Archive for the ‘Alphabet activities’ Category
Alphabet Beads – 2 Activities!
Support Your Team!
When I bought these beads I was trying to decide what to make with them , and inspiration struck today. We are going up to cheer for Canada and the USA at the Olympics and decided to make some jewelry for the occasion. Beading was not easy and my son only did a bit, I wasn’t expecting him to do any this is an activity for 5 and up although as you can see younger kids can help! For a great activity for younger ones scroll down!
- Gather your materials. You will need some pipe cleaners ( in the country’s colors you are supporting), and some alphabet beads.
- Start by searching for the letters. I didn’t ask my son to come help since my plan was for this to be an older child activity, but he came and helped!
- Spell out your message.
- Thread on! I threaded all the of the beads on and separated the pipe cleaners to make it fancy
For the USA one I threaded the USA on a single pipe cleaner and the hearts on both.
- Wrap the ends to make your bracelet.
Uppercase Lowercase Match!
Games don’t have to be complicated to be fun. This alphabet game is super simple but easy make and fun to play. The beads are uppercase letters so to make it more challenging for my son who knows his letters, I used lowercase letters in the tin. You could use uppercase letters for beginners or even spell simple sight words for more advanced learners.
- Gather your materials. You will need alphabet letter beads, a muffin tin, some paper, a marker , tape and scissors or a circular paper punch.
- Write out the letters on the paper.
- Punch them out.
- Tape into the tin.
- Call your sorting superstar to the table! And have fun, it is a game after all!
You might also like :
Letter Pizza!
Letter Recognition- Links to great lessons
Cereal Box Laptop
Car And Driver Craft !
Car Alphabet !
I was asked tonight where I find inspiration and I answered everywhere and that is the truth. My son is so into car models right now, it all started with him noticing the H on a friend’s Honda and slowly it’s developed into a chorus of ” Honda! Chevy ! Audi! BMW! Toy-woda!” every time we drive anywhere. I decided to harness that and work in some phonics. To say he had a blast is a massive understatement.This would make a great group project too!
- Gather your materials. You will need a car magazine , some craft paper( or any large piece), a marker, some crayons, scissors and a glue stick.
- Start by drawing a road on your paper.
- Add the alphabet with your child, have them tell you what’s next after you write each letter if they are able.
- Hand them the crayons and have them decorate the road- we kept it simple with grass, yellow markings and black for the road. There is no wrong way to do this.
- While my son did that I ripped some pages out of the magazine looking for different makes that start with different letters (Audi, BMW, Ford, Honda…) If your child is able to have them search . My son refused to let me do this alone, but he was searching only for Hondas.
- When I had enough I cut the cars out more carefully.
- While I did that I handed my son some of the discarded pages for him to practice cutting too, his cutting skills aren’t fine tuned enough yet and if I had given him a car to cut out, it would have been pure frustration , but he felt included by cutting the scraps.
- Time to glue them on.
- Choose a car, identify it and identify which letter it starts with. If your child needs some help here is what I did. My son had issues with was I for Infinity. When he did I repeated the sound and said ” like Igloo” by giving hints he was still able to figure it out himself which for most almost 3 year olds is key to their pride. With children who are not identifying sounds yet, tell them which letter it starts with and have them find it on the page.
- Find the letter on the page.
- Add glue
- Add the car.
- Repeat with all the cars.
- When all are glued on go through them again and label them with their names.
- After I taped it to the wall he picked out a car for me, a Mercedes! Good boy!
Song
Little Red Car is one of my most viewed song videos click here to watch it !
Books!
“The Berenstain Bears and the Big Road Race” by Stan and Jan Berenstain shouldn’t be overlooked. Both my son and i really enjoy this book from the ever popular series. It’s a good story about being persistent and they sneak lots of learning into the rhyming text. Colors, opposites and more can be reinforced by this retelling of the classic tale of the tortoise and the hare.
