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This resource offers an idea for children to unleash their creativity through drawings and translate their thoughts about the drawings through writing.
This activity is related to the concept of sentence building.
Intellectual subject matter, reading and writing, are transformed into an emotional-artistic experience. When imagination is heightened, experience is heightened, memory is heightened. Imagination breathes creative life into memory (Ogletree, 1997, p. 44).
This is supported by Nurturing Early Learners (NEL) Guide - Language and Literacy Development, Learning Goal 4: Use drawing, mark making, symbols and writing with invented and conventional spelling to communicate ideas and information (Ministry of Education, Singapore, 2013, p. 27).

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Journal writing for kids is a useful tool for parents, teachers & therapists. Explore feelings, develop writing skills & help students express themselves.

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9. Stamp & Match Upper/Lower Case Letters 

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9. Stamp & Match Upper/Lower Case Letters 

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This resource offers an activity of stamping and matching upper to lower case letters; vice versa for children.
This activity is related to the concept of alphabet knowledge.
As a result, there is a displacement of energy from gross motor control to the finer motor control of speech (Ogletree, 1997, p.32).
This means that as children retrieve the stamps using their hands to match, for example, a lower case 'g' to an upper case 'G'; at the same time, they are verbalising the letter sounds in order to recall the letters, which often comes with a variety of shapes.
This is supported by Nurturing Early Learners (NEL) Guide - Language and Literacy Development: Letter-name knowledge; understanding that a letter is a symbol and that it has both an upper case and lower case form (Bradley & Jones, 2017, as cited in Ministry of Education, Singapore, 2013, p. 9).

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I threw this activity together when my my daughter didn't want to go outside and I didn't want her to watch another Doc McStuffins. This quick fun letter matching activity did the trick and we got a little play and learning in before heading out for the day. This letter match activity is quick to throw together and doesn't use up anything. If you don't have alphabet stamps I can't tell you how much I love and how often we use these stamps . <- Affiliate link so if you want to see what I am raving about you can. If you are looking for a similar idea for older kids try our Stamp & Spell activity.

Gather your materials. You will need some playdough, a tray, and letter stamps with both upper and lowercase letters.

Make small circles out of your playdough. You have probably noticed that I am not doing all 26 letters, that would be too much and overwhelm most kids. If you want to make sure you are going over all letters make a list and as you do different letter activities make sure all get some play over a few days. I like to have a balance of easy achievement with some challenge too. So choose a mix of letters that they are confident at matching and some that they still need to work on.

Using the uppercase letters press a letter in each blob of playdough.

Place the lowercase letter stamps near by.

Invite your alphabet whiz to the table. Play!

She got into it right away stopping only to ask me " This is q right?" Q has been her one tricky letter since she started recognizing letters.

Keep going. She stamped them a few times which is great but if they only want to do it once that is fine too. You can flip the playdough blobs over and let them explore with the letters at their leisure too.

Alphabet Books

All our book lists contain affiliate links.

ABC x 3 English, Espanol, Francais by Marthe Jocelyn is a simplistic alphabet book in three languages. My daughter loved it and giggled while we tried to read the words in English, French and Spanish. I liked that some of the words were so similar in all three languages and some were completely different. The stark colorful illustrations by Tom Slaughter were a delightful bonus.

Alphabet Everywhere by Elliot Kaufman is a book filled with letter shapes found in the environment. My 3 year old loved seeing all the photos of letters made out of doors, ladders, pipes, wood and more. I liked that the book caused her to recognize letters in different shapes. The letters are in alphabetical order so even if some of the images aren't clearly a letter the order can help readers figure it out.

A Isn't for Fox: An Isn't Alphabet by Wendy Ulmer was fun to read aloud. The text is melodic and made my daughter laugh from cover to cover. The book goes from A to Z with funny rhymes about things that don't start with the letter before revealing what does. Cute and more fun than a plain old alphabet book.

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Stamp & Match - Letter Matching Activity For Kids - No Time For Flash Cards

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I threw this activity together when my my daughter didn't want to go outside and I didn't want her to watch another Doc McStuffins. This quick fun letter matching activity did the trick and we got a little play and learning in before heading out for the day.

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This resource enables children to recap on the shapes and sounds of the letters of alphabet first before stringing them together to form their names.
This activity is related to the concept of alphabet knowledge.
For the learning of a new task to be successful, the learner's actions must be driven by the critical attributes of the task. In identifying these critical attributes, the learner has to deal with a variety of elements that might orient him/her within the task in a more or less appropriate way (Bodrova, Leong, 1997, p. 15).
This means that children must be equipped with the understanding of left to right orientation, recognition of letters and its sounds before attempting to form their names; which is of a higher level to what they have already known.
This is supported by National Association for the Education of Young Children/International Reading Association (NAEYC/IRA) - Some researchers (Adams 1990; Roberts 1998) have suggested that the key to these critical concepts, such as developing word awareness, may lie in these demonstrations of how print works. Children also need opportunity to practice what they've learned about print with their peers and on their own (NAEYC, 1998, p.4).

