The Whole Alphabet

Letter Of The Week
Guide

We took a week off from making our Letter of The Week craft to enjoy a day out as a family for Mother's Day. Instead I complied the our whole alphabet ! Click on the letter of your choice and it will link you to all the activities we have done for that letter so far. As we add more activities they will be added automatically.

Two Alphabet Books!

" Z Goes Home" by Jon Agee follows the letter Z from the time he leaps down from the sign at the zoo until he makes his way home. Along his travels he encounters all the other letters. Some are of the words the letters represent may be challenging for preschoolers, but the illustrations are clear and your child won't have too hard a time finding the letter in the picture.

"The Graphic Alphabet" by David Pelletier is a fun book to share with a child who has already mastered the alphabet, because this book is challenging. Each letter is shown in it's own illustration, but you aren't sure exactly what the picture is of, this is the challenge. As you can see on the cover it has an avalanche, the hardest one for me was N no matter how I looked ta the picture I thought it was of magnets! Turns out it was noodles! Very fun book for kids that already know their letters and are up for a challenge.

More Alphabet Books!
click here

Letter of The Week X !

Xylophone X !

Music is a big passion in our family, my son is nuts over Jazz and can be found playing air upright bass intermittently throughout the day. He recently discovered the xylophone and loves it. So keeping with that I decided to do Xylophone X today for our letter of the week. Not like I have many other choices for this letter anyway. It's a huge bonus if you can tap into your child's passions. No matter what the lesson is about, counting, letters, colors... if it includes something your child is into they are more likely to be more fully engaged and retain the lesson.

1. Gather your materials. You will need 2 pieces of construction paper, some markers, 5 colors of foam ( more construction paper would work too), glue and scissors.
2. Start by drawing a large X on one piece of construction paper.
3. Have your child color it if they want. The audience of garbage trucks is optional.
   
4. While they are coloring cut out 4 strips of foam, each slightly smaller then the previous.
5. Cut out small squares of foam - please skip this if you have a young toddler who still likes to eat things.** you should cut out your X here, I had a momentary lapse and forgot, trust me it's easier if you do it now, glue it onto your 2nd piece of paper.
6. Add 4 long lines of glue
7. Add your foam bars
8. Add dots of glue on each end of each bar
9. Add the tiny foam squares.
10. Let dry.

* If desired you can make small mallets and glue them in the extra space of the X. I had them cut out but as you may be able to see in some pictures, my son had his garbage trucks watching art time and ready to go. At this point was more into filling them with foam scraps than doing any more art.

Books!

"I Know A Shy Fellow Who Swallowed A Fly" by Barbara S. Garriel was an instant favorite with my son. The text is a reworked version of "An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly" but this guy has a hankering for musical instruments. My son giggled through the book, and was very adamant that no one could swallow a harp but this fellow did ! I liked this book because it's a fun and absurd, as well as educational. If your wee one is as into instruments as mine, you have to read this book.


"Meet The Orchestra" by Ann Hayes is a good resource for teaching about musical instruments. The book goes through many instruments found in an orchestra with a sizable description for each. Animals are used for the musicians and my son thought that was funny and actually learned a bit about them as well. It was really too long for us to sit and read cover to cover but it's easy to break up and read one or two instruments at a time if it's too much for your child in one sitting. Also there is some figurative language that young kids will not get at all. Helpful for teaching but I don't expect it to become a favorite to snuggle up with.




"Zin Zin Zin ! A Violin" by Lloyd Moss is a big hit at our house and if you have a child into music or musical instruments this is a great book. You count the instruments as they come on stage for a performance and not only is this a great counting book, but it introduced musical instruments in it's rhyming text and super fun pictures. I am biased though my little man is really really into instruments and loves this book. The day we bought it I had to sit in the back with him on the way home from the bookstore because he couldn't wait to read it .

Additional Alphabet Activity

Letter

Lacing Card

Click here for the full how to.


Also don't forget to check me out at
FamilyEducation.com

Letter of the Week A !

Alligator A !

This is a pretty classic letter of the week idea, but my son and I were both so excited about how cute the alligator turned out to be. The foam teeth and googly eyes really helped turn the A into an alligator. Don't miss the additional activity for more ideas about how to incorporate letters into playtime.

