Literacy manipulatives are physical objects that aid understanding of concepts or processes by allowing students to physically demonstrate and see the concept or process.

The use of manipulatives provides a way for students to learn concepts in a developmentally-appropriate, hands-on, experiential way.

Literacy manipulatives can be used to promote reading and writing skills, particularly in the early stages of literacy development for young readers.

For this activity, we used manipulatives to spell the word MERMAID.

Students were asked to name each letter in the word, trace it with their fingers, and eventually, place jewels on top!