Friday, December 10, 2010
Until we moved to Draper during the summer before I was in sixth grade, we lived in Kearns, Utah and attended school in Sandy, Utah. This meant we had a thirty minute drive to and from school each day. My mom made sure we used this time to the fullest, practicing our spelling words, reading aloud, and sometimes car time even doubled as scripture study time. But on days when there wasn't something pressing to study, we would play the ABC Game.
I remember playing both cooperatively and competitively. Sometimes the goal was to find all the letters of the alphabet without using the same billboards we'd used previously. Other times the goal was to be the first to find all the letters without duplicating each other's finds.
Now that I'm raising my own children, I can see why my mom suggested the game. It's a great way for the little ones to review their letters (and later words, as we were required to state both the letter and the word we found it in, "S - Store 'n' Save!"), and it's a great way to keep the kids focused on something other than bothering each other.
And as my personal trek from my home in West Valley City, Utah to my parents home in Draper, Utah so closely resembles our daily drive to school, I find myself looking for letters in the old familiar places. Even after twenty years, I remember clearly how important it was to be to "J" before we reached the junction from I-215 to I-15, then the mad dash from "J" to "Q" to be the first to spot La Quinta, just to the east of the freeway. Finally, the first person to "Z" would certainly spot ZCMI off the 10600 South exit, and the next in line would nab Zion's Bank. With three girls in the game, that would pretty much determine the loser, since there were no more chances to spot a "Z" between the bank and the school.
Sadly, ZCMI is gone, and we don't take the 10600 South exit to get to Grandma and Grandpa's house. I guess my kids will have to find their own "Z."
I remember playing both cooperatively and competitively. Sometimes the goal was to find all the letters of the alphabet without using the same billboards we'd used previously. Other times the goal was to be the first to find all the letters without duplicating each other's finds.
Now that I'm raising my own children, I can see why my mom suggested the game. It's a great way for the little ones to review their letters (and later words, as we were required to state both the letter and the word we found it in, "S - Store 'n' Save!"), and it's a great way to keep the kids focused on something other than bothering each other.
And as my personal trek from my home in West Valley City, Utah to my parents home in Draper, Utah so closely resembles our daily drive to school, I find myself looking for letters in the old familiar places. Even after twenty years, I remember clearly how important it was to be to "J" before we reached the junction from I-215 to I-15, then the mad dash from "J" to "Q" to be the first to spot La Quinta, just to the east of the freeway. Finally, the first person to "Z" would certainly spot ZCMI off the 10600 South exit, and the next in line would nab Zion's Bank. With three girls in the game, that would pretty much determine the loser, since there were no more chances to spot a "Z" between the bank and the school.
Sadly, ZCMI is gone, and we don't take the 10600 South exit to get to Grandma and Grandpa's house. I guess my kids will have to find their own "Z."
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