1. Gather your materials. You will need 2 pieces of construction paper ( different colors), 2 googly eyes, some white foam or paper will do, glue, scissor and markers.
2. Draw a large upper case A on one piece of construction paper. I added two triangles on one side of the A for eyes.
3. Give your child the A and have them color it to their liking. We have been talking about inside vs outside a lot this week so I shouted out "Inside the A" and 'Outside the A" and my son obliged, it made it a little silly but fun.
4. While they color cut out some triangles for alligator teeth.
5. Cut out the A
6. Glue it on the 2nd piece of paper.
7. Add glue to the eyes ( you can see where we had glue all over above the eye, no biggie, just wipe it)
   
8. Add the googly eyes
9. Add dots of glue for the teeth
10. Add the teeth. Let dry.

Books!

"SNIP SNAP! What's That? " by Mara Bergman was a great library find. The book is about an alligator who sneaks into an apartment filled with three very terrified children. I love that the story changes when the children decide to stop being afraid and to fight back. My son really enjoyed the book, he liked he use of onomatopoeia throughout and the exaggerated illustrations of the alligator. After we read it at lunch he asked for it to be his nap time book, and again for it at bedtime. That is a good review from a 2 year old!

"Alligator Alphabet" by Stella Blackstone and Stephanie Bauer. I was so excited to find this book because just this week my son started pointing out lower case letters in text. This book is a beautifully illustrated book with each letter represented on it's own page. Pretty standard right? Wrong, although the text below the illustration had both upper and lower case letters, the main illustration is only the lower case letter. This is perfect for children like my son who are just starting to learn their lowercase letters.


"Alligator Baby" by Robert Munsch is a ridiculous story that will have your child laughing and screaming "No no that's not a people baby!" The story is about a family who brings home the wrong baby, over and over again. Finally the older sister takes things into her own hands and saves the day. Kids love this story, it's not the best bedtime book though, my son was very very hard to settle down after laughing so hard at this one.

Additional Activity

Cookie Sheet Letter Board



Looks simple doesn't it? It is. All I did was buy $1 magnetic letters at Wal-mart and grabbed a cookie sheet from my pantry. My son has been playing with this on and off for days. Here are some of the fun things we've done.

• All the letters on the sheet- take turns finding a letter and taking it off
• All letter off the sheet, taking turns finding a letter and putting it on
• Grouping the letters by color
• Counting the letters as we put each on , and taking them off again.

Of course we labeled each letter as we did this. It is definitely simple but it was also a lot of fun.

Letter of The Week Mmmmm !

Marshmallow M !

This project is much more a counting activity than art, my son was offered to color or paint his paper but declined ( he saw the marshmallows) so instead we counted our hand fulls of marshmallows before placing them on the glue . Many were eaten but lots of fun and learning was too so I didn't mind too much.

1. Gather your materials. This is an easy project all you need are some mini marshmallows, 2 pages of construction paper ( one will do the trick though) a marker and some glue.
2. Start by writing an uppercase M on the paper.
3. Add glue to it, now older children can add the glue to the M, I offered this job to my son but he declined saying "no no I do marshmallows" .
4. Add the marshmallows. The way we did it was I gave him a handful, he counted them as he put them on 1, 2, 3, 4,5, 6 for example and then he got to eat the last.
5. Keep going!
6. Let dry.
7. Cut out and glue onto a 2nd paper to make it sturdier if you are displaying it.

Big and Little
Marshmallow Sorting

This is a simple but effective sorting activity , my son loved it and woke up asking to do it this morning, although I suspect he just wanted another marshmallow! This idea can be used with any object that you can find 2 sizes of. My son also loved squishing the large marshmallows, in his hands so there is a sensory aspect to this too! I know these sorts of activities can seem boring to adults but they are really very useful and kids gain a lot from them.

1. Gather your materials. You need a divided tray ( thank you dollar store) or 3 separate bowls. Large and small marshmallows. I also added in the words Big and Little in the correct sections of the tray.
2. Show your child how to put the little marshmallow where is says little, and repeat for the big marshmallow.
3. Place all the marshmallows in the center piece or middle bowl and ask them to find the right place for little and big marshmallows.
   