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This resource encourages children to work in a pair or as a team; recognising the letters of alphabet in random order as an aid for them to attempt and write the letters with the correct strokes.
This game is related to the concept of alphabet knowledge.
This type of spontaneous remembering is governed by the laws of association: children only remember things when they are repeated over and over or continually practised in a fun and engaging activity (Bodrova, Leong, 2001, p. 12).
This is supported by Nurturing Early Learners (NEL) Guide - They may write the same letters in different ways as they refine the way they form the letters. They generally use upper case letters in their writing as lower case letters require more finger dexterity and are more difficult to form (Ministry of Education, Singapore, 2013, p. 14).

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Learning ABC letter Alphabets with let's go fishing game for kids

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This resource offers an idea for children to spell out sight words in the form of a scrabble game.
This game is related to the concept of sentence building.
The sound and word association tasks proved to be the most difficult, and were equally difficult. In spite of the common practice in our culture of teaching letters by associating them with whole words, there was no tendency for children to be able to link letters with whole words before they could produce isolated sounds (Worden, Boettcher, 1990, p.288).
This is supported by National Association for the Education of Young Children/International Reading Association (NAEYC/IRA) - Language experience charts that let teachers demonstrate how talk can be written down provide a natural medium for children's developing word awareness in meaningful contexts (NAEYC, 1998, p. 5).

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Giant sight word scrabble | Reading | Pinterest | Literacy, Reading intervention and Sight word practice

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This resource offers a method for children to hold their writing tool in a comfortable and appropriate manner by using a cut-out sock as guide.
This method is related to the concept on building a sentence through writing with a pincer grip.
The concept of 'Zone of Proximal Development' (ZPD) by Vygotsky mentioned that for any developments to be influenced by learning, there must be a mechanism that supports the progression of a newly learned/developed process from assisted to individual (Bodrova, Leong, 2001, p. 13).
This means that children may be able to shift to pincer grip with the aid of a mechanism, in this case, a cut-out sock and initial guidance from educator. After which, children will be able to hold the writing tool in the proper pincer grip and write independently.
This is supported by Belonging, Being & Becoming - The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia (EYLF) - Outcome 4: Children are confident and involved learners: Children transfer and adapt what they have learned from one context to another (The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia, 2009, p. 39).

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The Ellie Grip is a "sock" for the hand to maintain correct pencil grip. The Ellie Grip has two holes for the index finger and thumb. The other fin… | school | Pinterest | Finger, Socks and Occupational therapy

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The Ellie Grip is a "sock" for the hand to maintain correct pencil grip. The Ellie Grip has two holes for the index finger and thumb. The other fingers remain in the sock.

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As an educator there are so many things that we are supposed to teach the children. That being said, writing is on of the most important skill we would like our children to be able to pick up.  In order to achieve that it is important for an educator to ensure they are equipped with various assessment tools to assess the children's development. When the educator is able to identify the areas the child needs assistance then the educator will teach that specific skills and strategies in response to student needs, and giving careful feedback that will reinforce newly learned skills and correct recurring problems.

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This resource offers an idea for children to attempt and spell out the words to each part of the big picture or drawing.
This activity is related to sentence building.
Drawing allows for timely and appropriate intentional input from an adult to assist an already successful meaning maker to learn another way of self-expression (Mackenzie, 2014).
This means that as educators or parents, it is advisable to encourage children to attempt and spell out the parts of their drawings to enhance their learning even further.
This is supported by National Association for the Education of Young Children/International Reading Association (NAEYC/IRA) - Although children's invented spellings did not comply with correct spellings, the process encouraged them to think actively about letter-sound relations. As children engage in writing, they are learning to segment the words they wish to spell into constituent sounds (NAEYC, 1998, p. 5).

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Kindergarten: Holding Hands and Sticking Together: Five for Friday September 26 | Education | Pinterest | Holding hands, Kindergarten and September

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Kindergarten: Holding Hands and Sticking Together: Five for Friday September 26

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1. Drawing/Scribbling

-> The concepts are on fine motor skills and eye-hand coordination.

2. Letter-like forms & Symbols
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Random letters/Letter strings
-> The concept is on alphabet   knowledge.

