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Before children learn to read, they need to know how print and books function. While reading to your child, take a minute or two to ask them questions about the book. Where is the cover? Can you show me where to start reading? Who is the author? Building your child's understanding of how print functions will benefit them greatly as they begin to learn how to read in Kindergarten. Check out this great list of what children need to know about print from A to Z.

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Reading to your child is a great way to bond with them. Children are relaxed when a loving adult reads them a story. Reading to your child has the added benefit of increasing their vocabulary and their understanding of how print functions. If you are looking for some good books to read to your little one, check out some of these popular titles.

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These picture books are definitely worth reading.

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Your child will be doing a lot of writing, coloring, and cutting in Kindergarten. Help them get ready by strengthening those hand muscles with playful activities.

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While teaching them how to sort colors and strengthen fine motor skills.

Busy Bags are a great way to keep preschoolers occupied whether you use them while eating out, during appointments, or just a quick activity to have on hand for those moments when you need a little quiet time or a chance to cook dinner.

SILLY STRAW BEAD THREADING BUSY BAG

This busy bag is easy to put together since it only uses two items. It packs two early learning skills into one activity-kids will sort beads by color and they will work on fine motor skills at the same time. This is a simple and straight-forward activity with little prep time.

Silly Straws (I found a pack of 6 at the dollar store)

Large hole round beads (Pony beads are too small, find beads with a larger opening. I found mine at Hobby Lobby.)

After gathering your supplies, invite the kids to place the beads on the silly straws. Encourage them to sort the beads by color and place the same color bead on the corresponding straw.

When the kids are all done with threading the beads on the silly straws, you'll have a fabulous rainbow of fun! Kids will be proud of themselves for finishing this task perfect for strengthening little fingers' fine motor skills.

This book is packed with easy-to-make activities to make skills of math, literacy, fine motor skills, and fun...well, fun! It is 128 pages with 52 busy bag ideas (one for every week of the year) AND each section of the book (math, literacy, fine motor skills, and just for fun) has an explanation of early childhood development in each of these areas. Plus, there's an explanation of busy bags and their uses, information about how to host a busy bag swap, and a list of 100 Things Kids Should Know Before Entering Kindergarten. Be sure to grab your copy today!

Click the links below for more fun and creative busy bag or quiet time ideas!

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SILLY STRAW BEAD THREADING BUSY BAG - Kids Activities

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While teaching them how to sort colors and strengthen fine motor skills. Busy Bags are a great way to keep preschoolers occupied whether you use them while eating out, during appointments, or just a quick activity to have on hand for those moments when you need a little quiet time or a chance to cook dinner.

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Books are a huge part of our lives, we absolutely LOVE them! When I originally sat down to do this post I was only planning on sharing 25 titles with y'all...and well I guess it kinda got away from me. Every now and then a kid would walk by me and hand me one of their favorites or lean over and whisper, "make sure you don't forget this one". It was so hard to pick out our favorites! So instead of 25, as planned, we managed to narrow it down to our top 100. I hope you are able to find some new titles that your kids will love!

The Best Books for Preschoolers

&

Preschool Reading Log Printable!

Reading logs are a simple way to help kids visually see their reading progress. In our home, once the kids complete their reading logs we have a family pizza night - they LOVE the challenge!
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Kitchen Science Kit for Kids

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Books are a huge part of our lives, we absolutely LOVE them! When I originally sat down to do this post I was only planning on sharing 25 titles with y'all...and well I guess it kinda got away from me. Every now and then a kid would walk by me and hand me one of [...]

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Kindergarteners are expected to know how to spell and write their names. There are lots of fun ways to help them practice. Take a photo of your child and write their name at the bottom. Then have them put the "puzzle" back together and learn to spell their name at the same time!

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Totschooling - Toddler, Preschool, Kindergarten Educational Printables

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Today I would like to share a very simple activity that I made for my daughter to help her learn the letters in her name. It literally took 5 minutes to make this personalized photo name puzzle. She loves to do activities with photographs, such as our Photo ABC Cards, so I knew this would be a hit!

First, I snapped a quick picture of her with my phone (landscape format), then emailed it to myself. (skip this step if you have a photo on your computer)
I saved and opened up the picture on my computer. It opened in Windows Photo Viewer and I clicked print. In the options I chose the layout with two 5"x7" photos on one page. It will only print the photo once but it leaves plenty of space to write the name. Click print again.

Here is how it came out. I used a permanent marker to write her name, spacing it out over the length of the photo.

Then I laminated the sheet (optional), and cut the photo into vertical strips. Puzzle complete!

Check out these other creative ways for kids to learn their names!

Ice Cream Name Puzzle by Totschooling School Bus Name Puzzle by Totschooling Flower Garden Name Activity by Totschooling Rainbow Name Puzzle by Still Playing School Learning your Name Playdough Puzzle by Growing Book by Book Learn to Spell your Name Parking Garage by Growing Book by Book Preschool Literacy: Learning Letters in Our Names by Teaching 2 and 3 Year Olds Roll a Die and Make your Name by Toddler Approved Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Name Craft by Toddler Approved Clothesline Names by Pre-K Pages Easy Homemade Name Puzzle by Happy Hooligans Spell your Name Game by No Time for Flash Cards Name Activity using Toy Cars by Buggy and Buddy Spider Web Name Recognition Activity by Messy Little Monster Flower Garden Name Game by Fantastic Fun and Learning 5 Simple Name Activities by Fantastic Fun and Learning Quick Name Activities by Fantastic Fun and Learning Letters in your name Cookies by JDaniel4's Mom Name Practice Letter Hunt by Inspiration Laboratories Name Practice Water Game by Inspiration Laboratories Spiced Name Activity for Five Senses by School Time Snippets Clothespin Name Activity by School Time Snippets 10 Ways to Help Children Learn to Spell their Names by Play to Learn Preschool

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Easy tutorial for how to make a photo name puzzle for your preschooler to learn the letters in their name!

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Get creative with what you have around the house. You can use toy cars to teach your child their letters or how to spell their name.

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As I've mentioned before, Jonathan has been doing a lot of name games because he LOVES to do school, and because he has a long name to learn! Here's a simple wa

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Name Writing Takes Practice, Practice, Practice

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Name Writing Takes Practice, Practice, Practice

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Learning to write your name takes a lot of practice. Have your child practice one or more of these 10 ways to write your name.

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There is a lot of writing to do in Kindergarten. Give your child some extra help with these free printable practice sheets.

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Get this fun variety of sample spelling games from the membership site! The download includes resources for spelling CVCE words, long vowel teams, and multi-syllable words.

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Who says you need a pen and paper to write? Reluctant writers will love practicing in writing trays. Use sprinkles, sugar, salt, sand, flour, or whatever else you have around the house to create your own writing tray for your little one.

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Children love to hear their grown-ups sing, and children's songs are a great way to help them learn to identify sounds in the English language. Try any one of these 20 songs that have the added benefit of helping your child gain early literacy skills.

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The Library Adventure uses affiliate links, see our policies for more information.

Singing with little ones is a fun and easy way to help them develop literacy skills long before they're ready to sit down and read a book. You can make sing-alongs a regular part of your day by incorporating them into your family's routine. Below are some suggestions for songs to sing first thing in the morning, at mealtimes, on the go, at bathtime, and at bedtime. (All of these will also work well in library story time settings.)
Morning Songs
Mealtime Songs

Apples and Bananas
Have fun with vowel sounds in this Raffi classic from hisOne Light, One Sun album.

Aikendrum
There was a man lived in the moon and his face was made of all kinds of silly food.

C is for Cookie (or B is for Bagel or T is for Turkey)
Reinforce letter knowledge and letter sounds by singing about the first letter of the foods you're eating. (This song works best with two-syllable foods beginning with B, C, D, E, G, P, T, V, and Z.)

Going on a Picnic
This call and response song allows you to sing about the foods your child likes best. It's another Raffi favorite, from hisCorner Grocery Store album.

On the Go Songs Bathtime Songs

Row Row Row Your Boat
Pretend to row a boat in the bathtub - and don't forget to scream when you see an alligator!

This is the Way We Wash Our Hands
Sing about each part of your child's body as you wash it.

Rubber Ducky
Serenade your child's rubber ducky with anotherSesame Street favorite.

Baby Beluga
Help your child imagine he or she lives under the sea like the baby whale in this song, also by Raffi.

Bedtime Songs

All the Pretty Little Horses
This pretty song introduces interesting horse-related vocabulary as it lulls your child to sleep.

Rockabye Baby
Sing about your baby, then substitute animal names to make the song a little bit silly.

Little Boy Blue
Teach your child a nursery rhyme and sing him to sleep at the same time.

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
This song contains one of the first similes ("like a diamond in the sky") your child will ever hear!

Do you sing with your child? Feel free to share some of your favorites in comments.

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20 Songs to Develop Literacy Skills in Kids Ages 0 to 5

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Singing with little ones is a fun and easy way to help them develop literacy skills long before they're ready to sit down and read a book. You can make sing-alongs a regular part of your day by incorporating them into your family's routine.

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FREE Lowercase Letter Tracing Worksheets!

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These free printable alphabet tracing worksheets are great for preschool, kindergarten, and first grade. Each letter contains a solid letter, an object that starts with that letter, and seven dotted letters for tracing. These practice handwriting worksheets are in PDF format, easy to print, and fun to use!

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Reluctant writers will love "painting" their letters with cotton swabs.

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Have your child use cotton swabs to erase letters on a white board or, if you don't have one, your glass window! By erasing the letters, children are actually practicing how to write them while also building the muscles in their hands.

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Preschool, Kindergarten

This post may contain affiliate ads at no cost to you. See my disclosures for more information.

The next installment in my 101 Ways to Teach the Alphabet Series is erasing letters with a Q-tip.

This simple-to-set-up activity works on letter recognition, the proper way to write letters, and fine motor skills related to pencil grip.

This activity is best done using a white board. I used white board markers to write several letters of the alphabet on a small white board we own, and then I propped the board up where my daughter could reach it.

I invited my daughter to pick up the Q-tip and erase the letters I called out using the Q-tip.

I encouraged her to erase the the letter exactly as we write the letter.

In essence, she had to "write" over my letter.

And in "writing" over my letter, she (mostly) erased it.

We continued this game until all the letters on the board were gone.

With this activity, she got to practice identifying letters. I strategically picked letters that were more challenging for her, including some she was getting confused with such as b vs d and p vs q.

While doing this activity she got to practice the correct strokes to write the letters. And she worked on her fine motor skills by having to grip the Q-tip and "write" on a vertical surface.

So many great skills being practiced with just this one simple activity!
You can find more ways to teach the alphabet on my Literacy Activities for Kids page and my Letter Learning Pinterest board.
More ways to teach to the alphabet

More alphabet posts from Gift of Curiosity:

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Erasing letters with a Q-tip {101 Ways to Teach the Alphabet}

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Erasing letters with a Q-tip is a simple-to-set-up activity that works on letter recognition, the proper strokes for writing letters, and fine motor skills.

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Kindergarteners need to know their shapes and there are a lot of fun ways to teach them. Take some black paper and toy cars and build shape highways for your little one to trace and play!

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The manipulative for this weeks #ToolsForLearning is small toys. I couldn't resist making a play activity based on Adam's favourite small toy of all time - the toy car! As we have very few shape adventures I decided to create a Learning Shapes With Toy Cars activity.
(This post contains affiliate links)
Regular readers will know we have a car track obsession. So far our tracks have included a masking tape car track that filled the living room, a DIY track busy bag that we can take out and about, a giant car track for the garden and even one for the seaside.

Our shape road tracks are made from wet and dry sandpaper . I used one piece of A4 sized sandpaper per shape. I used objects from around the house to use as large shape templates. I then found similar smaller sized shapes to draw around in order to cut out the middle of the shape. Finally I cut white electrical tape into small strips and added these as road markings in the middle of the road. I managed to find objects to draw around for the circle, square, triangle and rectangle. However, I struggled to find anything for a pentagon or octagon. I attempted to draw them independently but didn't manage it. Luckily Twinkl came to the rescue. I printed their 2D Shape A4 Cut Outs and used these to make the pentagon and octagon roads.

I laid the 6 shape road tracks on the floor. Adam couldn't wait to start playing. He couldn't believe it that the road tracks were slightly rough due to being made from sandpaper. This added an additional sensory element to the activity.

Over the next few hours we created several different ways to play with our shape road tracks. Here are a few ideas:

* Drive the cars along the roads and count how many corners each shape has. Identify the shape names.

* See how many cars can fit on each shape. Which one has the most cars on? This is a great activity for spacial awareness to identify the correct sized cars to fit along each road.

* Use the cars to create your own shaped road on the carpet.

* How many cars are needed to fill the inside of each shape.

* Place the emergency vehicles on one shape.

* Can you find any squares in the living room that look like your road track?

* Place all the yellow cars on one shape and all the blue cars on another.

Throughout the activity Adam used mathematical language to name the shapes and their properties without even realising. To him he was just excited he had some more road tracks to play with. I have a feeling our learning shapes with toy cars road tracks will be played with for many hours.
Check out these Small Toy activities as part of the #toolsforlearning series:
Car Parking Lot Preschool Math Grid Game from Life Over C's

Alphabet Car Wash from Learning 2 Walk

Sorting and Counting with Die-Cast Trains from Crafty Mama in ME

Directionality Activity with Small Cars from Teach Me Mommy

Forest Animals Letter Sounds Activity from Stir the Wonder

What Makes Ice Melt Fastest from Raising Little Superheroes

Fun DIY Phonics Game from Mum in the Madhouse

What Do Animals Eat? Classification Activity from Schooling a Monkey

Color Mixing with Toy Cars from The Kindergarten Connection

AM and PM Time Telling with Shopkins from Sugar Aunts

Sorting Animals Venn Diagram Activity from Mom Inspired Life

Hands-on Way to Learn Letter Sounds from School Time Snippets

Fairies & STEM Activities: Gardening with Kids from Edventures with Kids

Name & Letter Practice: A Painting With Toy Car Activity from Play Dough & Popsicles

Learning Letters & Reading With Cars! from Preschool Powol Packets

Shopkins Sorting from Still Playing School
You May Also Like:

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The manipulative for this weeks #ToolsForLearning is small toys. I couldn't resist making a play activity based on Adam's favourite small toy of all time - the toy car! As we have very few shape adventures I decided to create a Learning Shapes With Toy Cars activity.

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Kindergartens are expected to know their colors when they walk in to school of the first day. Help them to learn by going on color hunts! You can do this at the park, at the grocery store, or even in your own home. It's a great rainy day activity!

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Published by on

Free Printable Color Practice Sheets

I have made these color practice worksheets to go along with yesterday's shape practice worksheets. Each page is centered on a specific color and writing the word, coloring with the color. There are 10 colors red, blue, green, yellow, purple, black, pink, orange, brown, and white to practice writing. They can use crayons, paint, markers, or whatever you choose to color in the objects. These are just fun little worksheets to help them learn their colors and keep them busy.

This printable book is printer friendly and easy to use with a large classroom and the layout and form match the shape book so they can be used together in to form a workbook. I will be working on numbers and letters next. By the end of this series, you should be able to form a full preschool work book choosing the section you wish to include.

We also have tons of other FREE color related and preschool printable activities for you such as these:

No Prep work, and printer friendly!

Download the pdf for these worksheets below.

Some clipart downloaded from clker.com.

Suggestions, requests, questions, corrections, or comments?

Use our worksheets or activities?
Send a picture to be featured in a future post!

Email to: miniaturemasterminds@gmail.com

This download is mostly color and free to use for any daycare, church, school, personal, co op, or home school use.

We all make mistakes sometimes, if you happen to find one of mine feel free to email me and let me know so I can correct it!
TERMS OF USE:
All activity images, printables, and games are free to download and/or use as you choose, with the exception of claiming as your own, modifying, or redistributing as your own. Please feel free to use in any classroom setting! Feel free to link to this page but not to the download or image itself, if you would like to share downloads or ideas. All shares are appreciated. Permission to use 1 image of your choice is given. Thank you for respecting these guidelines.

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Published by on I have made these color practice worksheets to go along with yesterday's shape practice worksheets. Each page is centered on a specific color and writing the word, coloring with the color. There are 10 colors red, blue, green, yellow, purple, black, pink, orange, brown, and white to practice writing.

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Painting is a great way to experiment with color and to see what happens when colors are blended.

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This post may contain affiliate links. See Disclosure for more information.

Mixing colors and exploring color theory is a learning activity that never gets old. It is simple enough for preschoolers and exciting enough for older kids.

To set up this invitation to play, I provided bowls of primary colored water (red, yellow and blue), empty ice cube trays and small plastic eye droppers.

We have used eye droppers for other projects so the students are familiar with them. They are a terrific way to strengthen hand muscles and improve the pincer grasp.

It always excites the kids to see the new colors that they can make. Enjoy this little video of a student mixing colors and exploring color theory.

Have fun playing and learning with your children today.

Find an entire two-week lesson plan on colors right here!

After you subscribe, you will be redirected to the FREE Catalog. We respect your privacy. Unsubscribe at any time.

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Mixing Colors and Color Theory - Play to Learn Preschool Preschool

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This post may contain affiliate links. See Disclosure for more information. Mixing colors and exploring color theory is a learning activity that never gets old. It is simple enough for preschoolers and exciting enough for older kids.

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This book is a classic. Read your child this beloved story and have them color right along with it. This serves as a literacy activity and a fine motor activity while your little one also learns their colors!

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These free color books are wonderful for helping toddlers learn their colors.
(This post contains affiliate links.)
I have an adorable little toddler who loves to look at books with real images. In fact, for her birthday I printed and assembled my letter books with photographs and put them in a little tin lunchbox. She often asks me to read the books from her "oot-case."

For quite some time, I've been wanting to create more books with photographs. They're quick, fun read alouds, and they're perfect for little hands to flip through all on their own. Plus, they're fantastic for building speech and vocabulary!

Yesterday I printed the books and sat down on the bottom step to read them with my Two.

Today we plopped on the couch and pulled out the stack again. This time, I asked her to point to things. "Where is the dog?"

These books are great for building vocabulary! She didn't know what an owl was, but she will after hearing these a few times.

I started asking harder questions. "Which one do you put toast in?"

"Which of these can you eat?"

"Which one is a flower?"

"Which one lives in the water?"

My just-turned-Four was interested, too. He wanted to take a turn with the books. So I asked, "Which of these would you sit under for some shade?"

We also played a fun game where he chose which object on each two-page spread that he would like to have.

"Yuck!" My picky eater didn't want either of these!

How to use these books

Teach colors by reading them aloud to your toddler. Repeat the color word on each page. "Yellow cheese. Yellow pencil. Yellow chick."

Entertain your infant by snuggling and reading the books aloud. Babies love real photographs! And even though your baby doesn't understand the words yet, he will some day!

Let your preschooler read the books. Once you've read through the books a few times, your preschooler may recognize all the pictures and be able to name them without your help. He'll love that he can "read" these little books all by himself!

Use these with ESL students to teach English vocabulary.

Print single sided and cut apart for flashcards. I'm not much of a flashcard fan, but if you'd really like to, you can print the pages single sided and cut them apart. Stack them as flashcards or punch a hole in the upper left corner and connect with a metal ring. Just don't tell me about it. 😉

Build thinking skills. As shown in the above examples, ask questions about the pictures. "Which one can you eat? Which one can you wear? Which one is alive?"

Teach rhyming. When you have a page open, name a rhyming word for one of the pictures. "Which picture rhymes with bee?" (tree) You can use nonsense words too, especially for kids just getting started with rhyming. "Which picture rhymes with mabbage?" (cabbage)

We hope you enjoy these books as much as we do!

This is a big file! Be patient as it downloads. It contains books for the colors red, orange, yellow, blue, green, purple, pink, gray, black, white, gold, and silver.

How to assemble

Print pages 3-50 on cardstock. Be sure to print front to back.

Cut a horizontal line across the center of each page.

Fit the pages together, making sure the cover is on the front. The other pages can go in any order you choose.

Staple using a long-armed stapler (they're cheap - and totally worth it!).

You might like these, too!

© 2016 - 2018, Anna G. All rights reserved.

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These free color books are wonderful for helping toddlers learn their colors. (This post contains affiliate links.) I have an adorable little toddler who loves to look at books with real images. In fact, for her birthday I printed and assembled my letter books with photographs and put them in a little tin lunchbox.

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I'm always looking for simple and engaging learning activities for my 24 month old. This sticker sorting activity was absolutely perfect for her!

I have fallen massively in love with "dot stickers" lately and I'm using them all over the place (in this line up activity and this name recognition activity). They are rapidly becoming one of my favorite / go-to activity supplies (I might need to add them to my must-have supply list).

Setting up this sticker sorting activity was so easy!

Materials:
(this list contains affiliate links)

I grabbed four pieces of construction paper - each coordinating to a sticker color. I taped the paper to our wall, handed my daughter a page of stickers and away we went!

My daughter loved this activity!

She was so excited to play this activity and couldn't wait to get started. She loved pulling the stickers off the page and adding them to her color sorting wall.

Of course she did way more than just one sheet. She went through three sheets and played at this wall for more than 15 minutes, which is great for her!

What is she learning here?

At 24 months old, my daughter is just starting to be able to do more "learning based" activities as opposed to only sensory based activities or busy boxes.

The power of sorting activities!

Sorting activities are a great place to start at with young toddlers - it's the first math concept most kids can grasp.

Sorting is a complex skill that asks children to identify similar characteristic in a group of objects, make decisions, and analyze data. Yes, all that in just a simple sort!

In this activity, my daughter is:

Sorting

Working on fine motor skills

Practicing color words / vocabulary

An activity like this packs in so much learning for toddlers. Even my 3.5 year old son couldn't wait to play this sticker sorting activity - it was just so inviting.

This sticker sorting activity lived on the wall of my house for about a week and was a great quick project to play when my kids needed something different to do. It definitely helped pass the time and got us to nap time many days!

Will you try this sticker sorting activity with your toddler?

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I'm always looking for simple and engaging learning activities for my 24 month old. This sticker sorting activity was absolutely perfect for her! I have fallen massively in love with "dot stickers" lately and I'm using them all over the place (in this line up activity and this name recognition activity).

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Get a book in their hand that has the added benefit of teaching them about color.

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Sorting is an important early math skill. Sorting toys by color, size, or shape is a great way to practice this skill while also learning about colors, sizes, and shapes!
(http://thislittlehomeofmine.com/lego-color-sort/)

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Children entering Kindergarten need to know their numbers. They need to know how to identify them, how to write them, and the amount they correspond to. Have your child use stickers, bingo markers, or crayons to complete these worksheets to learn their numbers.

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More free do a dot printables! Here are numbers 1-10. (To save or print, click on the number you want, it will take you to the pdf tha...

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If you have a cookie sheet and some letter magnets (which are also sold at many Dollar Stores) you can print off this letter sound matching sheet and help your child learn their letter sounds.

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This post contains affiliate links for your convenience. View our full disclosure policy here.

Identifying letters and sounds is hard work - but so fun and rewarding! While we are learning about our letters, we can always use some fun ABC magnet activities to practice! This free Alphabet Magnets Beginning Sound Match uses tools found in most homes or classrooms, and is a fun, quick, and simple way to work on beginning sounds!
*Pair with our Beginning Sound Centers and Activities for Pre-K & Kindergarten

Alphabet Magnets Beginning Sound Match

We have several sets of alphabet magnets in my classroom. This alphabet magnet set has lowercase letters and makes the vowels red. Sometimes that is helpful when we get to word building because my kids always remember that to make a word they need vowels, so it really highlights their importance!

I grabbed my set of letters along with a cookie sheet (I have several from the dollar store) and the game board (download below) and my group set off to work on those beginning sounds!

How to Play

There are various pictures on the game board, so what we did was first put all of our magnet letters in a small grab bag. Then we took turns picking a letter out one at a time and saying their name and sound. After saying their sound, we searched for the picture that matched. For example:
"n says /n/ - What picture starts with /n/? Yes, net starts with /n/!"
After identifying the picture, we stuck the magnet on! I love how it sticks there and doesn't get knocked off or shifted while we keep playing!

If you are playing at home, your fridge would work just as well - just use magnets or tape to hang the game board and play a few letters throughout the day!

Grab Your FREE Copy

Ready to match up some letters and pictures? Grab your free copy of the alphabet magnets game board by clicking the large, yellow download button at the very end of the post!

More Fun with Magnet Letters

For even more fun learning activities with magnet letters, check out these posts from some awesome kid bloggers!

Magnetic Letter I Spy Game from Life Over C's

Bird Magnetic Preschool Letter Activities from Learning 2 Walk

Spelling Sight Words with Magnetic Letters from Mom Inspired Life

Magnetic Letters Identification Spoons Handwriting Game from Sugar Aunts

Alphabet Magnets Beginning Sound Match from The Kindergarten Connection

Magnet Letters Connect the Dots Learning Activity from School Time Snippets

Magnetic Letters Spelling Sensory Bin from Something to Offer

Magnetic Letters Travel Game from Play & Learn Everyday

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Identifying letters and sounds is hard work - but so fun and rewarding! While we are learning about our letters, we can always use some fun ABC magnet activities to practice! This free Alphabet Magnets Beginning Sound Match uses tools found in most homes or classrooms, and is a fun, quick, and simple way to...

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Preschool age children are epic snackers! Before letting them chow down on their Cheerios or Goldfish, have them count them first!

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Little Brother is just a few months shy of being the exact same age that Big Brother was when I started this blog! Crazy! As with most second-born children, I am much more relaxed this time around. I now understand that we can take our time with all the letters, numbers, and shapes and just enjoy playing together, while still sprinkling a little bit of learning in now and then!

We had a lot of fun using animal crackers as math manipulatives today. I haven't "formally" introduced numbers to Little Brother yet, but this activity goes to show how easy it is to incorporate learning into your every day routine...even when eating a snack!
Here's what you'll need: A piece of construction paper, a marker, and animal crackers (or another snack).
1. On a piece of construction paper, make 4 boxes and write the numeral 1-4 in each of the boxes.

2. Line up 10 animal crackers to the side.

3. Point to each number, saying it aloud. Then count the corresponding number of animal crackers while your little one puts them on the paper.

And the best part is eating the "manipulatives"!

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Animal Cracker Counting and One-to-One Correspondence Practice - I Can Teach My Child!

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Little Brother is just a few months shy of being the exact same age that Big Brother was when I started this blog! Crazy! As with most second-born children, I am much more relaxed this time around.

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Here are some more ideas for snack math!

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I wanted to create a fun counting activity for my son today. I realized I could use one of his favorite snacks, Fruit Loops, as part of the activity. Since my son is only two, I figured using a cupcake tray with six spaces would be a great start for number recognition and counting practice. A cupcake tray is also great for holding multiple Fruit Loop counters. I took cupcake liners and placed a number sticker within each liner. I did not want to use a marker so he could reuse and eat the Fruit Loops. The result was an exciting, and tasty, math learning activity for my son.

Here he is in action:

There are so many other options to use as counters besides Fruit Loops:
-Marbles
-Small rocks
-Pom poms
-Beads
-Cotton balls
-Cheerios
-Jelly Beans
-Grapes
-Goldfish crackers
-Linking cubes
-Pretzels
-Paper clips
-Blueberries
-Play-doh balls
-Jingle Bells

My son still puts everything in his mouth so I figured edible counters would be best for him right now. I was right! During the activity, he did snack on the Fruit Loops which made it even more enjoyable as it kept him actively engaged.

This activity was so simple to create with items I already had in my kitchen. I love the fact that I can teach my son important learning concepts at home without having to spend extra money.

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DIY Counting Activity - Simple & Educational

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I wanted to create a fun counting activity for my son today. I realized I could use one of his favorite snacks, Fruit Loops, as part of the activity. Since my son is only two, I figured using a cupcake tray with six spaces would be a great start for number recognition and counting practice.

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Understanding what patterns are and how to create them is an important early math skill. Use what you have around the house to create simple patters. These free printable worksheets are a great way to teach your child about different types of patters.

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MBug (4 years old) has really enjoyed making patterns with our Reading the Alphabet curriculum and also with our Cut it Out! Packs. So, to follow up with an activity she and my mom did not too long ago, I created some open-ended templates for exploring and creating patterns.

*This post contains affiliate links.

You know those sheets of stickers you have lying around? You know the ones I'm talking about. The sheets of tiny stickers that you bought to use in your incentive chart, but still have yet to unwrap because you never made the chart. Okay, maybe (just maybe) I'm talking about me. Well, it's time to unwrap those babies and use them with these making patterns templates!

Modeling Patterns

We have had fun exploring patterns with these templates, using all kinds of manipulatives (see the end of the post for ideas to use with the printables.) As with anything, the first thing we want to do is model a skill before we ask our child to give it a go. Although my mom had already explored with her a bit, I wanted to be sure she understood the concept.

I got out some of our dot stickers and showed MBug how to match the stickers up, with A always being pink and B always being orange (for our example). She was eager to help me and wanted to take over. I knew my job was done. 🙂

Exploring Patterns

She wanted her own paper with her own stickers and away she went, peeling the stickers and exploring patterns.

She enjoyed using the stickers and wanted to do more, so we mixed it up a bit, using counting bears, stamps, and do-a-dot paint to explore A-B patterns as well as patterns with A, B, C, and D.
Creating Patterns
NJoy (Kindergarten) saw her and wanted to do it, too. I knew it would be too easy, so I quickly created a blank template for him to provide an extra challenge.

He not only had to create his own patterns, but then go back and label his patterns with the letters himself. And once he had reached the end of each line, I asked questions like, "If this pattern continued, what would be in the 15th spot?"

More Ideas for Making Patterns:

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Download this FREE Making Patterns Pack HERE.

~Becky

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Exploring and Creating Patterns {FREE Printable Included}

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MBug (4 years old) has really enjoyed making patterns with our Reading the Alphabet curriculum and also with our Cut it Out! Packs. So, to follow up with an activity she and my mom did not too long ago, I created some open-ended templates for exploring and creating patterns.

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Use dot paint or stickers to trace the shapes in these free printable worksheets.

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More free do a dot printables! Here are a few more shapes for your preschooler to work on. After completing the do a dot shape, your ...

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Apply Online for a FREE Library Card from AACPL

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Apply Online for a FREE Library Card from AACPL

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Get a Library Card | Anne Arundel County Public Library

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Do you live, work, attend school or own property in Maryland? If so you're eligible to apply for a free Anne Arundel County Public Library card. If you are a student with AACPS, learn about SAIL here.

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Preschool Story Time is every Tuesday at 10:30

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Computers are currently unavailable at all library locations while we apply urgent security upgrades. If you've recently used a public computer at an AACPL location, please read this important message.

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Oral language development is a foundational skill children need to have to be good readers, writers, and effective communicators. So, get them talking with these fun activities and conversation starters. Don't be afraid to ask them deeper questions. You might be surprised with what they are able to tell you!

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Many young children face the issue of communicating clearly. So, we have brought some language activities for toddlers to help them learn better. These activities can help them work on their skills while having fun. You can easily teach your child alphabets and other important lessons through these activities. So, read on to know more.

Top Eight Language Activities For Toddlers:

1. Telephone Play:

The fun language activity for toddlers can help improve their communication skills. Set up two toy phones in the play area. You can also decorate the phone booth with funky colors, to appeal to your little one's imagination. Now act as if you are calling him and the phone is ringing. Encourage your toddler to answer the phone. Through this activity, your toddler will learn phone etiquettes and improve his conversation skills ( 1).

2. Puppet Game:

Buy some soft toys, dolls or puppets for your toddler. Make him converse with these imaginary friends and polish his communication skills in a fun way! ( 2)

3. ABC Matching Game For Phonetic Learning:

Write the alphabets on a small piece of cardboard paper and ask your toddler to color them. Cut out pictures from a magazine and keep them aside. Ask your toddler to match the alphabets with the beginning sounds of the objects in the pictures. The activity uses the play way method to teach your toddler his letters phonetically ( 3).

4. Singing Together:

Singing is a fun activity that you can do as a family. It will help your toddler enjoy working on his language skills. You can also use this play way method to introduce him to nouns, adjectives, and verbs! ( 4)

5. Places And Things:

Here is another language development activities for toddlers. Point out different objects at your home and ask your toddler to name them. It will help your toddler improve his vocabulary without much effort. You can play this game in different settings like the garden, supermarket, etc.

6. Complete The Sentence!:

The simple activity encourages your toddler to frame complete sentences. If he asks for a banana, you can ask him "Do you want a banana?" Encourage him to answer in a complete sentence. It will help your toddler learn to string the words together to make coherent conversation. It will help him learn to express himself better and boost his confidence too!

7. Reading Fun:

Read books to your toddler at bedtime every night. It is a great opportunity to bond with him at the end of a long day. Read him a story and ask him related questions to improve his listening skills and speech abilities. You can show him the pictures that illustrate the story and ask him to identify the objects. It can help improve his vocabulary too! ( 5)

8. Join-The-Dots:

Draw a dotted outline of the alphabets on sheets of paper. Hand out a new sheet every day to your toddler along with pencil colors in different shades. Help him join the dots to improve his motor skills. It will help him identify and write each letter.

These simple activities will surely make learning a lot of fun for your toddler! Try these expressive language activities for toddlers at home and watch your toddler's language skills improve dramatically. Remember, a little patience and innovation on your part can encourage your toddler to learn better!

Now you know eight super-fun activities that can work wonders for your toddler's language skills! So, why wait? Go ahead and try one every day! Also, remember to spread the word and enlighten other moms! Do let us know which one from the list is your toddler's favorite activity in the comments box below.

Did your toddler face any problems with his language skills? What activities did you try to improve his reading, writing, and speaking abilities? How did they benefit him? Please share your experience and tips with other moms here.

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Many young children face the issue of communicating clearly. So, we have brought some language activities for toddlers to help them learn better. These activities can help them work on their skills while having fun. You can easily teach your child alphabets and other important lessons through these activities.

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Early Literacy Resources and Events from AACPL

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Early Literacy Resources and Events from AACPL

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Anne Arundel County Public Library offers many free story times for children and their families. They even offer a sensory story time, a bilingual story time, and a music and movement story time.

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Anne Arundel County Public Library (AACPL) is committed to providing parents with the tools to help their children get ready to read. Every Child Ready to Read programs are offered weekly in every branch. All programs require a caring adult to attend with the child.

Silly Stories for Children

Five Practices

These five early literacy practices will help every child develop the foundation for reading, listening, writing, and learning for a lifetime.

Talking with children is one of the best ways to help them learn new words, and to learn about language and conversation.

Singing and rhyming are fun ways for children to learn about language.

Reading together is the most important way to help children get ready to read. Children who have fun being read to are more likely to want to learn to read themselves.

Writing and reading go together. Scribbling and writing help children learn that the written words stand for spoken language.

Playing helps children learn about the world, express themselves and put ideas into words. Playing also helps children understand that spoken and written words stand for real things and emotions.

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Anne Arundel County Public Library (AACPL) is committed to providing parents with the tools to help their children get ready to read. Every Child Ready to Read programs are offered weekly in every branch. All programs require a caring adult to attend with the child.

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Fine Motor Activities You Can Do at Home

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Fine Motor Activities You Can Do at Home

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FINE-MOTOR ACTIVITIES FOR KIDS (35 simple & engaging activities that promote fine-motor development in preschool children)

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Provide your child with lots of opportunities to practice their cutting skills. Take them outside to "cut" the grass. Grab a bundle of flowers and leaves, or gather other interesting materials from around the house such as tin foil and junk mail. Let your child cut the materials up as much as they would like. This activity serves the dual purpose of strengthening their hand muscles while they also practice their scissor skills.

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It's been a good long time since I've made made a new cutting tray for my preschoolers. It's not that we haven't been doing them (in the last two weeks we've re-done the "Spider Web Cutting Tray" and the " Recyclables Cutting Tray "), it's just I haven't had the creative inspiration to make a new one...until yesterday when Cannon came in the house asking for his scissors to take outside. When I asked him why, he said he needed to cut the plants- BAM- inspiration.

We gathered as many plants, petals, and leaves that we could come up with, and set it in a tray ( Melissa and Doug trays are the best) with a pair of scissors. Done. Super simple cutting tray for the win!

A word of caution: this exercise is not for first time cutters. I would recommend it for kids who already have a general grasp on holding scissors properly because there is a lot of manipulation that needs to take place in order to cut our nature finds. With that being said, this exercise is fantastic for kids who are becoming more proficient with scissors. Holding flimsy grass blades upright, pinching tiny flower petals, turning leaves different angels, etc. Cutting each of these different items takes fore planning along with some reasoning skills to adjust the cutting angles. There is so much happening in this one activity!

Besides all the manipulating, planning, and cutting practice, this also makes a great sensory tray! Smelling different flower scents (we also had mint in there), feeling various textures, and just admiring the sight of all those glorious colors made this a rich sensory experience.

Have you ever made a cutting tray for your preschooler? Share it with me on Facebook or Instagram!

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Nature Cutting Tray - Munchkins and Moms

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It's been a good long time since I've made made a new cutting tray for my preschoolers. It's not that we haven't been doing them (in the last two weeks we've re-done the "Spider Web Cutting Tray" and the " Recyclables Cutting Tray "), it's just I haven't had the creative inspiration to make a new one...until yesterday when Cannon came in the house asking for his scissors to take outside.

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Disclosure (in accordance with the FTC's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising"): I did receive a free copy of 8 Simple Tools for Raising Great Kids in exchange for this review and post. This post may contain affiliate links. This means if you make a purchase through one of these links, Penguins in Pink will receive a commission at no additional cost to you.

I know it's been said a million times, but parenting is the toughest, most rewarding job on the planet. Sometimes it's easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of each day until you forget to take time to really connect and engage with your children. And if you have preschoolers and toddlers it can be quite challenging! Their little bodies and minds are going a thousand different directions. Today, I'm excited to share with you 35 questions to engage your preschooler or toddler and I'll also be sharing a little review of the new book 8 Simple Tools for Raising Great Kids. And bonus! There is also a discount code to get 50% off the book!

One thing that is really important to me as a parent is listening to my girls' hearts. I want them to know that they can talk to me about anything. Right now as a preschooler and toddler, they tell me little things, but one day those little things will turn into big things like friendship drama and boys, and I want them to still feel comfortable enough to talk to me about it all.

I love having them tell me all about the bugs they dug up in the garden or why they painted the sky bright pink. But sometimes it seems almost impossible to get them to talk to me. Oh sure, they are talking a mile a minute, but they are not sharing what's on their hearts and minds. I like to periodically have little chat sessions with them so they can share whatever they want with me.

Sometimes those sessions take place snuggled in my bed before we begin the day. Sometimes we are in the car driving to the grocery store. Other times it's while we watch a favorite TV show or read a favorite book.

At the bottom of the post you will find a downloadable PDF link with the 35 questions to engage your preschooler or toddler.

35 Questions to engage your preschooler or toddler

1. How did you sleep? If my girls answer good, it's high fives all around. If they say bad we talk about what we can do to make them feel better like hugs/cuddles, having some quiet time or naps, or going to bed earlier.

2. Did you have any dreams that you would like to tell me about?

3. What is one thing you would like to do today?

4. If you could pick out dinner, what would we have?

5. What would you like to learn about today?

6. Tell me about your picture.

7. What is one thing you learned today? I like having Dad ask this since he was not there. They like to give him mini lessons on what they learned.

8. Who is your favorite character in ___ (insert favorite TV show/movie/book) and why do you like ___ (insert character name)?

9. After a character makes a mistake or does something wrong, What do you think ___ (insert character name) should have done differently here?

10. If you were in ___ (insert favorite TV show/movie/book) what would you do first?

11. What was your favorite part about today? (or) What made you happy today?

12. What made you sad today? It's good to get them talking through their feelings.

13. Is there anyone you wish you could have seen today?

14. If you could go on a trip where would you go?

15. What do you want to be when you grow up?

16. What is the first thing you want to do when we get to ___ (the park, playground, grandparents house, splash pad, etc)

17. What made you feel loved today? It's very important that they feel loved everyday!

18. What is your favorite thing to do as a family?

19. Would you sing me a song?

20. What is your favorite animal? And why do you like ___ (insert animal)?

21. If you could have any animal as a pet, what would you have?

22. If you could have a superpower, what would you have? My girls are very much enamored with the Avengers. In case you are wondering, Cakey would be Jane the Wasp and Doodles would be Ironman or Hawkeye.

23. If you had 3 wishes, what would they be?

24. If your clothes could only be one color, what color would they be? Cakey's of course always picks pink and Doodles usually picks yellow.

25. If you could be an animal for a day, what animal would you be and why?

26. What is your favorite thing to do?

27. Where is your favorite place to be?

28. Who made you smile today?

29. What was the funniest thing that happened today?

30. Are you afraid of something? What is it and why?

31. What do you like about ___ (insert each family member)?

32. Is there anything you would like to change about our family? The last time I asked this the girls informed me they wanted a brother.

33. What is one thing you would like to do this weekend as a family?

34. How many hugs (or kisses) do you need each day?

35. Do you have any prayer requests? Or who would you like to pray for tonight?

About the book:
"I love my child, but parenting is hard."
Whether you find parenting intuitive or impossible, we could all use a hand here and there. Let child psychologist and father Todd Cartmell walk you through the nuts and bolts of healthy, effective parenting.

Using examples from his home and 20 years of professional practice, Todd gives eight essential and practical tools to help you:

Maintain a healthy relationship with your child

Develop a nurturing home culture

Correct behavior in lasting ways

The 8 Simple Tools for Raising Great Kids are: Talking, Listening, Influencing, Connecting, Teaching, Encouraging, Correcting and Learning. Each tool is broken down into 5 short chapters. The chapters are only a 3-4 pages long and include both a practical tip and some questions to ponder. They are perfect to read a chapter before bed. Which is perfect for our busy lives!

SOCIAL - CORNER

Purchasing your copy of 8 Simple Tools gives you, free access to the HEARTS AT HOME "ESSENTIAL WORKSHOP COLLECTION FOR PARENTS" with every purchase. You can find more So you are not only getting 50% off with the coupon code information here and find the form to fill out to request your freebies! GREATKIDS16 at moodypublishers.com , but you also get access to a slew of freebies! The discount code is only valid at Moody Publishers and is only active from today, April 15th through May 15th 2016. After May 15th the code will no longer be valid. So you better hurry!

Update 5/16/2016: Moody Publishers was offering a discount code for 50% off 8 Simple Tools for Raising Great Kids that expired on May 15th. I have updated this post to reflect that change. The book is still available on Moody Publishers or here on Amazon.

My thoughts

I started reading 8 Simple Tools for Raising Great Kids on Tuesday and have really been enjoying it and finding it very insightful. I love how each of the 8 tools are broken down into 5 short chapters. The chapters are easy to read especially with two active littles running around. While I have not finished the book, I should finish it by the end of next week, and I plan on reading it again with James. I think there is a lot of information inside that will greatly benefit our family. So far I have made it through "Talking and Listening" and most of "Influencing."

I have already begun implementing some of the main ideas in the Talking and Listening chapters. And I have to say that I've noticed differences in the girls and my interactions compared to how they normally were. Not that my girls are listening immediately, but they've improved and so have I.

As a wife and mother, I believe it is essential for me to continue growing and learning how to be a better wife, mother, friend, and person. While 8 Simple Tools for Raising Great Kids is a parenting book I have found that some of the tips are important to be implemented in other areas of my life as well.

I hope these 35 questions to engage your preschooler or toddler help give you a start on some great conversations with your kiddos. Just remember, you are asking them questions to listen to their hearts. So let them talk and only ask questions to follow up and keep them talking.

You can download the 35 questions to engage your preschooler or toddler here via Dropbox.

Have a blessed day!
Brandi
This post may contain referral links. Please read my disclosure policy here.

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35 Questions to Engage Your Preschooler or Toddler - Penguins in Pink

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Disclosure (in accordance with the FTC's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising"): I did receive a free copy of 8 Simple Tools for Raising Great Kids in exchange for this review and post. This post may contain affiliate links.

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If your child is just learning to identify the names of letters, alphabet books are a great place to start! Exposing children to letters early and often will definitely pay off when they enter Kindergarten.

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This post contains affiliate links for your convenience. View disclosure policy HERE.

Children's literature for teaching the alphabet. Teachers can read the alphabet books to teach letters and sounds or add them to a classroom bookshelf!

As I've taught primary grades for years now, I've consistently leaned on several good alphabet books to help teach my students the alphabet. Teaching letters and sounds can be a monotonous task, but with these alphabet books, I've been able to make learning letters and sounds fun! These are, in my opinion, the best children's books to read when teaching the basic skills of alphabet recognition and recall. Read these popular books aloud, share them in your small groups, or add them to your bookshelf!

Alphabet Books: Top 16 Books to Teach Letters and Sounds

1. A is for Apple (Trace and Flip Fun!) by Georgie Birkett is a board book with lift-a-flap pages bright pictures, and large letters kids can trace with their fingers.

2. Alphabet City by Stephen Johnson is kind-of like a real-life, "search and find" alphabet book. With no words on the page, kids can look through and find letters in photos of everyday city objects.

6. So the letter Z wants to be treated equally, and pretty soon, all the letters decide they want to go first, too! AlphaOops!: The Day Z Went First by Alethea Kontis shows the hilarious chaos that ensues.

7. Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr. has long been a classroom favorite, with its rhythmic sentences and colorful illustrations. Try it and see!

16. How did the alphabet get its name? You'll find out in Al Pha's Bet by Amy Krouse Rosenthal.

If you teach primary grades and are looking for books to read to your class about the alphabet, then you've come to the right place. Any one of these 16 favorite books to teach letters will keep your kids engaged and entertained. They'll recognize all their letters in no time! Do YOU have any favorites to add to this list?

I hope you enjoyed this post! If you would like more tips and ideas from me, be sure to follow me on Teachers Pay Teachers, Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook to stay connected with the latest news and freebies!

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Alphabet Books to Teacher Letters and Sounds

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This post contains affiliate links for your convenience. View disclosure policy HERE. Children's literature for teaching the alphabet. Teachers can read the alphabet books to teach letters and sounds or add them to a classroom bookshelf! As I've taught primary grades for years now, I've consistently leaned on several good alphabet books to help teach my students the alphabet.

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Use alphabet cookies or other alphabet themed foods to teach your child their letters.

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Use inexpensive dot stickers and transform those old paper towel rolls into a literacy activity that can help your child recognize their letters.

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Another fun way for your child to learn their letters while also exercising those all important hand muscles is to play this uppercase/lowercase hole punch activity.

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These free letter hunt activities give your child practice identifying letters while also introducing them to letter-sound association.

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Totschooling - Toddler, Preschool, Kindergarten Educational Printables

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There are many ways to learn the alphabet in preschool and kindergarten, and using dot markers can make it even more fun. Here is a set of FREE worksheets that can be used with dot markers to find and color the letters of the alphabet.

Includes 2 versions, one where each letter is by itself and another where it is hidden among other letters.

This post contains affiliate links for your convenience.

This set of alphabet worksheets includes 26 pages, one for each letter of the alphabet. This is great to use if you are doing "letter of the week", or learning one letter at a time. It works on letter recognition, both uppercase and lowercase letters, as well as letter discrimination.

I love using dot markers with preschoolers because it adds a bit of extra fun for them. However, you can get creative and use many other things such as crayons, markers, or fingerpaint. Or, instead of coloring the letters, kids can cover them with pom poms, buttons, counting chips, etc.

Each sheet includes large letters at the bottom that can be traced, either with a finger or pencil, to practice writing the letter in its correct formation.
Related Post: Click here for a FREE set of Number Hunt Worksheets

Click the text links below to Download your FREE Worksheets:

For more Alphabet & Number worksheets, see the following posts:

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There are many ways to learn the alphabet in preschool and kindergarten, and using dot markers can make it even more fun. Here is a set of FREE worksheets that can be used with dot markers to find and color the letters of the alphabet.

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This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy here.

These printables are a fun way for the kids to work on their letter and number recognition. Grab a few crayons and start coloring to find the hidden pictures!

I'm a big believer in hands-on learning and activities when it comes to early literacy, but once in awhile kiddos need something on paper to help them with certain skills. So I decided to make these hidden number and letter printables to help with letter and number recognition.

Many times uppercase and lowercase letters are taught separately; however the more I read about this, the more I'm seeing the importance of teaching them together. The hidden letter printable includes both uppercase and lowercase to help kids start to recognize that the letter A can look different.

These printables are not only great for working on letter & number recognition skills, but also fine motor skills. You can show and encourage your child to use a proper grip on the crayon or marker.

You could also discuss how the lines create starting and stopping points for coloring inside a shape, point out shapes you see, or have the child say each letter or number out loud.

You can purchase the full set in my Printables Shop which is an instant download after check-out. The Letter A and Number 1 worksheets are currently available as a free download.

As with all of our printables on TypicallySimple.com, this printable is for personal use only. Teachers may print & copy for a class set as needed, however this printable may not be mass-distributed, claimed as own, or sold in a shop.
Be sure to check out a few of the other free printables available:

Learning Activities Binder

Fingerprint Caterpillars

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This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy here. These printables are a fun way for the kids to work on their letter and number recognition. Grab a few crayons and start coloring to find the hidden pictures!

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Children entering Kindergarten are expected to know the uppercase and lowercase forms of letters. Once your child has learned to identify uppercase letters, begin to introduce them to lowercase.

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Description

Alphabet Match S to Z - Free Worksheets

Cut and paste the matching uppercase and lowercase letters.

More Alphabet Match Worksheets
Alphabet Match I to P
Alphabet Match O to V
Alphabet Match A to Z

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Alphabet Match S to Z - Free Worksheets - Madebyteachers

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Alphabet Match S to Z - Free Worksheets Cut and paste the matching uppercase and lowercase letters. More Alphabet Match Worksheets Alphabet Match I to P Alphabet Match O to V Alphabet Match A to Z

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Use old egg cartons and magnetic letters to teach your child their letters.

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Use a dry erase marker to write letters on your window. Call out a letter and ask your child to erase the correct one. It's so simple, but they will love it!

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Erase the ABCs in this quick and easy alphabet activity!

I love simple alphabet activities - no muss, no fuss, just a little learning and a lot of fun. Erase the Alphabet is our newest quick and easy alphabet activity (I'm adding it to this list of 50+ ABC Activities!). It's a great fast to set up activity that kids love playing!
Do you love alphabet activities as much as I do? Check out the ebook I co-authored, ABCs and 123s (this list contains affiliate links) , full of 40+ literacy and math activities for kids.
Setting up this activity is so easy!

The set up for this activity couldn't be easier: I took a dry erase marker and covered our sliding glass door in alphabet letters.

Making this activity into a game

I gave my three year old and folded paper towel and explained the game.

"I'm going to call out a letter - you need to find it and erase it!"

He thought it was amazing! He loved the hunt of trying to find the letters and the fun of erasing them.

I use this activity at dinner time

I love this activity as a "dinner time prep" activity. I can quickly throw up some letters onto the window and call out names while I'm cooking. Keeps my toddler son occupied, out of the kitchen, and busy while I get things going.

Other ways to use this activity

My three year old loves this activity and so does his 22 month old sister. She loves this activity as a cleaning activity. She's not so sure about the letters on the window but she sure knows how to clean them.