4. Sort !

Letter of The Week D d !

Duck D !

We went to story time at our local library the other day and since getting home my son has been singing this song . So to go along with the all the quacking at our house we made a duck! I used to use it in my classroom to teach French but I will spare you my bad accent , the video of the English version is below.

1. Gather your materials. You will need some construction paper( white and a tiny bit of orange) , feathers, a googley eye, some markers or paint, scissors, and glue.
2. Start by drawing a large D on the construction paper.
3. Have your child color the D with markers or paint.
4. While they do that cut out a beak from the orange paper. Also now that I see it done I should have rounded the beak.. oh well!
5. Cut the D out - I forgot to do this at this stage and it was way harder to do it later, learn from my oops!
6. Add glue for the eye.
7. Pop the eye on.
8. Add the glue for the beak
9. Add the beak
10. Add a good long line of glue for the feathers
11. Pop on as many as you want ! Let dry.

Song!



Six little ducks that I once knew,
fat ones, skinny ones, and fair ones too,
but the one little duck with the feather on his back,
he led the others with a quack quack quack!
Quack, quack , quack,
he lead the others with a quack quack quack!

Continue with 5, 4, 3, 2, 1


Books

" Brian Banana Duck Sunshine Yellow" by Australian author Chris McKimmie is a whimsical book, that may get some parents wondering if the author is a creative genius or an avid drinker. Kids will love the silly storyline and adults will enjoy the bits of dry wit put in especially for them. There are a few terms that are not seen often in the United States so this book would also be a fun one to use while teaching an international theme. I loved it!





"One Duck Stuck" by Phyllis Root looks like an everyday book , but inside you will find a brilliantly repetitive storyline, that promotes teamwork, and mathematical skills! Young toddlers all the way up to school age kids will love to read a long, announcing "Still stuck !" through out the story. My students a few years ago were nuts about this book and yours will be too!




" Duck on a Bike" by David Shannon tickles my funny bone. I love this book, the message is awesome too. Just because it's never been done before doesn't mean that you shouldn't try! Also how cute is a duck riding a bike? The illustrations are amazing and your child will love the farm animals and the tractor at the end. Oh and please tell me I am not the only one waiting for "Duck on a Tractor" ? I'd buy it in a heartbeat !

Weekend Re post :Parent and Tot Project !

Custom

Alphabet Book!



What better way to learn the alphabet than with things around your house! Older children can do this with little to no help , and toddlers will love to help find things to photograph. Using things that children are familiar with will help with the letter recognition and sounds that each letter makes. How many times have you been reading an alphabet book and the letter is I and the picture is of an ibis and the child says bird! They are correct but still confused, so using things they know will be fun and educational!

Edit 9-12-08 : I just saw on Crafty Crow that another crafty blog did this same idea, and can I just say theirs was much more polished, check it out here :

• Playful Learning
  

1. Gather your materials. You will need some card stock or construction paper, a camera, a marker, some pre cut letters, double stick tape, 3 binder rings and a hole punch.
2. Start by making a list with the alphabet, and start going around your house to photograph what you can find that starts with each letter. We found A for apple, D for digger ( surprise surprise!) , H for hat and lots more! Even with a list I ended up with 3 things for the letter s !
3. After you have found all your letter objects upload the photos to a photo site and have them sent to your house if you want to wait, or to a local store like Walgreens or Target to pick up that same day!
   
4. Now we make the book! I used construction paper and although I didn't choose to have my son decorate the pages, this would be a fun added step. Whether you decorate the pages or not here is where we add the letters. I used double stick tape to add the letter .
5. Add the label - I used a random old 4x6 picture to estimate where the photograph would go so I could write the label with enough room. I used both sides or each paper.
   
6. Next punch three holes in the left side of the pages.
7. Add the binder rings.
8. Go pick up the pictures at the store, and try not to buy too many other things while there , I got a cute top for $4 !
9. Add the photographs. You can cut them out, or decorate the book any way you want.
10. Enjoy your very own Alphabet book!

More Alphabet Books!

