Somewhere along the way I stopped doing Letter of The Week Theme round ups but as I was going through my email I counted far too many requests to continue to simply ignore them. So it’s back! I will hopefully post one every week or so until we are all the way to Z.  Here is a link to all of the round ups so far A-N.  Also don’t miss the alphabet books, it’s important not to only focus on one letter, but teach it in a meaningful and holistic way, alphabet books are a great way to do that.

{Letter N Crafts}

Net N – Newspaper N – Noodle n -  Number N

{Crafts and Activities that Begin with the Letter N}

Necklaces- Nest – Newspaper Hats – Ninja Nun Chucks – Noel Banner-  Noodle Painting – Noodle Pouring - North Pole Play Mat -  Number Prints

{Alphabet Books}

Learn the Alphabet with NorthWest Coast Native Art by Ryan Cranmer (and others) was an amazing gas station find. Yes I said gas station. I ran in for some diet coke and came out with an alphabet book ! This book is amazing, bright beautiful and even though I bought it for my daughter since it’s bright colors and sturdy pages are perfect for a baby, my almost 4 year old son adores it. What I love is when he reads it to her . The Native art is gorgeous and if you are unfamiliar with North West coast art you are in for a treat.

Eating the Alphabet: Fruits & Vegetables from A to Z by Lois Ehlert is an alphabet book extraordinaire and perfect for a letter F eek, since it’s all about food!  Wonderful paintings of fruits and vegetables seem ultra simple and it is but somehow the way the author has pieced this simple book together is brilliant. Maybe it’s that children learn about food at the table multiple times a day and feel proud being able to identify not only some of the letters but some of the pictures too! From a teaching standpoint I love that there are both upper and lower case letters on each page! This book will grow with your child, and beware it will also make you hungry.

Alphabet Under Construction by Denise Fleming is a wonderful example of what an alphabet book should be. Perfect for toddlers and preschoolers learning their first letters, the text is short , the letters are front and center and the illustrations are fun and interesting. My son loves this book, I grabbed it at the library after remembering how much my Pre K class loved it too.Many alphabet books are too long to read entirety at circle time or in one shot with a toddler but this my 19 month old will sit through Z every time. {This review is from when my son was 19 months old in 2008. His love of this book was really a jumping off point for his love of letters in general. I wish I could say I taught him his letters but really reading this one particular book over and over at his request probably did the trick. }