3. Writing with invented & conventional spelling
-> The concept is on sentence building.

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This resource encourages children to participate in a game of scoop, throw and catch.
This game is related to the concepts of fine motor skills and eye-hand coordination; especially in the development of their elbow joints.
It also allows him to position a hand tool, such as a pencil or scissors, at the most comfortable distance from his body and to hold it at the best angle for its use (Benbow, 1999, p. 9).
When their elbow joints are well-developed, it will aid children in maneuvering their arm comfortably when it comes to writing.
This is supported by Nurturing Early Learners (NEL) Guide - Motor Skills Development, Learning Goal 3: Demonstrate control and coordination in fine motor tasks (Ministry of Education, Singapore, 2013, p. 28).

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We have had some rainy days here recently and being stuck inside combined with having a newborn has led to some cabin fever for all of us! So the other day I made a quick game using some old milk containers for some indoor fun and energy-burning!

This is SO easy and took me literally two minutes to do, so a great last minute "I'm tearing my hair out and need a diversion NOW!" idea! (we need a lot of those at the moment it seems!)

Simply cut into the bottom of a plastic milk container using sharp scissors. Remove the pieces (as shown below) and voila, two catchers with ready-made handles, all ready to play!

And then we set to playing! Daddy demonstrated the perfect under-arm throw and Cakie perfected her catch. Using such a large catching device made it easy for her to achieve and she got some fantastic practise with her hand-eye co-ordination and gross motor skills.

Not to mention plenty of running around, jumping, throwing, fetching and general laughter! Food for the soul on a cooped up rainy afternoon!

physical: gross motor movements and control, hand-eye coordination, underarm throwing to a target

pshe: turn taking, learning how to lose!

What do YOU do on days when you feel you are going mad with little ones underfoot?!

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DIY Easy Catching Game! - The Imagination Tree

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We have had some rainy days here recently and being stuck inside combined with having a newborn has led to some cabin fever for all of us! So the other day I made a quick game using some old milk containers for some indoor fun and energy-burning!

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This resource encourages children to thread foam beads on yarns.
This activity is related to the concepts of fine motor skills and eye-hand coordination; especially in the development of their thumb and wrist.
The thumb pad can be made to touch any of the finger pads to hold or to manipulate objects within the fingertips (Benbow, 1999, p. 9).
When their thumb and wrist are well-developed, it will aid children in grasping writing materials by using their fingers.
This is supported by Nurturing Early Learners (NEL) Guide - Motor Skills Development, Learning Goal 3: Demonstrate control and coordination in fine motor tasks. (Ministry of Education, Singapore, 2013, p. 28).

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by -
This post contains affiliate links. Please see my disclosure policy.

Today is our first day of our 4-week Toddler Time challenge! Since it is Monday, our activity is focusing on colors. This Sorting and Threading Foam Beads Activity for Toddlers is excellent for color recognition and fine motor skills. Our foam beads are made from cut-up pool noodles and will also be used for quiet blocks as well.

Today's activity is super simple and, as promised, took less than 10 minutes. I focused on just two colors today because I wanted to see how Little Sister did sorting them. She knows all of her colors but sorting based on a common attribute is a skill that is still pretty abstract for most toddlers. She ended up sorting these two colors really easily and next time I will probably involve at least 4 or 5 colors in our color activities.

Safety Note: Please do not attempt this activity with toddlers who still regularly put things in his/her mouth. All children (even older ones) should be supervised throughout the remainder of this activity as the foam can detach and pose a choking hazard.

Here's what you'll need for this activity:

Colored pool noodles cut into 1 1/2- 2 inch discs

Rope in at least two of the colors of the pool noodles.

I used a serrated knife to cut the pool noodles into small discs. You could mark every 1 1/2 to 2-inch mark using a ruler if you wanted to...but I just took the lazy way out and eyeballed it. :)

I attached two different colors of rope we had on hand to a dowel rod and stuck it in our little shopping cart. This made the rope easier for Little Sister to work with.

Afterwards Little Sister enjoyed making the ropes "dance" by shaking them back and forth. :)

Check out more fun toddler time activities here:

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Sorting and Threading Foam Beads Activity for Toddlers - I Can Teach My Child!

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Today is our first day of our 4-week Toddler Time challenge! Since it is Monday, our activity is focusing on colors. This Sorting and Threading Foam Beads Activity for Toddlers is excellent for color recognition and fine motor skills.

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This resource encourages children to manipulate the Play Dough.
This activity is related to the concepts of fine motor skills and eye-hand coordination; especially in the development of their wrist and fingers.
For mature dexterity and strength, the wrist must stabilise the hand in a slightly extended position. The ability of the child's fingers for precise manipulation and for strength. (Benbow, 1999, p. 16).
When their wrist and fingers are well-developed, children will be able to hold writing materials, such as, jumbo crayons, with ease.
This is supported by Nurturing Early Learners (NEL) Guide - Motor Skills Development, Learning Goal 3: Demonstrate control and coordination in fine motor tasks. (Ministry of Education, Singapore, 2013, p. 28).

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I love playing with play dough.

