The Letter I

Week 9. The Letter I. 

Island 

We created islands for our creative project during the letter I week. Many students were already familiar with the word island, much to our surprise. Most of this material had to be pre outlined and pre cut as well. We decided to cut out most of the accessories that go on the letter I. The jagged lines would have been much too difficult for our preschoolers.  We had the children cut out the letter I and glue on the pieces where they thought that they needed to go. 

This activity requires 

- pre cut sun, leaves, waves

- glue 

- scissors

- construction paper

Igloo

We created our own edible igloos. The children enjoyed this activity very much because they knew that after lunch they were going to be able to eat their entire igloo. We made our igloos out of graham crackers, icing, and marshmallows. The icing acted as a glue to the marshmallows and the graham crackers held as the foundation. 

Ice Cream 

We made our own ice cream in class! The students took turns making enough ice cream for each student to try some. We used a personal ice cream maker that another teacher had brought into the classroom. The picture below is the exact ice cream maker that we used. 

 

Ice Cream Shop 

In the dramatic play area we created a ice cream shop for the kids to serve and order ice cream at. We made several different kinds and colors of ice cream. We put actual ice cream scoops and bowls in the ice cream store for them to play with. We also used real sprinkles for the students to decorate the ice cream that they were serving. 

Tracer I paper

The Letter H

Week 8. The Letter H.

House and Horse

For our creative project we created a house and a horse out of the capital and lower case h's.



Lower Case h:
This picture above is a similar looking horse to the one we had our students create. Instead of paper mane and tail we had our students glue on pieces of yarn. The yarn created more of a 3-D look to our horses.

Capital H:
We made houses for our big H's. Students cut out the entire H and also the door, roof and windows that go onto their house. Just like this photo students were allowed to color their houses however they pleased.

h horse activity included:
- pre outlined horse's head
- pre outlined lower case h
- googly eyes
- scissors
- glue
- yarn for horse hair and mane.

H house activity included:
- pre outlined capital letter H
- pre outlined doors, roof and windows
- markers
- scissors
- glue

House

The dramatic play area was set up just like a small house. We brought back in our kitchen set, baby set, and small table. To enhance the idea of a house we placed an extra child's cot on the ground so students can put the baby dolls to bed. Along with all the furniture, we had mom and dad clothes that the children could try on. This included boots, dress shoes, work gloves, dresses, shirts with ties, purses, etc.

Habitat

Children helped create habitats for our plastic toy animals. Students would group animals that were likely to live together and create a habitat for those animals. We had animals like whales and fish, camels and elephants, polar bears and penguins, monkeys and parrots.

Tracer H paper 

The Letter G

Week 7. The Letter G.

Giraffe 

For our creative project our students created a giraffe G. It would be too difficult for students to cut the middle of the G out so we cut them out for them. Students cut out the ears, antlers, head, and spots. Students were allowed to glue objects where they  believe that they needed to go.


This activity requires
- glue
- scissors
- googly eyes
- pre outlined G's
- construction paper

Goo 

Our lead preschool teacher brought in some Squishy Baff. Instead of creating the goo in the bathtub we filled our sensory table full of water and then added the goo transforming powder. After congealing we added buckets and shovels into the sensory table. For this activity we required that the students wear smocks. Also this activity was closely monitored to make sure no goo went into the student's mouths. Although it is non-toxic.  Our students loved the texture and enjoyed playing in the "goo"


Grocery Store

For our dramatic play area we transformed it into a grocery store. Within our grocery store we had left over snack boxes such as goldfish, graham crackers, and yogurt. We had drink containers from juice. Along with these foods that we have eaten we added in some play food from the kitchen set. Another teacher had a play cash register. The kids really enjoyed the fake money and playing as cashiers. We also got the kids grocery bags which was a donation from our local hardware store. The grocery store was a huge hit.

G Worksheet

Because our students loved the dot stampers from last week we brought them into this week to stamp the dots on a letter G. Students were thrilled to see the bingo dot stampers and these worksheets laying on one of the activity tables.



Letter G Tracer Paper

The Letter F

Week 6. The Letter F.

Feather F

For our creative arts project we glued very colorful feathers to our capital letter F. This task allowed for students to have more of an independence when completing the project. Teachers just watched to ensure that students didn't cover the entire paper in glue and that their glue was being placed inside of the letter F.

This activity requires
- pre outlined letter F on construction paper
- glue
- colorful feathers



Fruit Loop Necklaces

This activity helped our younger students work on their fine motor movements. We gave students a piece of thick plastic string. We instructed them to put Fruit Loops on their string to create a necklace. The younger students worked hard to figure out fine movements while the older students worked on creating their own patterns and saying the colors as they put the Fruit Loops on the string. After completing the necklace students were allowed to eat their Fruit Loops.



