A: addresses, apple prints, applesauce B: Make butter, beads & string, blocks, Blue, Black, brown, bubbles, bubble prints, bean collage, balls C: Cotton ball C's, colored chalk, candy, circles, crayons D: Duck, Duck, Goose, Dance, Donuts, Dinosaur prints E: Easel painting F: Flubber (I have a recipe), Frame (made from puzzle pieces), Flannel board, fish(tisse paper and paper plate) G: Green, Go Fish, ghost H: hearts, Housekeeping, Hopscotch, hats, handprints, Halloween, Hanuka I: ice cream sundae, india ink J: Jump rope, jello fingerpainting, jello gigglers K: Kite L: Lollypops, legos, leaf, lacing M: Macaroni M's, Musical chairs, M&M's, Mini-marshmellows, magnets, marbles N: new years, nuts, necklaces O: old maid, octapus, orange prints, tic-tac-toe, orange P: Passover, peanutbutter pinecones(birdfeeders), popcorn collage, Pinyata, peanutbutter playdough(I think I have recipe), puzzles, Mr. Potato Head Q: quilt, quiet time, Q-tips and paint R: red, rectangles, running relay races, reading, rice table, rice crispy treats S: squares, seeds, string art, story, shapes, sock puppets, spring, shaving cream T: Thanksgiving, tinker toys, twister, tissue paper flowers, triangles, tree, table toys, telephone booth (made from refrig box) U: umbrellas, unicorn V: Vegetable prints, valentines day, violet W: white, wax, watercolors, waffle blocks, water table, write X: Tic-tac-toe Y: yarn collage, yahtzee, yellow Z: Zebras (Marble Paint) *********************************************************************** Aa IDEAS AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA *A STUFF Just go to this address for A stuff: http://www.iup.edu/~njyost/KHI/A.html *FILL THE Aa Find acorns and glue on a letter A! *AIRPLANES Make paper airplanes and fly them. *ALUMINUM Aa Cut Aluminum foil into long stripes and glue to the letter A. Discuss recycling with your kids and practice by having each child bring something recyclable from home and let them place in a recycle bin.. *Aa FOOD Alfalfa Sprouts, almonds, alphabet cereal, alphabet soup, American cheese, angel food cake, animal crackers, apple butter, apple juice, apples, applesauce, apricot, asparagus, avocados. *Aa PRINTS Use apples cut both length and width wise to make prints, use acorns, asparagus, apricots, avocados, almonds to make prints. *MAKE ALIENS Give children a variety of things....paint, crayons, markers, clay and let their imaginations go to work. *Aa SOUNDS We have also taken in things from home that start with the letter A.. such as AIM toothpaste, ALL detergent, Almay, Alka-seltzer...just so they can see that letters are used in everyday life * Aa Ant Big letter A with ants: Cut out a big letter A shape for each child and let them make ant prints all over it with their fingerprints and a stamp pad. Let them use small tip markers to draw in some legs *MAKE AN ARK (*religious) Cut out two large boat shapes and punch holes around sides and bottom. With shoe laces or yarn (ends previously dipped in glue and dried or wrapped tightly with tape) lace the two boat pieces together. Make a rainbow shape for the top to fit on like a handle. Let the children color with watercolors, markers or crayons. Staple or glue (or both) to the top of the ark. Fill with animal crackers. *ACROBATICS Invite the children to perform acrobatic feats. Arrange a field trip to a gym. Put down a gym mat and encourage the children to do somersaults, head stands, back bends, bridges, rocking horses, etc...- sponsor a gymnastics meet. *I KNOW MAY ADDRESS Encourage each child to memorize his or her address. Draw and cut out a large construction paper house to place on a bulletin board. Then, as the children memorize their addresses, invite each child to pin his or her name and address on the house shape. Invite the children to sing their addresses to the tune of "rain, rain, go away" for examples see "My Name and Address from Wee Sing Children's songs and fingerplays) *ABC BINGO Easy to make - match upper case to lower case, etc.. -first child to cover the card yells "Bingo" *APPLE CHAT Give each child an apple. Ask them to describe the apple using all their senses except taste. Then cut the apple in half - explain that they grow from seeds. Point out the various parts - invite them to count the seeds - cut the apple into bite size pieces - let them eat a piece and describe how the apple tastes. *THE LETTER Aa Introduce the letter "A" to the children by showing them the written word "Apple" and helping them to see that it begins with an "A". Cut a large apple shape out of paper and write the letter "A" on it. Have the children tear or cut out magazine pictures beginning with the letter"A" and then glue the pictures on the apple shape. *Aa BOOKS "Awesome A" Booklists Read the Avocado Baby by John Burningham The Animal - by Lorna Balian Airplanes - by Byron Barton Airport - by Byron Barton The Angel Who Forgot - by Elisa Bartone A-B-C-ing: An Action Alphabet - by Janet Beller Apple Tree! Apple Tree! - by Mary Blocksman A Is