Letter N
Regular readers know that my number one passion isn’t paint or even glitter it’s reading, specifically getting kids to love reading. That is why I am so eager to share the free MemeTales Mobile Reader App with you. I have had the honor of working with MeMeTales for some time now . They published my Alphabet Crafts eBook and I act as an advisor on their parents committee. If you read my post about boys and reading last week you will know that one of the biggest lessons I have learned from children I have taught over the years is that it’s more important we get them to want to read than we force them to read what we want them to.
I can tell you first hand that my son loves reading MeMeTales books on my iPod , it’s novel it’s a treat and even though he’s not a reluctant reader I instantly saw how MeMeTales gamified reward system would appeal to those kids who have a hard time getting interested in books. See when you read books on this app you get points, then after so many points you get stickers and earn games too! Best part is it’s free and to celebrate the launch you get access to 20 free books.
So to celebrate the MeMeTales Mobile Reader App launching we are devoting this whole week to crafts inspired by the free books that come on the App. But as I said in January this year here at No Time For Flash Cards it’s not about me, it’s about WE so we are also going to be hosting a linky party every day. Each day the theme will be based on the book featured from the app. Scroll down to check out today’s book and craft.
Here’s the thing, the reason I love MeMeTales is because they are passionate about reading and they know that making crafts, doing activities and keeping the learning going with themed projects will only keep kids coming back to books whether they read them on an iPad, laptop on from a book. Speaking of books at the end of this week of celebration we will be giving away 20 picture books to one lucky reader . Awesome right?! We’ll tell you more about that on Friday .
Today’s Featured Book Alphabet inspired our letter of the week craft below.
N Net
- Gather your materials. You will need 2 pieces of construction paper, markers, scissors, glue, some tulle, double stick tape and some candy fish.
- Start by making a large uppercase N on one sheet of paper.
- Make waves if you want on the other.
- Invite your child to come decorate the N however they want. Mine wanted to do one single line on both sides ( I had 2 Ns, I really need some stencils)- glad I snapped the picture when I did.
- While you are cutting it out ( or they can too) have them draw the other fish in the sea, birds in the sky… or not. My son was like ” No thanks I did my line can we glue yet?”
- Cut a small piece of tulle and using double stick tape make a net on the bottom corner of the N. If you don’t have tulle the mesh bags from produce will work great too!
- Add glue – easily my son’s favorite part.
- Pop the N on the “sea”. I added a bit more double stick tape once the N was added to make sure the fish would be secure.
- Add the fish in the net.
- Eat the fish
Do you have an Alphabet activity or craft to share? Add it here :
Start by making a large uppercase N on the cardboard. Don’t worry if it’s perfect, as long as your child can tell it’s an N, it’s doing it’s job. 
Invite your child to art time and have them paint the N, I try to have everything laid out so it’s enticing and organized when my son comes to see what we are doing, on those days everything really does go much more smoothly.
While they paint write numbers on the small pieces of paper, I am using some scrap card stock, which will hold up to being glued better than thinner paper.If your child is able to , have them write the numbers themselves. Add whatever numbers your child is interested in.
Grab the glue.
Add your numbers and label them as your child adds them. Let dry. When dry cut the N out and glue onto the construction paper.
Books
” 1, 2, 3 To The ZOO” by Eric Carle is fun counting book perfect for toddlers. Actually as I type this my toddler is reading it. There are no words, just pictures and numbers and that makes it perfect for toddlers who are just learning both numbers and animals because parents can read it slowly counting , naming the animals and making the animal sounds, or more quickly just counting!
” Daddy Hugs” by Karen Katz is a cute little counting book for toddlers. I gave it to my husband last year for his first father’s day and my son hated it. However in the year since it’s become a favorite and nothing beats a board book for when toddlers get to that destructo stage.
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- Gather your materials. You will need 2 pieces of construction paper, some newspaper, double stick tape, scissors and markers.
- Draw a big fat N on one piece of paper.
- Have your child draw on the other. If they are old enough you can have them practice writing Ns if they want! I usually include one free art aspect of the letter of the week activity, that way they have some control and free creativity in an otherwise parent/teacher directed craft.
- While your child is doing this you can cut the newspaper into small pieces.
- Cover the N in double stick tape /or glue.
- Add the newspaper to the N. My son loved this, he loved how sticky the tape was and how it stuck to his finger, so we had a mini lesson on textures too!
- Cut out and tape the the colored paper!
A great way to introduce a letter of the week to your child is to fill a box with items starting with that letter. This morning after breakfast my son and I sat down and pulled lots of fun things out of our box, Numbers, A Nectarine, Noodles and Nuts were all in there! The best part about this activity is that you use things around your house, and you can use it for letters, colors and shapes!
Letter of the week “Stories”
This is a fun activity for older preschoolers, I had fun doing this with my PreK class a few years ago! What you do is write a short story leaving blanks for your child to fill in with words starting with the letter of the week. The results will make both of you giggle, and your child will be learning too!
Here is an example :
Yesterday I went walking down the street and I found a _________ , I couldn’t believe it! My mom said I couldn’t keep it . Instead she let me go to the store and buy a _________ but there were none left! The man at the store sold me a ________ instead! I thought it smelled funny , so I went home and on the way home I found three ______. what a funny day!
*Remember to keep it short so that your child stays interested, you want them to be challenged , not frustrated!
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