DOUBLE TAP TO ZOOM WITH PHONE OR TABLET 1 Mystery Word T his idea comes from our early learning buddy Jenn’s busy brain. Lots of kids love solving mysteries, so the idea of a Mystery Word will be very exciting to them. Mystery Word is an active way to build letter recognition, vocabulary, coopera- tion, and problem-solving skills. We put this activity first because it can be easily inte- grated into all the activities that follow. Process Process Ingredients First, some prep work: 4- x 6-inch index cards 1. Create a set of letters—write one letter per index card until you have the whole alphabet. 2. Make duplicates of popular letters so you’ll be Marker ❑❑ Index card file box (optional, but it makes for easy storage of your words and letters) prepared for any Mystery Word that pops up. 3. File the cards in your index card file box. COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL 1