Y: Themed activities is brought to you today by the Letter Y!

Today's inspiration is Y words.  I decided to make a list of Y words (alphabetical except for the finale) and then I wrote ideas based on each word.  

Yacht  If you have a child interested in transportation and specifically different types of boats, you can explore float and sink with boats like a yacht.

Yam  This is a root vegetable. What other vegetables are part of this food family?  You can research them, cook them and eat them or make shaped stampers out of them for a painting activity

Yard  What games can you play in your yard?  Gymnastics? Chase? Bubbles?  What activities can you do to make your yard cleaner? Can you rake up leaves? Pull weeds? Plant grass?

Yarn  You can use a variety of colours of yarn to learn to knit a scarf or to play a game of cat's cradle or to make a variety of yarn-wrapped stars.  There are a variety of yarn crafts that will engage the interest of the child(ren) in your life.

Year  What year is it?  Do you know the date?  Practice saying and writing the complete date on paper.

Yearling  This a a term for animals between one and two years of age, frequently used for young horses. Explore the whole world of horses through books, toys, games and real animals as you learn about yearlings.

Yell-  Practice indoor voice and outdoor voice.  Find an appropriate situation where it is okay to yell as loud as you want to and have fun.

Yellow Name a number of things you can spot that are yellow.  

Yes  Ask a series of yes/no questions to practice answering questions.  Consider a variety of ways to say YES (yeh, yah, un-huh, mmhmm, ye, head nod, sign)

Yesterday  Practice using the past tense by writing a story based on something that happened yesterday.  Compare yesterday to today and tomorrow.  Young children need practice to comprehend this.

Yeti  If you want to explore the world of legends with a child, the yeti is a creature whose story you can explore.

Yield  Red light, green light.  Stop and go. Yield.  Have fun with traffic based games and relay races.  As you teach children the meaning of traffic signs, include a lesson on the word yield

Yoga  This is now a popular activity that is encouraged for people of all ages to help with relaxation and flexibility.  Yoga poses can be incorporated as a calming activity for the children in your life.

Yoke/yolk  This is a homonym...two words that sound the same but are spelled differently and have different meanings.  Yoke is a harness put on two oxen that forces them to work together in unison.  Yolk is the yellow part of the egg that has the key nutrients in it.  This is just a tidbit that you can share with the child(ren) in your life.

Yummy/Yucky  Does it taaste good or bad?  Do a taste challenge with a variety of foods or read the book by the title that will be presented later in the week.

YOU!!  Last but not least is the word YOU. YOU are so very special!  Never forget that as you enjoy time with the child(ren) in your life and share with them a variety of literacy building skills such as this one which builds your vocabulary of Y words and provides some activities to enjoy to celebrate the second last letter of the alphabet!

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