This activity required
- Fruit Loop cereal
- thick plastic string

Dot the Letter F

This activity used a worksheet. The instructions say to dot the dots inside the letter F. Students accomplished this by using a bingo dot stamp of their choice of color. Students caught on to the objective very easily and enjoyed the worksheet very much. I believe a lot of the excitement came from the use of the bingo dot stamps.



F Tracer Paper 

The Letter E

Week 5. The letter E.

Elephant

Our creative art project was creating a elephant out of the letter E. Once we had created our elephants we asked student to colored around the elephant to show what he/she was doing. Once they were done coloring we asked each student what they drew and what their elephant was doing. We used their words to write on the back what their elephant was doing. We used googly eyes instead of the construction paper made ones below. Our students love googly eyes.

This activity required
-scissors
-glue
-gray construction paper
-white construction paper
-markers
- pre outlined letter E, elephant feet, trunk, and ear.
-googly eyes



Egg Hunt

We hosted an egg hunt on our school playground for the children. Eggs were placed on the playground in various places and children were allowed to run around and collect eggs each day at recess. We used plastic eggs for the egg hunt. The eggs we used were not very durable. Some eggs ended up broken with sharp edges. Constantly check your plastic eggs each day.


Chicken Life Cycle

One standard that our children must understand is life cycle. In order to teach this process we used a chicken forming from an egg to a chick. The picture I have below is not the photo cards that we have, I instead searched for something similar to the life cycle cards we have.

Ideally these pictures are cut up into individual cards and students are asked to put them in order from beginning to end. We have another example of a tree life cycle and our students enjoy the chick life cycle much more.

The  Letter E Trace Paper 

The Letter D

Week 4. The letter D.


Dinosaur and Dirt 

The creative art project for the capital letter D was to make a dinosaur. The lower case d we made using dirt. Students had a blast playing with dirt to create the letter d. We also had some pretty interesting dinosaurs made.

Dinosaur D materials
- the capital letter D with the middle already cut out
- triangles out lined for students to cut out
-glue
-scissors
-googly eyes
-outlined circle for the head
-rectangle outlined for the neck and legs
-markers for kids to color/draw a face

Dirt d Materials
- pre made lower case letter d
- sheet of black construction paper
- dirt
-glue
-smocks

Although this is a capital letter D. We did the 

same concept for a lower case d. 

      

Dino Dig 

We filled our sensory table full of play sand that we purchased from out local hardware store. Inside our sensor table we placed dinosaur bones for our students to find. Also in the sensory table we added small dinosaurs that we previously had. 

Dinosaur Fossils

We created dinosaur fossils! The students found this task very interesting when it was all complete. First we had students press small toy dinosaurs into a flat piece of white Crayola model magic. Once they had made their fossil, it took about a day and a half for the fossil pieces to dry. Once dry our students were given the opportunity to paint there dinosaur fossils. The paint really brought out the impressions of the dinosaurs. 

This activity required 

- White Crayola Model Magic (pictured above) 

- small plastic dinosaurs

-paint

-smocks

-paint brushes

-wax paper (to have models dry on) 

 

Letter D Worksheet 

Just like the other letters students were to trace the capital letter and lower case letter. 

The Letter C

Week 3. The letter C.

Caterpillar

For this creative activity we created caterpillars out of the letter C. Instead of painting the caterpillar, we glued colored pom pom balls. The students really enjoyed creating colorful caterpillars.

This activity required

- the letter C already made on a construction sheet of paper
- glue
- pom pom balls (to the right)
- markers

Tracks & Car Wash 

Our students LOVE anything that involves water.  They also enjoy painting. In this station we have combined the two. First students are allowed to run their matchbox cars through paint that we have set out. After putting paint on their cars tires they run their matchbox car on a piece of paper to show the tracks that they have created. After they are done making tracks the students are allowed to give their cars a car wash. 

This activity required

-smocks 

-many different colors of paint 

-toothbrushes to scrub matchbox cars 

-matchbox cars 

-dawn dish soap

-white card-stock

-tub to contain car wash water 

-water 

Because this activity can be extremely messy we had our students wear smocks. The photo above is an example of the type of smocks we had our students wear. 

Clouds

We introduced this topic of clouds by reading Eric Carle's Little Cloud. Within this book Eric Carle illustrates many different animals and objects using clouds to shape the animals and objects. To the right of the front cover of the book there are some examples of cloud shapes that appear in Little Cloud. Once we finished reading the book we asked students to create their own object, shape, or animal using cloud fluff. 

This activity required

--Cloud fluff--

-shaving cream 

-glue 

*mix the first two ingredients (we sprayed some shaving cream in a sandwich size bag and then added about a tablespoon of Elmer's glue and mixed them together inside the bag)

- blue construction paper

-smocks

- sharpie markers (teachers used these only to write what the child said they made with the cloud fluff) 

Letter C Worksheet

Again students use these tracer sheets to practice lower and upper case letter C. 

The Letter B

Week 2. The letter B.

