For a language created from a mere 26 letters, English can be extremely complicated. Sometimes our children need a break, and a little encouragement through game play to keep them interested in learning.
One of the many challenging concepts in our language is that the letter “G: has two sounds. Not only is it pronounced /g/ (hard “G” as in goat) but when it’s followed by an i, e, or y, it sometimes magically becomes /j/ (soft “G” as in ginger). Because this can easily get confusing, I decided to make up a game to tackle this concept — and entertain my kids as they learned. The game uses a mining theme, with children competing to collect the most gold nuggets or gemstones in order to win.
Directions:
- Download the PDF file we’ve provided, and print the mine image, a mine cart for each player, game play card with spinner, gemstones, and gold nuggets on card stock. Everything but the full-page mine image will need to be cut out. The gem shapes and nuggets are available in color or in black and white, in case you would rather let your child color them.
- Using a razor or utility knife, cut little slits a hair over 1” long around the mine wall. See photo for an idea of what I mean.
- The little red mine carts are used as each player’s game mat (you can print two and staple them together if your child wants to fill up a cart).
- Write words with a /j/ sound (soft “G” like gym) on the gemstones, and words with the /g/ sound (hard “G” like good) on the golden nuggets. See word list for ideas, but feel free to add more. (There are always exceptions in English and I tried to stick to words that follow the rule this game tries to reinforce. For example, adding the words gift or girl would be confusing, since those have a hard “G” sound.)
- Attach the spinner to the game card very loosely with a metal brad; if necessary, adjust it until it spins easily. With the other game pieces, card stock is optional, but the spinner really needs the weight of the card stock to spin nicely.
Playing the game is rather simple and straightforward:
- Tuck the treasures — the gemstones or golden nuggets with letter “G” words written on each — into the slots on the mine shaft wall.
- Present the “loaded” mine to your child, and let them mine for knowledge by spinning the wheel. There are only four choices for game play: they can mine a gemstone or a nugget, lose a turn, or lose one of their treasures.
- When they remove a treasure from the mine shaft wall, they should read the word to you before inserting the gold nugget or gem into their mine cart or placing it on their playing mat.
- The first person to mine 10 treasures wins the game.
- Repeat as necessary — or as often as your child’s interest in playing the game allows.
Note, since there are far more hard /g/ words than soft /j/, feel free to double up on some of your soft /j/ words and write them more than once. This is the trickier beginning “G” sound that needs extra practice, anyhow.
Happy mining!
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