Archive for the ‘Writing Activities’ Category
Sensory Alphabet Activities
Posted in 5 senses, Age 2-3 years, Age 3-5 years, Age Under 2 years, Alphabet activities, Sense of Touch, Sensory Activities, Special Needs, Stamping, Writing Activities | Tags: Alphabet, Early Childhood Education, Early Literacy, Learning the Alphabet, Letter Recognition, Letters, Literacy, Preschool, Sensory Play | 
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Letter of The Week
Yarn y
Y is always tricky but this craft does double duty not only reinforcing the letter y, but also as a active fine motor skills lacing toy! As you can see I wasn’t fussy about how my son laced it. I wanted him to get the yarn through the holes not make perfect stitches. Holding the yarn in between his thumb and fingers also promotes the tripod grip ( proper way to hold writing tools).
- Gather your materials. You will need some cardboard, a hole punch, some markers, yarn, scissors and tape.
- Write a lowercase ( would work great with uppercase too ) on your cardboard.
- Hand it to your child and invite them to color it with markers. My son has taken to tracing and writing the letter on it.
- Add more colors until they decide they are done.
- While they are coloring cut off a long piece of yarn and double it, so it make a bog loop. Tape the 2 ends together tightly so that it makes a hard end for easy lacing.
- Cut the y out.
- Hole punch time! Our card board was too thick for my son to punch the holes, if the cereal box in the picture hasn’t had writing on the inside ( why do they do that?!) it would have been great. If your child can help , have them help.
- Before you hand the y back thread the yarn through the first hole and loop it back through the yarn so it ties onto the y. This eliminates meltdowns about the yarn just zooming through all the holes. As well as keeps the 2 pieces together for later use!
- Lace! I laced the first two holes to demonstrate it to my son then let him at it.
- Keep going!
Magic Writing!
Teaching children about letters is more fun if you include as many novel and sensory experiences as you can. This was a huge hit and even bigger mess, but well worth it. My son who is in the midst of a perfectionist phase loved that he could “erase” his letters. He also loved how the bright colors magically appeared under the cornstarch.
- Gather your materials. You will need a shallow cardboard box, cornstarch, and some brightly colored markers, pastels or what I used… window markers.
- Color the bottom of your box with a few colors. If you are using anything “wet” let it dry 100% before adding the cornstarch.
- Add the cornstarch and cover the color.
- Start writing! Isn’t it cool how the colors pop? I was giddy that it worked!
- Explore!
- He wrote an M then exclaimed – look I can make a W too, then flipped the whole box , then wrote another M.
We stepped outside to shake all the extra off! 
Have fun this one is MESSY – I was covered, my camera was covered, my son was covered and we had a blast!
Some of our Favorite Alphabet Books
Letter to Santa
I have fond memories of writing letters to Santa, first dictating it to my mom and after writing it myself. My favorite was in grade one when I wrote to Santa and Santa wrote back ! So in that spirit this acitivy is one where your child writes or dictates a letter and you send it away to Santa . Ours was send via Grandma who has a “contact” at the north pole and will make sure that Santa’s letter to my son gets here! I hope when it does my son’s wonder will be the same mine was so long ago .
- Gather your materials. You will need some paper, a pencil or marker, some fun holiday stickers , an envelope , stamps and an eager child to write or dictate.
- Explain to your child why and what you are doing, if your child is young like my 3 year old they may need some explanation. Encourage them to not only ask for things but to ask Santa questions and tell him about things they have been doing. We chatted while he ate lunch!
- Start writing.
- Have your child sign their name even if you did the writing.
- Add stickers.
- Label your envelope and add stamps.
- Mail!
- Don’t forget to watch the mail for Santa’s return letter!
Books
My Penguin Osbert
Inside, Outside Christmas
DIY Framed Chalkboard !
* Updated to add this super cool link to another chalkboard at infarrantly creative that blows ours away! don’t miss it! *
Cereal Box Mosaic
- Gather your materials. I used Benjamin Moore chalkboard paint, a roller, paint tray, painters tape, an old picture frame, an old sheet, 4 nails and a hammer.
- Start by deciding where you want the chalkboard. Have your child show you how high they can reach so that it’s all usable space. I’m no good with measuring tape so I just eyeballed it and thumb tacked it to the wall to decide. You may want to measure where on the wall you put it.
- Tape off the area to paint.
- Apply your first coat. Wait 4 hours or more and add a 2nd. Let dry.
- Take off the tape.
- Place your frame on the wall so the painted area is centered, and secure it to the wall. I nailed mine but depending on your walls you’ll want to use the appropriate fashion. I particularly liked using a frame because it creates a ledge for the chalk as well.
- Add chalk and child!
Become an Author With This Giveaway !
When I received our kit I ripped it open and read through it. What I loved was that it wasn’t just a work book with a place to write in words. It had step by step instructions so that you can turn your kitchen table into a writers workshop. The story kits are a little old for my son so I enlisted the help of a 9 year old friend, and together we followed the instructions .
First, we looked through the illustrations and got the inspiration for the story. Next, using the note pad they provided, she wrote the text for each page. We had to sharpen the pencil they provided because she was writing so much that it was dull! When I asked how she was enjoying it she said, “It’s really good…the pictures make it so that I am never out of ideas.” The way her pencil was flying I would agree!
Now if we want we can follow the instructions on the think it ink it website to turn this workbook into a real hardcover book! How cool is that? For $29.95 your child can be a published author with a book to prove it! Also you don’t have to buy the workbook first, you can go straight to the hardcover on the think it ink it website.
What I loved about this whole process was that it really turned her into an author. When I asked her if it felt too much like school during her spring break she said, “This is way cooler!”. A great thing about this is that often kids are told they can’t do something they dream about. For kids who dream about being authors, they don’t need to dream, just write!
There are 4 different Creative Writing Story Kits to choose from with unique illustrations done by professional illustrators, and I get to giveaway one kit to a lucky reader! Here is what you have to do to win :
- Go to the think it ink it publishing site and check it out, come back here and let me know which story kit you think your child would love.
- For extra entries : Tweet about this on Twitter , Post about it on your blog , Stumble it and Add my button to your blog ! One extra entry for each of those , make sure to add a separate comment for each.
