Letter U
Underground u
The letter u is always a challenge to find a word that your child could understand and recognize the connection to the craft , as well as figuring out how to make the craft. Today’s craft was fun to make , my son is so eager to cut things that he loved making the grass, he asked me to add some earth worms to the dirt . I think if your child is older and not too overwhelmed by a longer craft making some shoes and legs to go on the grass would be very cool!
- Gather your materials. You will need 3 pieces of construction paper ( 1 should be brown and one green the other is optional) , glue, scissors and markers.
- Start by writing a lower case u on the 3rd piece of construction paper.
- Have your child color it if they want. It’s been interesting to watch my son trace the inside first then go nuts scribbling over it.
- Cut the green paper so that it covers the top 1/5th of the brown paper.
- Hand it to your child and have then cut one side to make grass.
As you can see this was the highlight for my son. 
- While they do that cut the u out.
- If they want to color the brown dirt they can my son added worms and asked me to as well.
- Add glue to the top for the grass.
- Add the grass.
- Add the u to the dirt , under the grass so it’s underground!
Book!
by Sue Redding is about 30 years too late,because this would have been my favorite book as a preschooler! I love this book, I have been reading and re reading it just awwing at the pictures and how cool it is to see what goes on above ground vs below, on the deck of a ship vs below and my favorite one the golf course! My son and I poured over the pictures,finding different things every time we looked at a page. Great book and I hope to see so many more from this author! This book is the perfect fit for this craft !
8 Comments »
- Gather your materials. You will need at least 2 different color pages of construction paper, we used the colors that we remembered from the toy unicorn but any colors will do. Glitter glue, scissors, a marker and some sparkly sticky back foam ( optional).
- Start by drawing a large uppercase U
- You can have your child color it if they want or just cover it in “goop” by son’s word for glitter glue.
- Spread the glitter with your fingers. If your child is able they can make little Us in the glitter glue with their fingers. Let dry.
- While they do that or while the U is drying and they are washing their hands ( aka playing in the sink) draw a unicorn head . Add an eye with marker, cut out. I used a 3rd piece of paper for the head, my son was adamant that it needed to be purple. However if you could fit it in the same piece as the U if you want to conserve paper.
- Cut out your U and glue it to the 2nd piece of paper.
- Add the head.
- Cut out a horn from your sparkly foam- if you don’t have foam you can use more paper and add sparkles to it. I was too impatient to wait for more sparkles to dry and my son was still playing in the sink!
- Add your horn and let dry!
Books!
“The Midnight Unicorn” by Neil Reed made me cry. I don’t know why but i was so touched by this book. A little girl goes to the park with her dad, and not for the swings or slides, but for a statue of a unicorn she loves dearly. The unicorn comes to life and they go on a far off adventure with her dog trailing behind. The dad in this book comes across as so kind and gentle and I kept waiting for the unicorn to be her mom who had passed away. I am not sure why I thought that and that isn’t what happens but the love between the girl and this mythical creature was so strong my mind jumped ( incorrectly) to that conclusion. It’s a beautiful book and worth a look!
“Unicorn Dreams” by Dyan Sheldon and Neil Reed is another wonderful book about imagination and belief. Dan is a little boy who sees a unicorn and gets a lot of slack from his teacher and classmates about it. He never seems too bothered by them laughing at him or calling him “Dreamy Dan” . When he gets a chance to tell them a story in class he tells them all about his unicorn and they become believers too.
All three of these books were great but too long for a toddler- do you know a book about unicorns that is a short enough for kids under 3? Tell me about it!
- Gather your materials. You will need 2 pieces of construction paper, scissors, some crayons, glue and some blue craft foam.
- Start by drawing a big U and the top of an umbrella. Don’t cut them out yet.
- Have your child color the U and umbrella with crayons. Don’t forget that when they are coloring you have the opportunity to teach them about colors!
- While they are coloring cut out some rain drops out of the blue foam.
I like using foam for stuff like this because little hands do well with it, and it adds some texture to the craft. - When they are done decorating their umbrella hand them the other page and have them draw puddles, or clouds or if they are little anything is great, my son drew a boat and a dinghy! At least that’s what he told me
- Cut out the U and the umbrella.
- Glue on the U.
- Add the umbrella
- Add glue for the rain drops.
- Add them on!
- All done!
” Weather” by Pamela Chanko and Daniel Moreton is the perfect little non fiction book about weather for toddlers and young preschoolers. It’s short and has big interesting photos depicting different weather. Don’t be fooled, it looks like nothing, but trust me little guys will ask you to read it again and again. It’s important that children get read a variety of things, not simply fiction, so don’t be afraid to get your child a simple little non fiction book like this one!
” The Itsy-Bitsy Spider” by My First Taggies Book is a fun little book with the ever popular tags which add an extra level of sensory experience for your little one. The pictures are cute, the rhyme familiar and I liked traveling with this book when my son was little, because of the tags it was a double duty, book and touch toy!