“Everything I Know About Cars” by Tom Lichtenheld is hilarious! I grabbed it at the library today knowing I would need some car books to pair with this activity and didn’t preview it at all. All I knew is that it was a book about cars I had never read. At nap when I finally opened it with my son in his car Pjs- I realized it’s very long, and probably more approriate for 4+. I didn’t put it down though because after reading this on the first page I was hooked :
A collection of made-up facts, Educated Guesses and silly pictures about Cars, Trucks and other Zoomy things
The author had me at zoomy things. My son only made it through the first few pages, but I couldn’t wait to open it back up after he was asleep. The book takes the readers through the history of cars ( totally made up) , the basics of road trips, kid designed cars … and ends with a tutorial on how the reader can draw their own made up car. I really liked this book and plan to buy a copy for my 4and 7 year old nephews who will love the humor ( yes some of it is pottyish but still fun) and the illustrations.
” Truck Driver Tom “ by Monica Wellington is one of my son’s picks. The story is simple, Tom and his puppy drive produce from the farm to the market and see the country side and much more along the way. The best part of this book are the fun bright and detailed illustrations, there is a wide variety of trucks, cars , emergency and construction vehicles! Also it’s a great lesson about how our food gets from the farm to us. This author is one I have only discovered since becoming a mom and really wish I had been familiar with her while I was teaching, her books are perfect for 2-5 year olds.
Posted in Age 2-3 years, Age 3-5 years, Alphabet activities, Cars, Crafts, Transportation | 
17 Comments »
Yes They’re Flash Cards !
Flash Card Garland
See flash cards are good for something! When a friend asked recently if flash cards were good for anything, I jokingly replied with ” You could make a craft with them!” and so this idea was born. Flash cards aren’t inherently bad, if you play, create or need them to accommodate disabilities they can be fun or even crucial. However sitting and teaching the average preschooler with them just isn’t the best way, rote memorization and learning are not equal. So if you have some don’t throw them away, make this and dress up your playroom or kids bedroom .
- Gather your materials. You will need flash cards, some card stock ,double stick tape, scissors , ribbon, and a hole punch.
- Start by deciding on a pattern for your paper. My son helped me and we took the opportunity to talk about patterns.
- Cut the paper to size.
- Attach the flash card on the paper with the double stick tape.
- Punch two holes at the top.
- Repeat 25 more times.
- Time to start lacing the cards on. I used just over 9 feet of ribbon. I left extra on both ends just in case. This is not a fun part of the craft, I forgot G and had to re-lace H-P.
- Tie bows at the end of the ribbons once all the letters are laced on.
- Put it up. My playroom is too small to allow me to get a good shot of the whole thing!
For another fun alphabet activity check out what I posted today at
Bedroom Door Sign
The last ransom note I got was from my sister and made out of my New Kids On The Block posters, I was crushed but it was payback for ruining her Barbie lipstick years earlier. There is something so fun and visually interesting about the ransom note style, and it’s a great activity for school age kids . They can add their own messages, or keep it simple. This was always a hit with the after school kids I worked with. It’s time consuming too ( a plus on rainy summer days).
- Gather your materials. You will need a few magazines or old catalogs,a marker, scissors, glue , and some construction paper. I like using 2 colors for contrast but one is fine.
- Start by writing out your name and what else will go on the sign. It is really helpful to be able to simply lay the cut out letter on the written on to see what you need to search for in the magazines/catalogs.
- Cut out all the letters
- Glue them onto one sheet of construction paper. Do not worry about the paper dimpling it all adds to the overall effect.
- Make a box around each one, no need to be perfect, irregular looks better I think.
- Cut out.
- Glue onto the 2nd piece of paper. It will be strong enough to be a sign to let everyone know who’s room it is ( and probably to keep out, knock or no girls allowed…).
Learning Outside
- Gather your materials. You will need a garden hose ( or squirt bottles) , some sidewalk chalk and a future sharp shooter to play. Don’t forget your sunscreen either!
- Start by Drawing letters on your fence ( or patio) I asked my son which letters he wanted .
- Hand then the hose and call out the letters.
- Spray!!
- After the letters we moved to another piece of fence and did shapes!
- Spray!!
The sky is really the limit, you can use numbers, sight words for older kids, colors for younger… have fun !
Posted in Age 2-3 years, Age 3-5 years, Alphabet activities, Shape Activities, games |
12 Comments »
