done by letting them search and post the letters that would form the word. Example: cat, man, pop, clam, sell, etc.

#4: Time for a Rhyme

This is one of the most interesting activities that you can teach to your young tots. Simply form a word and let the children change very first letter in order to form a new one that will create a rhyming sound with that of the previous word. Example: clock – block

#5: Form the Patterns

Using magnetic letters, you can create patterns that kids would surely enjoy. All you have to do is to change some of the letters in the words to form new ones. Example: men, pen, pet, set, and sit. Then, let the children categorize them based on the pattern formed. So in this pattern, you can say that the first two words, men and pen, both ends with letter ‘n’; followed by two words, pet and set, that both ends with letter ‘t’.

#6: Fill-in the Missing Letter

On a magnetic board, form some words that have missing letters. Let the children identify what the missing letters are in order to complete the word. Example: pl__nt. Here, the children should be able to tell that the missing letter is ‘a’.

#7: Scramble Rumble!

This one can be a bit challenging for the kids and will surely help in developing their creativity and critical thinking skills. Just mix the letters in a word and let the children re-arrange them to form the correct word. Example: A M E T. The children can have different answers depending on how they would arrange the letters. Hence they can have team, meat, mate, and tame for their answers.

Conclusion

There can be lots of activities that you can do using magnetic letters. All it takes is your creativity and innovativeness in coming up with ideas that won’t bore the children. Following the suggested activities will indeed put more life to the children’s learning.