This is a GREAT activity for young toddlers - consider just covering the window with shapes, lines, and squiggles for them to erase. It doesn't always have to be erase the ABCs.

Try this easy alphabet activity next time you need to entertain a toddler really quick. They'll love erasing the alphabet from your windows, too!

Will you try this easy alphabet activity at your house?

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Erase the ABCs: Easy Alphabet Activity - Busy Toddler

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I love simple alphabet activities - no muss, no fuss, just a little learning and a lot of fun. Erase the Alphabet is our newest quick and easy alphabet activity (I'm adding it to this list of 50+ ABC Activities!). It's a great fast to set up activity that kids love playing!

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Register now for the Summer @ Your Library 2018 challenge

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Learning the sound each letter makes is an important early reading skill. Help your child learn their sounds with these fun and free printable coloring pages! Make sure you enunciate the beginning sound of each object to really help your little one begin to recognize it.

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Looking for beginning sounds worksheets? Try these fun coloring pages!
(This post contains affiliate links.)
A year and a half ago, I created beginning sounds coloring pages for my Three, who was almost four years old. Since he loved to color and had a pretty good handle on beginning sounds, I thought he'd enjoy a set of alphabet coloring pages.

Now that little boy is my five-year-old. He's far past beginning sounds and is reading books like this one as a kindergartner.

But he has a little brother. 🙂

So I updated the pages with funny face letters and better clip art. Plus, I added an uppercase set. We love them, and I hope you will too!

Our current Three (he'll be four in a few months) doesn't have the early reading skills his older siblings had at his age, but he does recognize all his letters and is pretty good at naming their sounds. He is happy to do one or two of these pages at a time.

When we do these coloring pages, he looks at the letter and says its sound. Then he names each picture. "Snake. /s/, /s/, snake. No, that doesn't say uh. Underwear. /u/, /u/, underwear. Yes!"

Let me give my standard disclaimer and say that I don't think you should make worksheets the main part of your instruction with young kids. I suggest using these pages after your child has mastered beginning sounds, or do them alongside your child as you talk about the beginning sounds together.

This is what my original set looked like. When my older son did these as a young preschooler, he wanted to color all the pictures. I didn't expect him to do the pages any certain way as he was so young. But when he was close to four, I told him he needed to first color the pictures that began with a certain sound. Then he could color the rest of the pictures if he wanted.

So do you like the simple old version or the goofy face letters? You're still welcome to download the old version in lowercase. The new version is available in both upper and lowercase.

Enjoy!

P.S. Would you like to learn more about teaching the alphabet?

Have you seen these popular freebies? We use and recommend this jam-packed resource!
© 2015 - 2018, Anna G. All rights reserved.

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Free beginning sounds worksheets (updated!) - The Measured Mom

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Looking for beginning sounds worksheets? Try these fun coloring pages! (This post contains affiliate links.) A year and a half ago, I created beginning sounds coloring pages for my Three, who was almost four years old. Since he loved to color and had a pretty good handle on beginning sounds, I thought he'd enjoy a set of alphabet coloring pages.

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Use your child's toys to help them learn their letter sounds.

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You don't need to reinvent the wheel when you are working on early literacy skills ( or any other type of skill) with your kids. You can make simple activities like this letter sounds matching and fit them in between coming inside from playing and sitting down for lunch. These are little snippets of important learning that add up but don't overwhelm. In a classroom I would have this as an option in a center and encourage but never force children to try it. Start with only a few sounds and as your child masters matching them add some more. I always have a few "safe" options. These are sounds you know your child knows and will work to boost confidence and add some definite success to an otherwise challenging endeavor.

My daughter cracked me up with this activity... you'll see why. When children go off book like she did run with it if you can.

Gather your materials. You will need some thick paper ( but a chalk board, white board, or even a recycled cereal box would do), a marker, and some recognizable animal toys.

Start by gathering the toys and writing out the letter that corresponds with the first sound in the word. That's it for set up. Pretty simple eh? I did two sheets one with upper and one with lowercase letters. You can also mix up the letters all on one page. Once children are at this point of matching sounds they need to be focusing a lot of attention on lowercase letters. I let my daughter decide which sheet she started with.

Add your letter sound detective ( that's what she called herself) and explain that all the animals are looking for their place on the paper. They belong on the letter that says the same sound as the first sound in their name. We did one together and she was off on her own. The only thing that made her pause was the walrus. " Is this a seal or a walrus?"

Since she flew through it I gave her the second sheet. Then our babysitter arrived and my sweet and sassy little one turned on the performance. For the 2nd round of matching she decided to name the animals with first names and at first I was trying to get her back on track until I realized the names she was creating matched the letters on the page. Whoa!! She wasn't just matching anymore now she was creating and being really funny so our giggles fueled her even more.

Awesome learning from an activity that took all of 2 minutes to set up.

Here are more than 50 more simple letter ideas for kids.

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Super Simple Letter Sounds Matching - No Time For Flash Cards

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You don't need to reinvent the wheel when you are working on early literacy skills ( or any other type of skill) with your kids. You can make simple activities like this letter sounds matching and fit them in between coming inside from playing and sitting down for lunch.

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Phonics Song - Preschool Prep Company.  Best Phonics video ever!  This is the only resource I've found to teach ALL the sounds… | Music/Movement/Videos | Pinterest | Phonics videos, Phonics song and Preschool prep

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Phonics Song - Preschool Prep Company.  Best Phonics video ever!  This is the only resource I've found to teach ALL the sounds the letters make.

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More Fun Ways to Use Those Letter Magnets

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More Fun Ways to Use Those Letter Magnets

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I love magnetic letters and I recently bought myself some lowercase magnets and decided to create some printables to use as mats to place over cookie sheets and turn them into wonderful magnetic free choice activities. Lowercase letter magnets are so versatile and no matter what level your child is at I have a printable or two that will work perfectly. But before I link the free printables I want to share with you some of the benefits of using these manipulatives in your class or homeschool program.

1. The magnets themselves give children a chance to manipulate the letter, explore the shape in a way other than just attempting to write it down. They feel the shapes instead of just seeing them.

2. The trays are easy to switch out for different levels, I think this is especially helpful in PreK and Kindergarten classes where ability is really widespread but children are starting to get self-conscious. Every child can move to every center because it's easy to differentiate even with a parent volunteer who may not know how to differentiate an activity but you can certainly tell them to switch sheets for different groups. While I have various ideas for different levels, I am sure if you were doing this in a large class you could use my ideas as a springboard and create more sheets that best fit your students.

3. These trays are pretty self-contained and make great quiet time or fast finish activities too.

4. You can print out as many as you want and send them home as a simple and quick at home activity.

There are five developmental levels but just because this is the order I popped them in doesn't mean your child's development will follow this order. They may know sounds before being able to match up upper and lowercase letters. Don't get hung up on the order, try to match your child's interest first and foremost.

Level 1 - Color Sort Letters.

Level 2 - Match Lowercase Letters

Level 3 - Match Lowercase Magnets to Uppercase Letters

Level 4 - Initial Letter Sound Match

Level 5- Fill In The Blanks Sheet 1 & Sheet 2

These magnetic letter activities should be fun - and yes they really do stay on when you hold them upside down!

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5 Ways To Use Magnetic Letters & Free Printables - No Time For Flash Cards

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I love magnetic letters and I recently bought myself some lowercase magnets and decided to create some printables to use as mats to place over cookie sheets and turn them into wonderful magnetic free choice activities. Lowercase letter magnets are so versatile and no matter what level your child is at I have a printable or two that will work perfectly.