Printable Ostara themed word search suitable for children of reading age.

There are innumerable ways to create codes. Codes have been used in every conflict our Folk have faced and there were whole military departments that were dedicated to cracking codes. Give children a challenge to create an “unbreakable” code. One will be amazed how many ways a child will be able to come up with codes.

A great way to get them started is studying hieroglyphs and Rune stones. Teach children that it took archeologists several years, even decades to even assign meaning to different symbols and strings of symbols. There is an ancient runestone recently discovered in Norway under a church floor. (http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article2033018.ece) With other famous runestones paving the way, archeologists were able to decipher its meaning. Have your children create a runestone code that others have to decipher!

This is a game popularized by the series of books called “I Spy…” But one doesn’t need the books to play this game; parents can choose any set of rules or subjects.

For instance, “I spy with my little eye something that is red and square shaped” and the child searches the room for that object. This game helps young children learn their shapes, colors, objects, first words, etc… It can even be played with children who are unable to communicate using words. It is important to remember that although children cannot speak well doesn’t mean they aren’t understanding everything around them, so one can tell a 2 year old that has rudimentary language skills, “I spy a red block” and they will probably find it!! This is a really fun game for younger children.

For older children, you can be more difficult and cryptic in your I Spies. For instance an Elementary child could find something to do with a piece of literature they are reading or an object with only a small amount of information. It really makes the mind work from young to old!

Taking I SPY on the Road

I SPY riddles help children become more familiar with letter and word recognition. A great way to reinforce this skill is to play I SPY the alphabet in the car. Whether you are taking a long journey or a short ride, this will keep children entertained while they learn. Use the letters of the alphabet to search for objects during your trip. Start with the letter A: I spy an airplane in the sky. I spy a bank on Smith Street. I spy a cat on the sidewalk. Take turns finding objects in alphabetical order. See how long it takes to get all the way to Z. Start from A again and try to find the letters of the alphabet in street signs or on license plates too. (http://content.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=1588)

20 Questions is a game made popular from the years of radio entertainment.

The answerer chooses a subject and the questioners get 20 chances to ask questions to reveal the answer. The answerer can only give yes or no answers. This is where the infamous, “Is it bigger than a breadbox?” question originated!

The person who figures out the mystery is the winner. This is a great exercise in deductive reasoning and creativity!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twenty_Questions

This is a great game to stretch those language skills. This takes into account the basic skills of opposite, same as, and looks the same but is different. The game is very simple.

The parent says a word and then asks for a Synonym/Antonym or asks for a Homonym or Homophone and the different meanings. The children just raise their hands and the quickest gets to answer. The game can go on as long as the parent wants. Usually points are given and the player that gets to the pre-decided high score wins. Once a child knows the difference between these terms, they can play so age group is according to the level of understanding in the child. The reward system is up to the Parent. This is usually just a fun game to reinforce grammatical lessons.

Homonym—Words that are the same in spelling and sound, but have different meanings. These are very often Noun/Verb twins such as water (water the grass or drink of water).

Homophone—Words that have the same sound and but not the same meaning or spelling. These are more common: To, Too, Two or Merry and Marry.

Homograph—Words that have the same spelling but not the same sound or meaning. Bow of a ship or Bow and arrow.

Synonym—Two words that have the same meanings: beautiful and lovely.

Antonym—Two words that are the opposite: large and small.

One will find that their children will start discovering several Homophones/Homonyms, Antonyms, and Synonyms in their daily readings, and life!

As with anagrams, cryptograms were started in ancient Greece, but for a much different purpose. In the 5th century BCE, Spartans would carve a cipher on a stick then wrap it. The only way it could be deciphered is with the right diameter of stick. This was very masterful in passing strategic messages to leaders. Julius Caesar is said to create the first substitution cipher called the Caesar Cipher. Also as with anagrams, cryptograms grew to great popularity in the Middle Ages. Medieval monks had much time on their hands so they pursued many intellectual games…this was one of the most popular!

“A cryptogram is a type of puzzle which consists of a short piece of text encrypted with a simple substitution cypher in which each letter is replaced by a different letter.” ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptogram )

Also like anagrams, cryptograms can be quite difficult! The best strategy is to figure out which letter is used with the most frequency or rather maybe common two letter words that are frequently used. This begins the quest to decypher the cryptograms.

Here are a couple of Cryptograms to get you started:

EXAMPLE:

gebo tev e cwaack cegn gsatkb ussyk

SOLUTION:

mary had a little lamb mother goose

(http://www.rubyquiz.com/quiz13.html)

Here is a great online resource on cryptograms: http://www.cryptograms.org/

Although started in Greece as a form of entertainment, anagrams were wildly popular in Medieval Europe. The father of anagrams is believed to be the Greek Poet Lycophron. Anagrams are a type of Word Play that the players choose a name or phrase and have the other players try and come up with another phrase using only those letters. It is really difficult the first few times the child does it, but if you encourage them to keep trying and start out with single words or use an online anagram creator to help get the anagram-ic juices flowing. This is a great exercise to stimulate higher-level thinking and sometimes more importantly lateral thinking. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anagram)

Here are some popular Anagrams to get you started:

Eleven plus two = Twelve plus one

A Decimal Point = I’m a Dot in Place

Astronomers = Moon Starers

How about trying some that reflect our Ways:

Sleipnir =

Mjollnir =

Online Anagram generators:

http://www.mbhs.edu/~bconnell/cgi-bin/anagram.cgi

http://www.manythings.org/anagrams/

http://wordsmith.org/anagram/