for Angry: An Animal and Adjective Alphabet Alphabet - by Sandra Boynton Avocado Baby - by John Burningham The Alphabet Book - by Phiip Eastman Ed Emberley's ABC - by you guessed it :-) Angus and the Ducks - by Marjorie Flack The ABC Bunny - by Wanda Gag The Great Big Alphabet Book with Lots of Words - by Richard Hefter Aardvark's Picnic - by Jon Higham A B See! - by Tana Hoban The Little Airplane - by Lois Lenski There's an Alligator Under My Bed - by Mercer Mayer Apples, How They Grow - by Bruce McMillan There's an Ant in Anthony - by Bernard Most Ants Are Fun - by Mildren Myrick Curious George at the Airport - by Margaret Rey and Allan Shalleck Albert B. Cub and Zebra: An Alphabet Storybook - by Anne Rockwell The Antcyclopedia - by Joel Rothman About Animals - by Richard Scarry Alligators All Around - by Maurice Sendak Dr. Seuss's ABC - by yup - right again :-) Paper Airplane - by Fulvio Testa Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day - by JudithViorst Alphie Gets In First Animals, Animals (E. Carle) Amelia Bedelia and The Baby Alexander and the Wind-Up Mouse Anansi and The Moss-Covered Rock There's An Alligator Under My Bed *ANNA HAS... Anna has a big red apple. Anna has a little axe. (Aussie spelling) Anna has an old ship's anchor, Hanging near the kitchen steps. Why does Anna have an apple? Why does Anna have an axe? Why does Anna have an anchor, Hanging near the kitchen steps? *Aa STAMP Apple stamping is a lot of fun. Cut an apple in half. Then on the cut surface carve out the shape of the letter "A". Have your child stamp the letter on a sheet of paper and say the short "A" sound each time they stamp. *********************************************************************** Bb IDEAS BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB *BALANCE BEAN Use a balance beam to work with the children on balance and coordination. Have them practice walking forward, backward, and sideways using slow and quick movements. Tape a B to the wall for the children to focus on as they work on the beam. *BOUNCING BALLS Work with balls to develop the children's bouncing and catching skills. Ask the children to call "B" as they bounce. *"B" FUN ~Blues Clues Day ~Make dog prints with blue ink. ~Make any kind of a print with rubber stamps and blue ink. *"B" SMELLS You will need lots of paper bags, lots of "B" word smells - bananas, bread, blueberry muffin, brownies, broccoli, bacon, bubble bath soap, Put the "B" items in each bag and have the children guess what is in the bag. *BLUE BUBBLES You will need Throwaway cups, Equal amounts of liquid dish soap and water Blue food coloring or blue paint Straw (cut small slit in it to prevent sucking up into the mouth but allowing bubbles to come out the bottom). Mix up bubble solution in each cup. Add blue food coloring. Blow bubbles into cup until almost overflowing. Take white paper and lay in the bubbles. When they pop on the paper, it leaves pretty blue circles. *BANANA PUDDING Set up supplies to let each kid make their own banana pudding with layered bananas/vanilla wafers/vanilla pudding. *"B" COLLAGE Draw a large "B" and then let kids glue beads or other "B" things on it. *BLUE / B COLLAGE Draw a large "B" and then let kids glue blue things on it. *"B" FOODS Bacon Bagels Baked Beans Banana Bread Barbecue Beans Bean Sprouts Beets Berries Black Eyed Peas Bran Muffins Bread Sticks Broth Brownies Brown Sugar Brussel Sprouts Butterscotch Buttermilk Beef Bell Peppers Biscuits Bologna Brazil Nuts *BACKWARDS DAY Explore "backwards". Try a backwards day. What can you wear backwards? You can wear a hat, shirt, or pants backward. What else can be worn backwards? Can shoes be worn backwards? What are some reasons we don't spend our lives walking backwards? What would life be like if we had to walk backward? *********************************************************************** Cc IDEAS CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC *CATCHING Cut off the tops of plastic milk jugs with handles to use as receptacles for catching balls and beanbags that the children can "toss" to each other. Remind the children to be cautions when doing this activity. *COUNTING COINS Counting coins is always fun. Get a small handful of mixed coins; pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters. On a sheet of paper make a rubbing of each type of coin across the bottom of the page. Then, pick a coin from the pile. Decide which coin it is like. Then trace around that coin making a column of the same types of coins. Do this for all the coins. When you are done you will have a graph showing how many of each kind of coin was in your original handful. Next, you can examine the results of your work. How many of each kind of coin did you have? Which kind did you have the most of, and which the least? Did you have the same of any two kinds? How many more of one did you have compared to another? How many fewer of one another? *********************************************************************** Dd