Who didn’t love those secret decoder glasses with the red lenses as a kid? There was something so fun about pretending to be a spy, searching for secret messages or pictures.
Like most of my ideas, this Secret Decoder Magna-Tiles Activity was inspired by observing my kids at play. My daughter was hiding little drawings between Magna-Tiles and she noticed how parts of her drawing disappeared when certain color Magna-Tiles were on top. This gave me the idea to create secret decoder messages to play with our tiles.
To make your own secret decoder message you just need a red Magna-Tile, a piece of paper, alphabet stamps and red and blue ink pads. If you don’t have stamps and ink you can use red and blue markers too!
Stamp the secret message you want in blue stamps and then fill in the rest of the paper with red stamps. We used a heart stencil to make our secret decoder message Valentine's Day themed.
See our video below to see Secret Decoder Magna-Tile activity in action!
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MATERIALS FOR SECRET DECODER MAGNA-TILES ACTIVITY
- Red Magna-Tiles
- Alphabet stamps
- Red + blue ink pad
- Paper
- [Optional:] Shape template
WAYS TO PLAY WITH SECRET DECODER MAGNA-TILES
- Practice writing site words + short phrases
- Letter recognition practice
- Create a template out of paper to create your hidden message inside an interesting shape like a heart
- Experiment with different color Magna-Tiles + other color stamps
- Create a hidden picture instead of a hidden message
- Try red + blue pen or marker instead of stamps.
- Create your secret message design on the front of a folded card to celebrate special occasions
- Make a magnifying glass handle or eye glass frame out of cardboard to put the red Magna-Tiles inside
MORE IDEAS
Looking for Magna-Tile activities for preschoolers? Check out our MAGNA-TILE LETTER MATCH and our web story abot ways to add EXTRA FUN TO YOUR MAGNATILES with fun accessories and different ways to play.
DID YOU TRY IT?
Let us know what your little one thought of this Secret Decoder Magna-Tile Activity in the comment section or show us your play by sharing your photos on Facebook or instagram and tagging @ureadyteddy or #ureadyteddy
We'll share our favorites in our stories!
