Pom Pom ABC's

 

Here is an easy and inexpensive way to practice letter recognition and letter building with toddlers! I simply used a dot art marker to write each letter on paper and then poured pom poms into a container. I set this up as an invitation to play for my son. He has always loved playing with pom poms so I figured why not use them to learn the difference between uppercase and lowercase letters. Pom poms always make learning exciting!

-Deborah

Working At The Car Wash!

 

My son loves his water table and asks to play with it whenever we are outside. Since the weather is on the cooler side now, I decided to put some bubble solution in the water table along with a sponge for him to manipulate. We brought over his car and decided to create a big messy, sudsy, and very bubbly car wash activity.

It was so much fun! He loved it!

 

-Deborah

Craft Stick Alphabet Game

Here is a fun, hands on game for toddlers that are learning the ABC's. Simply take 26 craft sticks, write a letter on each, and put them in a cup.

Have the child pull out one stick at a time and name that letter. Continue until the cup is empty. So inexpensive and easy to do for a great alphabet learning experience.

 

-Deborah

Build & Read Words On The Refrigerator

Here is a great DIY hands-on learning activity for children who are ready to build and read words. To set up this activity, I used Melissa & Doug magnetic letters and I took apart a book that I purchased at TJ Maxx. I set this activity up in our kitchen and surprised my son.

Here is the book we used:

I first demonstrated how to complete the activity:

Then, I set up a new word for him to try:

He did it! Then he told me each letter that makes up the word 'cow':

He couldn't wait to put up the next word:

Done! So proud of himself:

The result:

When he was done, I set up the next word for whenever he wanted to try again:

If you want to save money on this activity, or if you just can't find a book like this, you could create your own word and picture pages. Simply write down each word and draw a picture of each object:

-Deborah

DIY Alphabet Sticks - Match Letters & Build Words

My son pretty much has letter recognition down, so I figured it would be fun to talk about letter sounds and to start building words. I came up with an easy and inexpensive activity to do so. I set up a tray with craft sticks and letter stickers. Each craft stick has a letter of the alphabet written on it. The objective is for my son to recognize each letter and match it with a sticker. Then we worked on saying each letter sound as we built simple words. I just love how craft sticks sit so well beside each other. This made for a perfect opportunity to see how letters come together to build words. I found these letter stickers at TJMaxx for a little over $1 only. This is a great hands on learning idea that requires some patience and time but it is also very versatile because you can use the ABC sticks in so many different ways. Another idea is to put the sticks in ABC order. 

-Deborah