Yes, I'm already an adult, but I still love playing with it.

And now that I'm a teacher, I love it even more.

In my classroom, there's always a long line for play dough during free play.

Every kid wants to have a piece of the colorful and moldable dough. And every day, I would see a variety of imaginary stuff made of dough.

Of course, number one is the ball- because, you know, it's obvious. Second is the pizza- because well, from the ball, you just flatten on it, and there you have it. A pizza! Third is the worm- long, short, thin, think, fat, with a head, without ahead, one worm, two worms, three worms... I mean, seriously, I've seen all types of worms in different quantities and colors.

So one day, I thought I'd help my students step up their play dough game. I sat with them and I also played with the play dough.

I was minding my own business. I was pounding, squishing, rolling, the works! I had a grand plan of making my very own Transformers robot.

I honestly can't wait for my students to see my awesome work.

I'm pretty sure they'll tell me I'm cool.

And I'll just shrug it off and in my head I'll say, "I know, right!"

But my super awesome Transformers robot didn't materialize.

My students kept taking from my pile of play dough. And I can't complain because I was the one who that sharing is caring.

So from then on, I just let them make whatever they want to make.

I changed tactic instead. To make the most of their play dough time, I started interviewing them about their work.

It was that day that I realized for the hundredth time that play dough is really a fantastic educational toy that every classroom and household should have.

That is why just recently, I introduced the play dough to my nephew. It was a homemade one. The recipe is simple and it's actually taste-safe.

As expected, Seb took a taste-test before playing with it. Well, he didn't like the salty taste so he just played with it.

And he loved it!

I'm glad that he enjoyed playing with it because there's definitely tons of benefits from playing with play dough.

Here are the Top 5 Benefits of Playing with Play Dough.

1. Strengthens Fine Motor Skills

Squishing, rolling, pounding, sculpting and flattening the play dough is a wonderful exercise for children's tiny hands.

Every time they work on the play dough, they are strengthening their fine motor muscles- which will help them succeed in school tasks such as writing and cutting when they come of school-age.
Read here for more fine motor activities for your toddler.
2. Promotes Creativity and Imagination

Yes, there is more play dough than ball, pizza and worms. The possibilities are actually endless.

And the more materials that you provide them- like cookie cutter, rolling pin and other props, the more inspired and motivated they'll get.

3. Develops Communication Skills

I suggest interviewing your child as she plays. This way she gets to verbalize her thoughts and she gets to practice sentence construction. You may also get to help her with her vocabulary, too!

4. Promotes Social Skills

This is especially true for a group setting. As they play together, they get to practice taking turns, sharing, problem solving and planning.

5. Incorporates Literacy and Numeracy

It's very easy to introduce lessons to children through play. You may teach them about the alphabets by asking them to form the letters with the play dough. Or you may ask them to count using it.

Just as children are using their imaginations as they play. As adults, we should be creative in inventing ways to teach them without them being aware of it.

So those are the top 5 benefits of playing with play dough. I hope you're convinced to include this activity in your child's routine.
Oh, and there's another toy that could be very beneficial for your child, click here to read more about lacing toy.
As for us, Seb will definitely see more of this play dough stuff.

We actually plan to make different varieties of it.

If you have special play dough recipe, like a scented one or glow-in-the-dark or whatever cool version you have, please let me know about it through the comment box below. I would really appreciate it. <3

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5 Benefits of Playing with Play Dough: A Simple Activity to Develop Your Child's Fine Motor Skills and More! - The Teaching Aunt

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I love playing with play dough. Yes, I'm already an adult, but I still love playing with it. And now that I'm a teacher, I love it even more. In my classroom, there's always a long line for play dough during free play. Every kid wants to have a piece of the colorful and moldable dough.

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This resource encourages children to scribble over a large piece of paper, using jumbo crayons or markers.
This activity is related to the concepts of fine motor skills and eye-hand coordination; especially in the development of their cylindrical/digital grasp.
Motor and muscle development begin to dominate the head, neck, arms, abdomen and legs in a gradual progression. He gains greater and greater voluntary control over his movements, speech organization, and thinking. This theme of voluntary control is important to understanding the transformation of growth or energy forces (Ogletree, 1997, p. 31).
This activity also focuses on children's overall body movements, for example, the need to stand up, bend over and manoeuve the jumbo marker around the big piece of paper.
This is supported by This is supported by Nurturing Early Learners (NEL) Guide - Motor Skills Development; Before they learn to write conventionally, they need to develop their fine motor skills and eye-hand coordination so as to hold and use writing tools (Ministry Of Education, Singapore, 2013, p. 11).

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Process art is such an important part of any preschool program, and it is equally important for toddlers. Big scribbling is a really simple, but effective, process art activity for toddlers.