Bee and Butterfly 

Our creative activity for the letter B is making bees and butterflies. Again this project required our preschoolers to practice cutting and gluing. Children are shown a pre made butterfly and bee but are not instructed while making their own. We let them use their creativity and imagination to piece the project together. I found this activity on Pinterest. At this link http://www.pinterest.com/pin/151363237446563585/ and this link, http://www.pinterest.com/pin/476537204291063793/

*Instead of using paper to create the eyes on the bumblebee we instead used googly eyes. Our kids really enjoy placing those on their projects. For the lower case b we used tissue paper to create the colors on the butterfly's wings. The students enjoyed the different colors they were able to glue onto their butterfly.



This activity required

-glue
-scissors
-pre outlined capital letter B 
-pre outlined lower case letter b
-pre outlined wings and black 
-pre outlined antennas
-tissue paper variety of colors
-googly eyes

We pre-cut the middle out both of the middles of each letter.

B is for Button and Beans 

This activity is an additional craft activity for the letter B. In this activity we gave students a page size letter B. We had students fill in the capital letter B with both beans and buttons. This is an example from I pulled from Pinterest. http://mineforthemaking.com/2011/08/preschool-at-home-letter-b.html



This activity required

-glue
-assorted buttons
-beans
-pre printed capital letter B


Bear Cave

Our students were asked to bring in their favorite bear. While their favorite bear "attended" preschool, they were put into a bear cave. The bear cave was made out of a large cardboard box. (I believe a outdoor grill box) the one side of the box was cut to form an opening so the children could put their bears in the cave. Although I do not have a picture of OUR bear cave I did find a bear cave that is very similar to one I found on Pinterest.



Bear Sort 

We have an assortment of different colored small plastic bears. We used these bears to ask children to sort the bears based on color. We assisted in saying, "Please put all the orange/blue/green/etc bears in this pile." And continued on for other colors. 



These are the bears that we have in our classroom. 

Alphabet Soup

The same as letter A. We had a letter can that contained pictures of objects that start with the letter b. This can was shared at center time with the help of our student of the day.

Letter Trace Paper

Same as the letter A, tracer papers are also made for the letter b.

The Letter A

Week 1. The letter A.

Alligator and Apple
For each letter we have a creative activity that incorporates cutting, gluing, and placing pieces together to create a cute letter. I found this activity on Pinterest. Here is the link. http://www.pinterest.com/pin/70087337924404493/


This activity requires
-glue
-scissors
-pre outlined capital letter A
-pre outlined lower case letter a
-pre outlined small triangles
-pre outlined leaf
-googly eyes(we used the eyes that have a sticky back, less difficult than using glue)
-We used real apple seeds that we took from another activity I will mention further down.


Because majority of our students have yet to master the art of cutting, we pre cut out the middle of the lower and capital letter.

Apple Stamps 
Also for a creative activity we made apple stamps. I previously knew about apple stamping, so I did not refer to any outside source to create the activity. However for a visual I did pull a picture from Google.

This activity required: 

- pre cut apples (cut in half) 

- paint colors in a tray large 

enough to dip half an apple 

-sheets of sturdy paper 

Alphabet Soup

For every letter of the alphabet we have a letter can. This is something we purchased while back. Inside each letter can are pictures of items that start with the letter we are working on. The cans are part of a package containing all the letters of the alphabet. The particular one we used is called Alphabet Soup.
This photo is taken from Google

We use this activity during carpet time. We take out an object in the letter can and ask the students what the object is. When we pull out the capital and lower case letters we ask students to make the sound the letter makes. This helps students understand words that have the same beginning sound.

Letter Writing
Letter writing is also an activity that we repeat for every letter. For practice we use these tracing sheets. 

This tracer sheets are nice because they provide practice on both upper and lower case letters.
When students have finished tracing the letter we ask them about the pictures on the bottom of the page. If they are able to identify them we let them color. If they have trouble identifying the words that go with the picture we assist them in saying the word by enunciating the beginning sound of the word.
Tracer papers are available for free at this link  http://www.kidslearningstation.com/alphabet/traceable-alphabet-letter-a.htm

First Post

Hello fellow bloggers,

I am a current undergraduate student studying to obtain a degree in early childhood education. Once I fulfill this degree I will be licensed to teach pre-k through 3rd grade. Aside from my studies I love spending my time working at Muskingum's on campus pre-school. This blog will be dedicated to the type of activities that we do in our classroom. The current activities are based off of the alphabet. Each week is dedicated to a letter in the alphabet. Activities that we do will be centered on that letter. As a pre-school teacher I understand the difficulties of lesson planning. These ideas in my blog are pulled from many areas including Pinterest, Google and other educational blogs. Instead of only posting one activity at a time I am going to post several lesson plans that I have found via the Internet and my own creativity that can be done all week; More or less a learning unit centered on a letter in the alphabet. These lesson plans do not have to be used as lessons in a classroom. These learning activities are meant for kids to have fun doing them. Having fun and learning can take place anywhere.

Enjoy the learning activities!

Miss J