I love alphabet books, they are a good teaching tool and are really fun to read especially for children who are still in early stages of reading, they can recognize some letters and be an active participant in reading the book!

" 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!



" The Racecar Alphabet" by Brian Floca did not live up to my expectations. My main complaint it that the letters aren't showcased at all. Yes each page starts with the appropriate letter but I really feel like in an alphabet book the letter needs to be obvious , and easy for young children to pick out. The text was centered around each letter but there wasn't very good flow from one page to the next. I was disappointed in this pick.



" The Ocean Alphabet" by Jerry Pallotta is a good book, not a page turner but it is filled with fun facts about sea creatures. The book is geared towards older children but because it has letters prominently displayed on each page, with great illustrations your toddler will enjoy it too. The text really is too long to read from A-Z for a circle time or a toddler but it was very easy for me to simply read each letter and label the ocean animal for my son who then sat through the whole alphabet. If your child is into all things that swim this is a good book to foster that love and learn a little about letters at the same time!

Letter Of The Week ! B b !

Banana B !

We are going bananas, all week we will be following a fruit theme for our activities. What I love about this Banana B is that if your child is moving on from upper case letters to lower case ones you can still make this craft, simply leave out the top banana! Don't miss the super easy banana treats below, they were a huge hit at our house.

1. Gather your materials. You will need 2 pieces of construction paper, some yellow paint, a paintbrush, marker , scissors and glue.
2. Start by drawing two curvy bananas and a long thin rectangle to make a B. They don't need to touch they will be cut out after the next step.
3. Using yellow paint (crayons or markers would be fine too) paint the bananas and the rectangle. Let Dry.
4. Cut the 3 pieces out.
5. Glue the rectangle down.
6. Add the bananas.

~Additional Activities~


Chocolate Covered Frozen Bananas

That's French For Christmas !

Jingle Bell

Banner



I have been trying to work in some letter learning into our holiday crafts, this was today's effort. This will work for any celebration , you can spell out Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Happy New Year... the sky is the limit. I chose to do Noel because 1. I want my son to understand that his mommy's country speaks 2 languages and because 4 letters was the perfect amount for a 2 year old! In a class allowing each child to do one letter is a great option.

1. Gather your materials. You will need some cardboard, paint , a plain kitchen sponge, thin ribbon, scissors, a marker and a few jiggle bells.
2. Write out the letters on the cardboard. Don't cut them all the way out, this way your child especially if they are young will be more likely to paint to the edges of the letter. Ho Ho Ho is another great option for Santa fans!
3. Time to paint. Sponge painting is a great way to encourage lots of paint , within a toddler or preschooler's attention span. We added yellow sparkle paint to our green for some flair
4. Alternate between the red and green paint.
5. Let all the letters dry.
6. When dry cut them out, older kids can do this, but cardboard is tricky for little hands.
7. Poke tiny holes in the top of the letters and thread your ribbon through.
   
8. After adding your first letter add a jingle bell and tie a knot, continue with the rest of the letters and jingle bells.
9. Hang it up!

Books !

" Madeline's Christmas" was published after Ludwig Bemelmans passed away, it had been published as a book insert in McCall's magazine in 1956 and as a book in 1985. The story itself is a curious Christmas tale about a rug seller who brings a little magic to Madeline and her friends. My toddler say for the whole thing and laughed at many of the rhymes, which if you have read others in the Madeline series you will know are awesome. If you are working on rhyming words check this and the rest of the series out!


"Babar and Father Christmas" by Jean De Brunhoff was one of my very favorite Christmas stories as a child. As an adult i have had some great belly laughs at some of it's writing which I still think is awesome. Babar goes looking for Father Christmas because he wants to ask him to visit Elephant country. He searches all over Paris and finally ends up in the north pole and finds after much effort Father Christmas. I love the details in this book, as a child I would lay looking at the pictures of Santa's workshop and imagine what visiting it would be like. As an adult I appreciate the smallest details like how Father Christmas's flying machine ( not a sled) has P.N #1 on it , meaning of course Pere Noel #1.

Letter of the Week ! Q q !

Queen Q!

I debated doing Queen, because it's so obvious but my son knows what a queen is so I stuck with it. With older children drawing a bunch of question marks or doing a counting activity with quarters are great ways to use the letter in genuine ways. One thing I do not suggest is a Q-tip q, I did that years ago in a PreK class and the results looked like we glued used q-tips on paper, it was so repulsive my director asked me to take them down off the bulletin board!

1. Gather your materials. You will need 3 pieces of construction paper, paint daubers or crayons/markers, glue, sequins or other collage materials that make good jewels, and scissors.
2. Draw a upper case Q. It took me 3 tries for one I liked.
3. Have your child paint. color or otherwise decorate the Q. My son refused to paint it until the other side was completely done. Toddlers are such a joy.
4. While your child is decorating their queen , cut out a simple crown from the 3rd piece of paper.
5. Have your child embellish the crown with sequins , buttons - anything you have that sparkles.
6. While your child is making the crown sparkle. Draw a face ( or have your child do it) on the other piece of paper. Make sure it is will show through the inside of the Q.
7. Have your child color the face if they want. My marker obsessed toddler insisted on coloring but you don't have to.
8. While they do that cut out the Q.
9. Glue the Q on the paper, and the crow on the Q and voila , a Queen Q ! Once it's dry you can trim the back paper .
   

Letter Hunt

This activity is great for children who are able to identify letters reliably, younger kids who are still learning the basics of letter recognition may get frustrated. An easy adaptation would be to simply look for any letter with the little guys where as you can be letter specific with older ones.

• You will need a paper lunch bag, markers, scissors and old magazines, junk mail, or newspapers.
• Decorate the outside of your lunch bag with the letter you are looking for, both the upper case and lowers case.
• Start looking through the printed materials and cut out the letters you find. With older children it's fun to have contests like the person with the most upper case letters, the most letters total and the biggest or smallest letter.
  

* One thing I love about this activity is that when children are at this stage of letter recognition they start to see the same letter written in different fonts and are still able to identify it as a B for example. It's great!

Letter of The Week V v !

Vegetable
V !

I really wanted to do a "Vote V" but the idea was too abstract for my 23 month old, however I would encourage older children to clip pictures of candidates out, make mini ballots and go for it! Also it may seem like taking the kids along to vote tomorrow is a hassle but it's a great education for them, if I was able to vote I'd be tagging my little man a long with me!

1. Gather your materials. You will need a sturdy piece of construction paper or card board ( cereal box) , some white paper, crayons, glue and scissors.
2. Start by making a big V on the cardboard.
3. Draw 4-5 vegetables , if your child is able to have them do this. I try only to do the steps that my child can't.
4. Have your child color the vegetables if you drew them, talk about what they all are, ask if they like them etc...
5. Time to color the V ! Don't forget to talk about the letter itself, if your child is old enough ask them what starts with V and what sound does it make.
6. While your child is doing that cut out the colored veggies. My son grabbed the mushroom and decided he didn't like it, another reason for making 5, some may be subject to harsh toddler treatment!
7. Add glue and add the vegetables to the V, let dry.
8. Cut out and if you want glue it to another piece of paper.

Book!

" Eating the Alphabet" by Lois Ehlert is an alphabet book extrodinare! 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!

Additional Activities

Here are a few other fun art activities for a vegetable theme :

Mushroom , Potato and Onion Printing.

Letter of The Week X x !

X-ray

X

I thought this x-ray x would be a fun activity to start the week of Halloween, but but you can omit the orange paper and do the craft any time of year . Older children should be encouraged to draw and cut out the bones themselves, in which case regular old construction should be used in place of the foam sheets.

1. Gather your materials. You will need one orange and one black piece of construction paper, 2 sheets of white foam , a pen, scissors, glue and crayons. We are using all the metalics , white and black crayons, just to stay with a Halloween theme.
2. Have your child color the 2 pieces of paper, although it looks like fantastic squiggles, and they are fantastic, my son informed me that there were cats and a witch on his paper.
3. Although we simply colored another option would be to use fun Halloween stickers .
4. While your child does that you can draw a bone shape on one sheet of foam, and layer it with the 2nd and cut out.
5. Trim the black piece of paper into a square and glue on the orange paper.
6. Make a X with glue.
7. Add the bones!

Little Artists !

This week I am focusing all on Halloween, if you have made one of our Halloween crafts and have pictures you want to share I will be devoting a post to our readers and their creations! All you have to do is send me the pictures!

Letter of The Week N n !

Newspaper N !

Now after doing this craft I realized how much this is like our " Word W" sorry, hopefully you still have fun doing this craft, preschoolers are not against some repetition , my son had a blast doing this while waiting for dinner and using double stick tape vs glue keeps little hands clean in case a bath is not on the schedule!

1. Gather your materials. You will need 2 pieces of construction paper, some newspaper, double stick tape, scissors and markers.
2. Draw a big fat N on one piece of paper.
3. 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.
4. While your child is doing this you can cut the newspaper into small pieces.
5. Cover the N in double stick tape /or glue.
6. 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!
7. Cut out and tape the the colored paper!

Discovery Boxes

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!

Letter of the week ! R r!

Rabbit R !

We have almost completed our alphabet! R is a fun letter that you can use "red" or " rice" but we chose to do "rabbit" as out R activity! This craft is fast and easy, and perfect for a busy Monday. You can use furry material or felt if you don't want to make as colorful a rabbit as we did!

1. Gather your materials. You will need 2 pieces of construction paper, a pipe cleaner, a marker, glue , scissors and some paint.
2. Draw a large R and some rabbit ears on your construction paper.
3. Have your child paint the R and the ears. While painting my son sounded like a pirate repeating " Arr!" over and over while hitting the paint dobbers onto the paper.
4. Cut the R and ears out, snip the pipe cleaner in half and twist to make whiskers.
5. I made a R out of glue and then my son was able to match up where his R was supposed to go on the paper.
6. Add the ears and whiskers on. My son was patting the ears on so fast you can barely see his arm!
   
7. Let dry!

Song!

Little Bunny Foo Foo

Little bunny foo foo ,
hopping through the forest,
scooping up the field mice ,
and bopping them on the head!

Down came the Good Fairy,
and she said ,
"Little bunny foo foo, I don't want to see you,
scooping up the feild mice and bopping them on the head!
I'll give you three chances before I turn you into a gooooooon!"

• Repeat until no more chances!

Book!

" My Friend Rabbit " by Eric Rohmann is a cute book with award winning illustrations that follows a mouse and a rabbit who remain friends despite the rabbit's uncanny ability to get into trouble. The little rabbit means well and his heart is true, the limited text and descriptive illustrations make this book great for a wide range of age groups and my son loved the Rhino!

Letter of the Week ! U u !

Umbrella U !

Living in rainy weather it's only fitting to use umbrella for our U craft, after making it it started raining and we dug out our umbrella and took a stroll in the rain .

1. Gather your materials. You will need 2 pieces of construction paper, scissors, some crayons, glue and some blue craft foam.
2. Start by drawing a big U and the top of an umbrella. Don't cut them out yet.
3. 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!
4. 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.
5. 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 :)
6. Cut out the U and the umbrella.
7. Glue on the U.
8. Add the umbrella
9. Add glue for the rain drops.
10. Add them on!
11. All done!

Books!

" Cloudy with a chance of meatballs" by Judi Barrett is a fantastic book for Pre-K and up, if your child has a long attention span I would try it earlier , but the text is long and complicated for most toddlers. My son won't sit for more than a few pages if I am lucky. The story follows one Grandpa's tale about the town of Chewsandswallows where the weather comes in the form of food! All was well in Chewsandswallows until the weather took a turn for the worse! I loved teaching with this story, and kids love it too!


" 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!

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom !

Coconut Tree

( minus the coconuts)

The classic book "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom" by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault was the inspiration for this craft. You may be wondering where the coconuts are and I do have an answer, I totally forgot to make them. So if you want some coconuts on your tree, while painting the truck use some cardboard to make coconuts and paint them the same brown as the trunk.

1. Gather your materials. You will need a paper towel roll, some newspaper, glue, masking tape, some extra cardboard, some pre cut letters, and green and brown paint.
2. Start by having your child paint the newspaper with the green paint. I have my son paint 6 small pages ( they were half of a regular page each) , I just kept going until he lost interest.
3. Let those dry.
4. Paint the paper towel roll brown and let dry.
5. Once dry layer the news paper so some of the painted sides face up and some face down.
6. Roll and secure the bottom with masking tape.
7. Cut along the newspaper until the masking tape. Do this 4-5 times .
8. Put glue on the masking tape
9. Stuff the newspaper, masking tape end first into the roll.
10. Glue the pre cut letters on, don't forget to ask your child what letters they are, or label them for the little guys!
11. Oh and if you remember to add the coconuts, now would be a good time to do that!

Books!

" Chicka Chicka Boom Boom " by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault is one of my absolute favorite books ever. Many alphabet books are great tools but this one not only entertains it never gets old. It's text is musical , it's premise is brilliant in it's simplicity and kids love it. My favorite line is " Skit skat scoodle doot. Flip flop flee. " I hope I am conveying how much fun this book is to read out loud. I have never had a class who didn't like it and if you don't have it, you should!
" Chicka Chicka ABC" is a fantastic board book and shorter version of the longer book. My son loves this book and it's the perfect amount of text for a toddler, the illustrations by Lois Ehlert are so bright and bold that even very young babies will respond to it! A must have for all bookshelves.

Letter of the Week ! E e !

Elephant E !

This is a simple but effective activity to introduce the letter E. With older children I have grabbed everything from my craft closet and let them make " Everything Es" but toddlers and young preschoolers are better served with something more tangible like an elephant. So it's not our cutest craft ever, but it will do the trick!

1. Gather your materials. You will need 2 pieces of construction paper, something to color with, glue, scissors and a marker. We used chalk because we haven't used it in a while but paint would look great!
2. Draw an E with a long trunk in the middle. Draw a large ear .
3. Have your child color the E, talk about how elephants have trunks, and ask them what other big things do elephants have on their heads?
4. Have them color the big ear.
5. This is just a picture of my son stacking the chalk on his tractor, he took a breather while I cut out the E .
6. Grab the 2nd piece of construction paper and if your child wants to color it as well.
7. Time to glue everything on!
8. All done!

Books!

" Ella : The elegant elephant" by Carmela and Steven D'Amico is a cute story about Ella the little elephant that is nervous about her first day of school. She tries to make herself feel better but the school bully still teases her. I like this book because it shows kids that you can stand up for yourself without bullying the bully.


"Elmer " by David McKee is another book with a great message. Elmer is different, he isn't gray like all the other elephants, and he's a little bit of a goof too! He's not so sure he likes that though. Like all of us it takes some time for Elmer to accept who he is but in the end he sees that patchwork is just who he is!

Letter of the Week ! M m!

M for Mountain!

I was going to do marble painting for M, but my teething toddler is putting even more things in his sore mouth right now so the marble idea will have to be saved for another less accident prone time. I was surprised that my son knew that these were mountains when I was testing this idea out on him, I was thinking this may be a 3+ activity, but I was wrong. He had fun making it and I hope you do too!

1. Gather your materials. You will need 3 pieces of construction paper, glue, scissors and markers or crayons to decorate.
2. Draw a low and wide M. Don't cut it out yet.
3. Have your child decorate the M, my son spent 5 minutes playing "match" with the markers and lids before coloring, I was loosing my patience but took my own advice after a few crabby minutes and let him lead. As it turned out he wanted to color the "bala" which is a W, so a little flip is all we had to do!
4. While your child is drawing wild flowers, animals or other things like scribbles draw some small clouds . Older children should be able to do this and the next step on their own.
5. Draw some snow caps for the tops of the mountain. Cut them and the clouds out.
6. Give your child the 3rd piece of construction paper, have them draw birds in the sky, a sun or whatever they want.
7. Cut the M out.
8. Glue the M on the backing.
9. Glue on the snow caps.
10. Add the clouds and let dry.

Songs!
She'll Be Coming Round The Mountain!