In my toddler preschool program we try to do a little process art everyday, but it isn't always extravagant and fridge worthy. It is truly about the process. It is an opportunity for the children to explore a set of materials. In an activity like big scribbling, my job as the preschool teacher is more to sit back and observe, encourage and ask questions. I do not give directions or require the children to use the materials in a specific way, (as long as they are being safe and not damaging the materials). In this post I share how my 2-3's preschool class explored the most basic set of materials: paper and markers.

Join me regularly via subscribing to Stay At Home Educator by email, Facebook, Twitter @StayAtHomeEdu, and Pinterest. This post may contain Amazon affiliate links.

Materials

large sheets of paper, such as that from a roll of craft paper

markers or crayons (non-toxic, please)

The Set Up

Tape the larger sheet of paper to the table. I found that some of my toddlers used their entire body to do their big scribbling, so having the paper taped to the table kept it from moving as they drew, and also kept the edges from folding up from leaning on the paper. Set out a set of colorful makers or crayons and invite your toddler to color or draw.

The Big Scribbling Activity

My toddlers didn't hesitate to begin their drawing. Half of this class is still two years old, so we saw a lot of scribbling, which was really the point. Using big paper meant my toddler preschoolers had to use their entire body to cover the whole part of their paper, so their scribbling were big, eventually covering all of their space.

But this is not to say that the scribbling wasn't focused. It most certainly was. The children still considered each color before selecting, and while their scribbling was big and fast, it was still deliberate. They were exploring the outcomes of their actions.

The toddlers tried drawing with more than one marker at once, and they used both hands. They makes dots and stippled into their drawings. They experiment with holding the markers in different ways. Some explored different pencil grasps, while others explored holding the markers closer to their top rather than close to the paper. All this experimenting helps the children process the various aspects of writing.

Some of the toddlers even tried to write their names. While most are still unaware of the letters that make up their names, when I went around to place an initial for the child's name at the top of their paper, they made smaller marks alongside it. This toddler made some very clear marks in an attempt to write her name. "Look, I write Mila!" she exclaims.

Even Toddlers Benefit From a Writing Center

While a toddler preschool class may not produce lists of names or picture stories at the writing center, they will benefit from exposure to various writing materials. Having access to the materials at their choosing will encourage them to write and draw more.

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Big Scribbling - Simple Art for Toddlers

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Process art is such an important part of any preschool program, and it is equally important for toddlers. Big scribbling is a really simple, but effective, process art activity for toddlers. In my toddler preschool program we try to do a little process art everyday, but it isn't always extravagant and fridge worthy.

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This resource encourages children to identify and match letters of the alphabet as well as a platform for educators and parents to gauge children's level of understanding.
This activity is related to the concept of alphabet knowledge.
An important advantage of assessing children's performance on all the letters is that it enables comparisons on a letter-by-letter basis (Worden, Boettcher, 1990, p. 279).
This treasure hunt inspired game enables children to recap on their alphabet knowledge in a lighthearted manner.
This is supported by National Association for the Education of Young Children/International Reading Association (NAEYC/IRA) -  The research of Gibson and Levin (1975) indicates that the shapes of letters are learned by distinguishing one character from another by its type of spatial features. Teachers will often involve children in comparing letter shapes, helping them to differentiate a number of letters visually (NAEYC, 1998, p.4).

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Literacy and sensory fun in a simple Letter Hunt.

We are on an alphabet activities kick right now and loving it! Nothing like exposing little ones to the alphabet early in fun, simple activities that they can be hugely successful at. This Letter Hunt was a great way to build on my toddler's growing literacy skills.

Fun and easy alphabet activities are so great for kids, and this Letter Hunt is no exception! It was a simple activity but perfect for my toddler.

Setting up a Letter Hunt is very easy.
(this list contains affiliate links)
I took the corn meal that we had previously used for a Button Excavating activity and dumped it into a small storage container. I hid our letters throughout the bin - the corn meal did a GREAT job hiding them. They were actually really tough to see in there! Next, I made a simple "answer" key: a place for my toddler to set the letters after he found them.

Using his hands as his "tools", my toddler dug and dug to find his alphabet letters. Once he'd uncover one, the shout for joy and happy look on his face was priceless. The cornmeal did such a good job hiding these letters that it was a little challenging to find them all. Kind of like trying to find the flag at the end of Double Dare (you know exactly what I'm referencing).

After he found a letter, he'd look for it on the answer key to match it up. This small addition (of having an answer key) really boosted the fun value in the activity. He was just as excited to find the letter in the answer key as he was in the corn meal.

There are so many possible variations for this activity.

Make the answer key all lower case letters so your tot has to match upper and lower case. Wouldn't that be a fun challenge? Consider trying this with other toys OR with numbers and shapes. Older preschool / kindergarten age learners could be challenged to spell words with the found letters. So many great possibilities!

