Kids learn best when they are having fun. I have found that my toddler is most excited to learn Gujarati when I associate the letters with fun activities or stories. That’s why each week we feature a Gujarati letter of the week, where we share activities and stories that are based on that letter. This week’s letter is ષ.
Creating Corner:
First up is ષ for ષટ્કોણ (shatkone, hexagon).
Bring hexagons to life with this activity!
Grab an old paper/plastic plate.
Cut out hexagons of varying colors.
Glue the hexagons onto the back of the plate. This will form the shell of your turtle.
Cut out 1 large oval and 4 medium-sized ovals. Glue the large oval onto one edge of the plate and draw eyes and a mouth on it. This will be the head of your turtle. Glue the four medium-sized ovals onto the four edges of the plate. These will be the legs of your turtle.
Cut out a small triangle/rectangle shaped paper. Glue this onto the plate as well. This will be the tail of your turtle!
Activity time:
We aren't done with ષ for ષટ્કોણ (shatkone, hexagon) just yet! Here are some activities you can do based on hexagons and other shapes.
First up, it's time for a scavenger hunt:
This isn't just any scavenger hunt-- its a scavenger hunt for shapes! While not all of these shapes have the letter "ષ", this is still a great activity to help your kid learn some unusual shapes. Have your kid go around the house and find different objects that are the following shapes.
ત્રિકોણ (trikone, triangle)
ચોરસ (choras, square)
લંબચોરસ (lambachoras, rectangle)
વર્તુળ/ ગોળ (vartul/gol, circle)
લંબગોળ (lambagol, oval)
ષટ્કોણ (shatkone, hexagon)
પંચકોણ (panchkone, pentagon)
અષ્ટકોણ (ashtakone, octagon)
ચતુષ્કોણ (chatushkone, quadrilateral)
Next up, let's mix up numbers and shapes with this activity:
Draw some hexagons on a blank sheet of paper (see the photo to the left for some guidance).
Fill in some of the hexagons with Gujarati numbers.
Have your kid fill out the missing numbers.
***This is a great activity to have your kid practice writing and reading Gujarati numbers. If they are old enough, you can also have them draw the hexagons on the paper so they can practice drawing their shapes!
***If you want a downloadable version of the sheet below, let us know in the comments!
Last, but not least, its time to break down some hexagons and build up our knowledge of shapes!
Draw 6 large hexagons on 6 pieces of paper.
Draw dotted lines in each of the hexagons to create different shapes (like triangles and diamonds). Use the photo to the right as a template.
Have your kid cut on the dotted lines to create smaller shapes.
Then, have your kid piece the smaller shapes back together to create the original hexagons.
***This is a great homemade puzzle activity to help your kid practice shapes and practice their fine motor skills!
***If you want a downloadable version of the sheet below, let us know in the comments!
Character/Quality Corner:
While learning letters is super important, learning character is even more important. So why not do both simultaneously? Associating letters with characters and qualities helps pique my kid’s interest in great historical figures while also allowing her to practice saying the letter out loud.
Characters:
વશિષ્ટ (Vashisht)
શેષનાગ (Sheshnaag)
વિષ્ણુ (Vishnu)
Quality:
નિર્ધોષ (nirdosh, innocent)
Festival:
વિષુવ (Vishuv, equinox)
Sing-A-Long:
The best way to learn a letter is to sing it! So, sing the letter ષ in the song વૈષ્ણવ જન તો (Vaishnav Jan To). You can check out this song on YouTube at the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xipue67yfPQ
Word Salad: The best way to learn another language is to hear as many words as possible. Here are just a few extra words to practice during the week that have the letter ષ!
ષ for ષટ્કોણ (shatkone, hexagon)
ષ for વિષ (veesh, poison)
ષ for વિષય (vishay, subject)
ષ for નિષ્ટા (nisht, determined)
ષ for ઋષિ (rushi, sage)
ષ for ચતુષ્કોણ (chatushkone, quadrilateral)
ષ for ઉષા (ushaa, dawn)
ષ for ષટ્પદ (shatpad, sixfold/insect)
ષ for પૂષન (pushan, nutrition)
ષ for શોષણ (shoshan, absorption)
ષ for વિષુવ (vishuv, Equinox)
ષ for દોષ (dosh, fault)
ષ for નિર્ધોષ (nirdosh, innocent)
ષ for નીરઘોષ (niraghosh, silent)
ષ for ભાષા (bhaashaa, language)
ષ for ભાશાંતર (bhaashaantar, translation)
ષ for ભાષ્ય (bhaashya, commentary)
ષ for ભાષણ (bhaashan, speech)
ષ for વેશભૂષા (veshbushaa, costumes)
ષ for ભવિષ્ય (bhavishya, future)
Question of the Week:
Take a break from learning about ષ and stretch your mind with the question of the week!
Q: What is the Equinox/ વિષુવ/ vishuv?
A: The Equinox is the point of time at which the Sun crosses the celestial equator. Essentially, this is the time when the center of the visible Sun is directly above the equator. You can check out this YouTube video for a pictoral depiction of this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSs8K_HQSZ4
Just in case you are craving some more knowledge, here is a bonus question of the week!
Q: Why does nature love hexagons/ shatkone/ ષટ્કોણ?
A: This is a little complicated, but you can check out this YouTube video for a great explanation: