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June 8, 2009 | 9 Comments

Letter of The Week U !

Unicorn U !

There isn’t much you can do with U so you can imagine my excitement when my son got attached to a stuffed unicorn at a toy store this past week. We put it back on the shelf with minimal fuss and went to the library to find some books, and home for this craft! I am always asked in which order do I teach letters, and my answer is random. I reinforce letters through crafts and play based on what my son is into, he makes better connections that way and in my experience linking it to a real experiences like the unicorn in the toy store, enables much deeper learning.

  1. 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).
  2. Start by drawing a large uppercase U
  3. You can have your child color it if they want or just cover it in “goop” by son’s word for glitter glue.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. Cut out your U and glue it to the 2nd piece of paper.
  7. Add the head.
  8. 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!
  9. Add your horn and let dry!

Books!

“Claire and the Unicorn happy ever after” by B.G. Hennessy is a fantastic book. It was too long for my little man, but after he got up to play with his trains I was still enthralled by the magic world inside the pages. The story is compelling. Claire is in bed reading with her dad when the fairytale they are reading ends with “happily ever after” and she wants to know what that means. Her dad tells her to think about it and tell him in the morning. Well that night her stuffed unicorn and she go on an quest for the answer. The illustrations by Susan Mitchell had me drooling and from time to time my son would return to look too. There is one page with a library fairy and his library and almost cried it was so enchanting! This book is on my must re read to my son in a few moths list for sure.


“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!

Filed Under: Age Preschool, Age: Kindergarten, Age: Toddlers, Letter of the week, Letter Recognition, Letter U, Unicorns | 9 Comments

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9 Comments

  1. Christy says

    June 8, 2009 at 4:36 am

    Goldilicious is the newest book by Victoria Kann and in this book, Pinkalicious has an imaginary unicorn named Goldilicious. My daughter recently turned three and LOVES the book. I think a two year old would like the book too.

    to Christy" aria-label='reply to this comment to Christy'>reply to this comment
  2. Allie says

    June 8, 2009 at 6:37 am

    Christy thanks so much, when I was at the bookstore I saw the new one, but didn't pick it up. I will have to go back this week.

    to Allie" aria-label='reply to this comment to Allie'>reply to this comment
  3. Naomi Tripi says

    June 8, 2009 at 5:43 pm

    Cute again! My son just fell in love with a unicorn at a kid-friendly cafe that we frequent. I'll have to try this on him a little later. TY for all the fun and educational crafts!

    to Naomi Tripi" aria-label='reply to this comment to Naomi Tripi'>reply to this comment
  4. Jen says

    June 8, 2009 at 6:48 pm

    These books look wonderful for my girls! I'll need to look for them at our library next visit. Maybe we'll make a glittery sparkly unicorn as a craft!

    His U Unicorn activity came out great! U is a hard letter. X, too.

    Jen
    Creative and Curious Kids

    to Jen" aria-label='reply to this comment to Jen'>reply to this comment
  5. Amy @ Literacy Launchpad says

    June 8, 2009 at 8:12 pm

    I've got that song from The Last Unicorn stuck in my head now. Thanks. 🙂

    Love this "u!"

    to Amy @ Literacy Launchpad" aria-label='reply to this comment to Amy @ Literacy Launchpad'>reply to this comment
  6. Naomi Tripi says

    June 8, 2009 at 8:59 pm

    http://www.everythingmom.com/Community/92/photos/photo.html#photoid=257

    I know it looks like it's on a rampage, but my son wanted the red sparkly paint for the horn.

    to Naomi Tripi" aria-label='reply to this comment to Naomi Tripi'>reply to this comment
  7. B. G. Hennessy says

    June 15, 2009 at 4:24 pm

    Glad you liked CLAIRE AND THE UNICORN. I have 3 sons and I tried to make the story one that would interest them as well- they liked the flies! But is is long for a little one. The library fairy is my favorite illustration,too. Susan MItchell did an awesome job. Thanks for posting, B. G. Hennessy

    to B. G. Hennessy" aria-label='reply to this comment to B. G. Hennessy'>reply to this comment

Trackbacks

  1. Homeschool Curriculum for Toddlers 2012-2013 | Learning With Mom says:
    November 4, 2012 at 8:09 pm

    […] Visual/Spatial: U is for Unicorn […]

    to Homeschool Curriculum for Toddlers 2012-2013 | Learning With Mom" aria-label='reply to this comment to Homeschool Curriculum for Toddlers 2012-2013 | Learning With Mom'>reply to this comment
  2. Homeschool Curriculum for Toddlers (Age 2-3yrs old) | Learning With Mom says:
    November 4, 2012 at 8:26 pm

    […] Visual/Spatial: U is for Unicorn […]

    to Homeschool Curriculum for Toddlers (Age 2-3yrs old) | Learning With Mom" aria-label='reply to this comment to Homeschool Curriculum for Toddlers (Age 2-3yrs old) | Learning With Mom'>reply to this comment

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