We absolutely loved this Letter Hunt and it kept my toddler happily busy, playing and learning for a solid amount of time. Then, he went back for more later in the day! He's addicted to this Letter Hunt! I love simple activities especially when it's a combination of literacy and sensory.

What kind of Letter Hunt could you make for your tot?

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Letter Hunt for Early Literacy - Busy Toddler

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We are on an alphabet activities kick right now and loving it! Nothing like exposing little ones to the alphabet early in fun, simple activities that they can be hugely successful at. This Letter Hunt was a great way to build on my toddler's growing literacy skills.

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This resource encourages children to write the letters of alphabet in shaving cream.
This activity is related to the concept of alphabet knowledge.
An intention is a representation of a future course of action to be performed (Bandura, 2001, p. 6). This means that if the intention of an educator or parent is to encourage children to reflect on the alphabet letters and an attempt to write independently; this will give children a platform to practice and remember the strokes of letters. This is supported by National Association for the Education of Young Children/International Reading Association (NAEYC/IRA) -Children acquire a working knowledge of the alphabetic system not only through reading but also through writing (NAEYC, 1998, p. 4).

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Shaving cream seems to be a staple material in early childhood classrooms, no? I buy cans of shaving cream at the Dollar Store and keep them handy for activities like this one, which is a great way to combine letter learning practice with sensory play.

The next installment in my 101 Ways to Teach the Alphabet Series is Shaving Cream Letters. Making letters in shaving cream is a wonderful way for kids to practice letter formation.
Click here if you want more information about teaching the alphabet in a fun, hands-on, and multi-sensory way.
For this activity, I started by squirting a dollop of shaving cream onto a tray. Then I invited my kids to use their hands to spread it out so the shaving cream would cover the entire tray.

Then I called out letters for them to "write" in the shaving cream.

The best part about writing letters in shaving cream is how easy it is to "erase" a letter in case of a mistake or simply when it is time to write another letter.

Whereas erasing pencil marks with an eraser is tedious and time consuming, erasing shaving cream letters requires only that kids rub the shaving cream with their hands to spread it out again.

And then kids can get on to writing the next letter.

Clean up is easy too, since shaving cream washes easily from the trays. Yay for fun and engaging letter practice!
Have questions about teaching the alphabet? We've got answers! Click here to learn more.
More ways to teach to the alphabet

More alphabet posts from Gift of Curiosity:
You can find more ways to teach the alphabet on my Literacy Activities for Kids page and my Letter Learning Pinterest board.
Follow Katie @ Gift of Curiosity's board Learning Letters on Pinterest.

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Shaving cream letters {101 Ways to Teach the Alphabet}

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Shaving cream seems to be a staple material in early childhood classrooms, no? I buy cans of shaving cream at the Dollar Store and keep them handy for activities like this one, which is a great way to combine letter learning practice with sensory play.

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7. Chalkboard Painting (letters of alphabet)

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7. Chalkboard Painting (letters of alphabet)

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This resource encourages children to hold a brush and paint over letters of the alphabet, drawn on the chalkboard beforehand. The use of ABC or Phonics song is a recommended addition to this activity as children will be able to link the sound to its individual letter of the alphabet.
This activity is related to the concept on alphabet knowledge.
This is supported by National Association for the Education of Young Children/International Reading Association (NAEYC/IRA) -Engaging children in choral readings of rhymes and rhythms allows them to associate the symbols with the sounds they hear in these words (NAEYC, 1998, p. 4).

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This is definitely a fun way to write and build fine motor and hand eye coordination skills.

**All you need is a chalkboard, chalk, water in a cup and a paintbrush, oh and a cloth to wipe after each word is finished.

Either you or your child writes a letter, word, shape, number or even a squiggly line on the chalkboard {get creative here}. Then comes the fun part- trace it with a paintbrush dipped in water...My girls LOVE this and could do it for a long, long time. Have fun painting!!

Forest Rose is a God Loving, Blessed Wife, & Relaxed, Eclectic Homeschooling Mama to 3 girls - 8, 10, & 12 in Fort Wayne, Indiana. She's passionate about lifting moms out of the homeschooling trenches that are discouraged, overwhelmed or feeling alone or isolated. Her hope is to point them to Christ and equip them to rise up with a new found hope and joy within, that He alone can provide. Besides blogging, she also loves hanging out at her exclusive Facebook Group "Homeschooling 101 Community" that she started to help new homeschoolers thrive.

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Chalkboard Painting Fine Motor Skills Activity

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This is definitely a fun way to write and build fine motor and hand eye coordination skills. **All you need is a chalkboard, chalk, water in a cup and a paintbrush, oh and a cloth to wipe after each word is finished.

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This resource encourages children to pin the letters of alphabet according to its word, for example, pin c a t for 'cat'; at the same time enabling children to recap on the sound of each letter and make up the whole word.
This activity is related to the concept of alphabet knowledge.
Teaching is vastly facilitated by the medium of language, which ends by being not only the medium for exchange but the instrument that the learner can then use himself in bringing order into the environment. The nature of language and the functions it serves must be part of any theory of cognitive development (Bruner, 1966). This means that language serves as a foundation, in this case, when children are equipped with the knowledge of letter sounds, they are then able to combine the sounds to form short, simple words.
This is supported by National Association for the Education of Young Children/International Reading Association (NAEYC/IRA) -Phonemic awareness refers to a child's understanding and conscious awareness that speech is composed of identifiable units, such as spoken words, syllables, and sounds (NAEYC, 1998, p. 4).

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The Complete Guide to Imperfect Homemaking

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A while back,I whipped up a little game for my kids to practice making words. I used a photo of them playing on the floor with it in this post over here, and several people have commented on it and asked about it.

The cards are actually name tags from this site. I printed them out, glued them to cardstock, and wrote in the name of the drawing on each tag. I laminated them so that my two year old wouldn't destroy them in the first 3.2 seconds. Then I wrote the letters on some clothes pins.

The kids make words by matching the letters on the card to the clothespins. It's an introduction to some sight words, some practice at letter recognition, and a real confidence builder for the child who can exclaim "Mommy, look! I spelled dog!"

Thanks for visiting The Complete Guide to Imperfect Homemaking. If you're new here, say hello in the comments below. And if you would like to share a post with your friends, use the "share this post" buttons in the comment bar below to share a post on facebook, twitter and more!

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A while back,I whipped up a little game for my kids to practice making words. I used a photo of them playing on the floor with it in this post over here, and several people have commented on it and asked about it. The cards are actually name tags from this site.

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This resource offers an idea to children to think of objects, places or the names of people, sounding each letter, stringing it together, writing it down and allow their peers to unveil the 'secret' texts by painting over it.
This activity is related to the concept of sentence building.
This is supported by National Association for the Education of Young Children/International Reading Association (NAEYC/IRA) - At about the time children are readily able to identify letter names, they begin to connect the letters with the sounds they hear. A fundamental insight in this phase of learning is that a letter and letter sequences map onto phonological forms (NAEYC, 1998, p.6).

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My daughter just finished her first early chapter book last week! Her reading skills have really progressed in the past couple of months. But there are a few sounds and letter combinations that give her trouble, so I changed up our usual reading practice and used her favorite subject, art, to help her remember.

Not only does this activity help her practice sight words, it creates a beautiful piece of art that we like to display. Then when she passes by, I'll have her say a word or 2. It really makes them stick!

Painting Secret Messages

No doubt you've seen this technique before. It's just crayon resist art, but Audrey thought it was magic when I told her there were secret words all over the paper.

If your child is at the right angle, like my little Emma was, they can see all the letters and it's not as special for them. So make sure you get down to their level and check to see if the secret words are being revealed by the light.

To do the activity, pick your child's sight or reading words and write them all over the paper in white crayon. Do this ahead of time without telling them and it will be an even bigger surprise. Then have your child paint over the paper with water colors, trying to find the words. If it is a surprise, just have them paint normally and the words will start showing up.

You could incorporate a theme into the painting too. For example, since it is going to be Valentine's Day soon I could use Valentine themed words and have Audrey paint hearts. You could even print off a themed coloring sheet and put write the words right into the picture. It would be fun to do one of these paintings for each holiday. I just love 2-for-1 activities (craft & learning). Don't you?

Don't forget that review is so important! So, display the painting in a prominent place and have your child practice reading the "secret messages". It really improves reading skills, but also boosts your child's confidence and inspires a love for creating and trying new things.

I just love hearing my daughters race to Daddy and pull him to show off their creations and practice reading their words for him.

How do you get your child to practice reading their sight words?

For more reading activities like this one, like me on Facebook or follow me on Pinterest. Thanks for your support!

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Reading Activity: Secret Message Sight Words | True Aim

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My daughter just finished her first early chapter book last week! Her reading skills have really progressed in the past couple of months. But there are a few sounds and letter combinations that give her trouble, so I changed up our usual reading practice and used her favorite subject, art, to help her remember.

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This resource encourages children to use technology in order attempt and write letter strings along with their drawings.
This application is related to the concept of alphabet knowledge.
Using iPad apps to read, write, or communicate may facilitate the emergence of the roots of literacy in digital environments, similar to those that adults frequently use, and within which children will be expected to be able to use more conventionally as they become older (Beschorner, Hutchison, 2013, p. 18).
This shows that the use of technology is beneficial for children in promoting literacy skills, such as, writing or stringing letters together; as it gives them an exposure to the digital world and making use of it to learn.
This is supported by National Association for the Education of Young Children/International Reading Association (NAEYC/IRA) - Rather, good teachers bring into play a variety way of teaching strategies that can encompass the great diversity of children in schools (NAEYC, 1998, p. 3).

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This resource offers an idea for children to construct a proper sentence in the right orientation, from left to right, in the form of an application.
This application is related to the concept of sentence building.
One of the potential benefits of the iPad was that many apps connect reading, writing, listening, and speaking naturally within one app. This was primarily evident when children used the iPad to read, or to listen to, digital texts, which were readily available in the app store (Beschorner, Hutchison, 2013, p. 22).
In this application, there is a range of levels that children can choose from, equipped with the sounds of each word, when pressed. This will enable children to use their listening, sight, touch and literacy skills almost systematically.
This is supported by National Association for the Education of Young Children/International Reading Association (NAEYC/IRA) - Children must also learn about the relation between oral and written language and the relation between letters, sounds and words (NAEYC, 1998, p. 6).

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This resource offers an idea to children in using technology to express their thoughts through drawings, based on the given sentences.
This application is related to the concept of sentence building.
The children in this class clearly viewed themselves as writers as they created varying forms of writing in the digital environment of the iPad. Children used different writing tools (ie. a paint brush of varying thickness, a thin marker-like tool, or a spray paint) to write (Beschorner, Hutchison, 2013, p. 20).
This is supported by Belonging, Being & Becoming - The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia (EYLF) - Outcome 5: Children are effective communicators: Children use information and communication technologies to access information, investigate ideas and represent their thinking (The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia, 2009, p. 47).

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Sago Mini Doodlecast | Drawing App for Kids

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This resource offers an idea for children to make a guess of what is inside the mystery box with the verbal cues given by the educator, draw out their guess and attempt to spell out their drawing.
This activity is related to the concept of sentence building.
In a world that is ever ready to categorise and standardize, it may be difficult to think about teaching and planning for children in terms of potential and capacity, and possibilities. Yet our lives with children, if we are open to possibility, hold surprises, those moments when a child exhibits understanding, a skill, or mastery we had not imagined he or she possessed (Cuffaro, 1995, p. 16).
This is supported by Belonging, Being & Becoming - The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia (EYLF) - Outcome 4: Children are confident and involved learners: Children develop a range of skills and processes such as problem solving, inquiry, experimentation, hypothesising, researching and investigating (The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia, 2009, p. 38).

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The Mystery Box was a HUGE hit in KC. The four clues #1 I am orange and yellow #2 I am squishy #3 I come in a cylinder shape #4 I begin ...

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Authentic Assessment
(Checklist)
Checklist is an easy and hassle-free assessment tool that many educators use to assess children's learning.

According to Clay, the developmental route of very young writers involves trying to understand what written language is about as they look at books, become aware of environmental print, and put pencil to paper (Clay, 1982). Then children try to relate their experiences in writing using invented spelling. As they begin to construct little stories they explore spelling patterns and develop new language patterns. Clay (1979, 1993) recommends a simple rating scale for emerging writing skills that focuses on language level (from only letters to sentences and paragraphs), message quality, and directional principles (Figure 2)

An example from Clay checklist is attached below.

Language Level
Record the highest level of linguistic organization used by the child:
1. Alphabetical
2. Word (any recognizable word)
3. Word group (any two-word phrase)
4. Sentence (any simple sentence)
5. Punctuated story (of two or more sentences)
6. Paragraphed story (two themes)

Besides checklists, educators can also use rating scales and rubrics.

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An example of checklist from the book titled Who Am I in the Lives of Children by Stephanie Feeney, Eva Moravick and Sherry Nolte 

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Authentic assessment
(Observation)
Learning takes place anywhere for children. Accessing children can be tricky and biased depending on the tool used to access. Some children might be very uncomfortable if they are being accessed individually. Thus, another way to access children effectively is through their natural setting which is learning corner time.
Observing them through anecdotal and running record while they are engaged in an activity at the learning corner will help the educator to observed how the child holds the pencil, draw a picture and if the child is able to draw with context and slowly form letters of words to explain their work.
While  observing, educators should record what they see and hear and at a later timing, educators will then interpret and compare their findings with the developmental milestone for the particular age.

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Standardized assessment Readiness and Achievement Test

Test and preschoolers there are many issues for and against the topic. Test are often scary and intimidating for the older age group what more to preschoolers. The need to answer a series of question at a short time frame might not be ideal.
Perhaps, there could be a different approach in carrying out a test.

These tests are often made to assess the child on their performance if its on par to a certain standard. Test also helps assess what the child has learn and to what extent has the child acquired information or mastered a certain skill taught.