She'll be coming round the mountain when she comes
She'll be coming round the mountain when she comes
She'll be coming round the mountain, she'll be coming round the mountain,
She'll be coming round the mountain when she comes

She'll be driving six white horses when she comes
She'll be driving six white horses when she comes
She'll be driving six white horses, she'll be driving six white horses,
She'll be driving six white horses when she comes

Oh, we'll all go out to meet her when she comes
Oh, we'll all go out to meet her when she comes
Oh, we'll all go out to meet her, we'll all go out to meet her,
We'll all go out to meet her when she comes

She'll be wearing red pajamas when she comes
She'll be wearing red pajamas when she comes
She'll be wearing red pajamas, she'll be wearing red pajamas,
She'll be wearing red pajamas when she comes

She will have to sleep with Grandma when she comes
She will have to sleep with Grandma when she comes
She will have to sleep with Grandma, she will have to sleep with Grandma,
She will have to sleep with Grandma when she comes

We'll all eat chicken and dumplings when she comes
We'll all eat chicken and dumplings when she comes
We'll all eat chicken and dumplings, we'll all eat chicken and dumplings
we'll all eat chicken and dumplings when she comes!

Letter of the Week ! I i !

Ice Cream I !

Who doesn't love ice cream? This activity can help teach the letter I , but it can also be used as a lesson about shapes and a simple math lesson. We only put on one scoop but you can add as many scoops as you can count!

1. Gather your materials. You will need 3 or more pieces of construction paper, crayons, scissors, glue and cotton balls if desired.
2. Start by drawing a large I . Don't cut it out yet.
3. Have your child color and decorate the I, let them know that it's going to be the cone of an ice cream cone. Ask them about the shapes they normally see on a cone, if they tell you a shape ask them to draw it on the cone. If they aren't quite there yet, don't push. It's more important they are enjoying this activity , then us adults trying to cram in 4000 lessons into one. Go with their flow!
   
4. While they are coloring and possibly drawing diamonds or other fun shapes, cut out one or more half circles for the scoops or ice cream. I made my scoop look more like ice cream but if you are using this as shape lesson simply use a perfect half circle.
   
5. Cut everything out and glue together. Glue the I on the backing paper first, then the ice cream.
6. Add more scoops if you want, and you can make the ice cream 3D by gluing on a few cotton balls.
7. Let dry.

Books!

" Ice Cream , The Full Scoop" by Gail Gibbons is a fascinating book all about, you guessed it, ice cream. It touches on the history of the tasty treat, how it was made in years past and how it is made today. As someone who once called St. Louis home, I was happy to see it also talks about the very first ice cream cone that debut at the 1904 World's Fair in good old St. Louis! This book is not for toddlers or young preschoolers, it may even be too long for some 5 and 6 year olds. The delivery is fun with a lot of pictures so even if the whole book is too much, bits and pieces in small does much like ice cream is perfect!

"Manana, Iguana" by Ann Whitford Paul is a great book. It is a re telling of Chicken Little with a fun twist. The sky isn't falling in this tale, instead Iguana is throwing a fiesta and although her friends say they will help, they all back out. She stands her ground and in the end they learn that you don't get to have your cake and eat it too! The best part about this book is it's use of Spanish mixed in with the English text. Small children will pick up on these words quickly and any exposure we as parents can give our children different languages is a benefit to them.

Letter of the Week ! W w !

Word!

This is an awesome craft for children old enough for scissors, it's still fun with younger ones but it requires a little more prep work. If you are homeschooling and have a word wall you can use those words for your craft , and simply write the words out instead of finding them in newspaper.

1. Gather your materials. You will need some newspaper or paper to write words on, some cardboard ( old cereal boxes are always handy) ,double stick tape, crayons, glue and scissors.
2. Cut out your words from the newspaper, if your child is able to let them do this themselves. Help the read the words .
3. If you are doing this for a toddler cut the words out and using double stick tape tape them to cardboard backing , I just used some more cardboard for this. This will allow your child to glue the words on, newspaper is easily crumpled and toddler fingers have a hard time with it. The backing will help them do it without your help, which will help prevent hearing " I do it" and " Me do!" .
4. Draw a big W and cut it out.
5. Let your child color it with crayons.
6. Grab the glue - I usually dot it on then close the cap and let my son imitate me. He is learning where to put it , and soon I will open it for him , but right now we are still practicing!
7. Add the words.
8. After it's dry , sit with your child and ask about the words they chose, point our letters or simple praise their fantastic work!