Related Episode:
102 A.There’s an Ant in Every Giant
Age Range: 3-5
Skills: Identifying Words within Words; Listening Skills
Subjects: Literacy and Language Development
Find the Ant
In “There’s an Ant in Every Giant,” Ant turns into “Giant” by adding the letters “Gi” to his name. There are many words that have the word “ant” in them. In this fun activity, children listen for the hidden “ant” in different words.
Materials:
- One printout of the WordFriend Ant (click here for Ant printable page)
- Scissors
- Printout of the “Find the Ant” word cards (click here for the word cards printable page)
- A small bag (or a hat or open box)
Directions:
Getting Ready:
- Cut out the “Find the Ant” word cards
- Think of or write down more words with “ant” in them (optional).
- Think of or write down more words that don’t have “ant” in them (optional).
Playing the Game:
- Place the Ant WordFriend on the ground so that you can clearly see him.
- Move back, so that you and your child (and other players) are standing at least 15 feet away from Ant. (Make sure that everyone can see the word right side up, from left to right.)
- Place the “Find the Ant” cards (and any other word cards you have created) in the bag. Mix up the cards.
- Take turns with your child, and anyone else who is playing, to pick out a sheet of paper from the bag. Read each word out loud. If the word has “ant” in it, the player who pulled out the word moves forward one space. If the word doesn’t have “ant,” she stays still. If a child moves forward on a word without “ant,” have her go back to the spot where she started the turn. The game continues until everyone has reached Ant.
Note: When saying an “ant” word, emphasize the “ant” part of the word, by saying it loudly and clearly. - Play the game with some other small words (like “all” and “and”):
- Getting Ready: Write down the small word (for example, “all” or “and”). Repeat steps 2 and 3 in the “Getting Ready” section above, thinking of words that have the word “all” or “and” in them, as well as words that don’t have these words in them.
Here are some suggestions for words to use for “all” and “and”:- “all” words: basketball, baseball, tall, small, ball, call, overalls, mall, fall, hall, wall
- “and” words: candle, handle, sand, stand, handstand, understand, band, bandstand, candy, land, grand, hand
Note: You can use any of the words on the “Find the Ant” cards as examples of words that do not have “all” or “and” in them.
- Playing the Game: Repeat steps 1 to 3 in the “Playing the Game” section above. Instead of using the Ant WordFriend, put the new small word – “all” or “and” – on the ground. As your children play the game, have them listen for words with the new word in them (“all” or “and”).
Note: For words that have the featured word two times like “handstand” and “bandstand” (which each have “and” two times), children can move ahead two spaces.
- Getting Ready: Write down the small word (for example, “all” or “and”). Repeat steps 2 and 3 in the “Getting Ready” section above, thinking of words that have the word “all” or “and” in them, as well as words that don’t have these words in them.
Take it Further:
- Build an “ant” WordThing™ – Have your child make a WordThing with her favorite “ant” word. Write a word with “ant” in it, like “ant,” “antenna,” “pants,” “elephant,” etc. in big letters on a piece of construction paper or cardboard. (This works best with nouns, especially objects and animals.) Then have your child turn the word into a WordThing by drawing an outline of the object’s shape around it and decorating it by drawing, painting and/or pasting on objects (like pom poms, pipe cleaners, googly eyes, etc.).