We used these fun manipulatives to do a fine motor and literacy activity. I explained that a letter all by itself was just a letter, but when letters connect they build words. I challenged my school friends to connect the crab letters to build words, and silly words were okay to make!
First the children had to figure out how to use the pincers to connect the crabs. Outside of the challenge to connect these critters, the children talked about what letters they had in their baskets. We talked about the difference between spelling a word (naming the letters), and sounding out a word (saying the letter sounds). Both children actively touched each letter and moved their fingers going left to right as they "read" the words. Depending on the child's developmental level, the child focused on either naming the letters, or producing letter sounds. I helped the students blend the letter sounds together to "read" the silly word. I also pointed out how if they change the order of letters, they change the order of sounds in the word.
