Teach Your Monster to Read

My son has just started school so reading and phonics are currently top of our agenda, our fridge is covered with magnetic letters and we have many books that we read every night.

I am always on the look out for other interesting ways to get him reading and making sounds so when I heard about a game that could help my son with his reading, I was keen to see how he would get on.

Teach Your Monster To Read is a free interactive game which allows your child to design their own monster and takes them on a journey finding letters, learning how to pronounce them and building words in a fun way that makes it seem like they aren't even learning.

The game itself is fairly easy to play, my son who is four can quite easily control the monster using the mouse, although he misses a few objects hopefully the game will improve these skills.

There are several levels too, so it doesn't get too repetitive and they are all fun games that keep my son engaged.

Teach Your Monster to Read has been developed for the Usborne Foundation - a charity set up by Peter Usborne (who also founded The Usborne Publishing company). There will be a series of games, all of which will be given away for free. The game has been featured in the Sunday Times, the Times Educational Supplement and recently won Gold in both the Practical Preschool and Primary Teacher Update awards.

Finally, the guys at Teach Your Monster to Read currently have a great competition running over on their blog, if you have a little one who loves to draw monsters then they can enter to win a first prize of £150. The competition ends at 5pm on Friday so get creative and send in your pictures.

Disclosure: We have been given three of the Usborne Young Readers books for reviewing the game. The game is available free. All views and opinions are my own.