BRAND NEW Help kids master letter sounds and build a solid foundation for literacy with this extraordinary wooden play set! The possibilities for learning are unlimited - but the activity itself is simple: place a letter sound in one of the play board wells and fill the others with pictures of words that contain the sound. Three wooden play boards (one for beginning sounds, one for ending sounds, and one for middle sounds) set the stage for learning, with four recessed wells to fill on each board. But the real stars of the show are the 40 rectangular picture tiles and 31 puzzle-shaped letter-sounds tiles - shaped to fit the wells and guide letter-sounds learning, they're wonderful manipulatives for finding relationships between familiar words and letter sounds. Each tile is filled with information, so kids can discover how to say each sound and which words contain it; begin to read the words or just rely on the clear, cheerful illustrations to encourage vocabulary and speech.

Age: 4 years and up Dimensions: 19.68 x 38.73 x 3.81 cm Packaged Extension Activities: More Ways to Play and Learn: Focus on all parts of a single word by placing the picture tile first in Beginning Sound Street, then in Middle Sound Street, then in Ending Sound Street, and finding corresponding letter-sound sets to match. Choose one of the letter-sound tiles and ask the child to find all the picture tiles that feature that letter sound anywhere in their names--beginning, middle, or end. After a set is completed, write down the names of all the items shown and ask the child to circle the featured letter sound. Ask the child to gather picture tiles by theme--for instance, you could ask for all of the animals or all of the things you would see in a park. Use the puzzle-shaped letter-sound cards to build short words or word fragments. Allow the child to spell words phonetically, or build simple letter combinations and blends.