IDEAS DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD *DUCKS WADDLE Have the children pretend to be ducks out for a walk. As they waddle, ask them to make the sound of D. *DODGE BALL Have the children form a circle facing inward. Choose two or three children to go inside the circle, the other children throw balls into the center trying to touch on of the inside children. If they are successful, they exchange places with the children they hit. *DIRT DESERT Give each child a small paper cup with 1/2 C. Vanilla Yogurt. Let them measure and crush 1/4 C. Granola and sprinkle it over the yogurt for "dirt". *DRUM Make a drum. Any food container with a plastic lid will work. You can use margarine tubs, coffee cans, or drink mix canisters. Wrap brightly colored construction paper around your drum and glue into place. Your child can decorate the drum with buttons, paper scraps, yarn, and other misc. craft materials. Use permanent marker to write both an upper and lower case D on the plastic lid. Use pencils as drum sticks and as your child beats his drum he should say "d, d, d, d, d." It might also be fun to turn on your child's favorite tape and beat along with the music. *********************************************************************** Ee IDEAS EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE *EXERCISES Do exercises with the children. Try jumping jacks, sit-ups, toe touches, etc. Call out the E as you do your exercises Sing or chant while doing various exercises (jump, twist, turn, etc.): Exercise, exercise Everybody needs to exercise." *THE ELEPHANT (hold picture of elephant) I'm an elephant, as you can see. I'm big, as big, as big can be My tail is short, my trunk is long. My feet are big and my back is strong. *********************************************************************** Ff IDEAS FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF *FINGER PAINTING Have children finger paint things that begin with F, such as fish, flowers, frogs, etc. *FEET Have each child trace and cut out the shape of his or her own feet. Use everyone's feet shapes to make the Big and/or small letter F for a display on the wall. *FUN WITH FEET Have the children explore all the movements of feet, such as walking, running, dancing, hopping, skipping, kicking, tiptoeing. If possible, have them do the activities with bare feet. *FREEZE Call out movements for the children to perform, such as Walk, skip, hop, jump, waddle, etc. When you call "Freeze!" they must stop immediately and hold the positions they are in. *********************************************************************** Gg IDEAS GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG *GLOBS OF GLUE Let the children spill small globs of glue onto sheets of waxed paper or acetate. Let the children sprinkle green glitter on their globs and let dry. Have the children peel the globs off the waxed paper and attach a string and hang from light fixtures or in windows. *GALLOPING Show the children how to gallop by running while keeping one foot extended in front of them. Have them gallop to music and in races. *GET-UPS Show the children how to sit back-to-back in twos, on a mat, with their arms linked together. Ask them to try to get up while holding onto each other. If they are successful, have them call out "G!" *GREEN GRAPES Eat green grapes for snack *GUMBALL MAN Muffin Man Oh do you know the gumball man, the gumball man, the gumball man, Oh do you know the gumball man, he comes just once a week. When we put our nickels in the slot, our nickels in the slot, our nickels in the slot, This is what we got. _______________ and _______________ (children's names) both got red ______________ and ________________ both got red, but ________ got blue. Maybe someday we'll be lucky, and instead of one gumball we'll get two. *Gg THAT'S GOOD BREAD Roll bread dough into a snake, make the number or letter you like. Decorate with chocolate chips, raisins, etc. Bake for 10-15 minutes at 350. *GLUE Glue on gum wrappers or grass *GRAPE PRINTS Use halves of grapes to stamp all over the "G", alternatively, make fingerpainted grapes all over the "G" *GOOD AS GOLD Get some gold stickers to put on the "G". *GLUE SPOTS Kids use glue to make designs on the letter, then finish with glitter! *G GARDEN Cut out Grass and make a bunch of letter g's. Attach leaves and stems to the letter g's and glue them in the Grass... *GOLDEN Gg Make the letter "g" on a piece of construction paper and glue on Gold glitter to make a golden g. *GRAHAM CRACKER TREAT Spread peanut butter on cracker and arrange marshmallows in the shape of the letter "G" on the top. Broil fora few minutes until marshmallows are golden and then arrange raisins on the top of the melted marshmallow.. *GREEN Gg Color the letters Gg and glue on green glitter *GREEN GLITTER GARDEN The children used precut pieces of construction paper grass, stems, leaves and circles for flowers to make a garden and then we decorated each flower with colored glitter) Day 5 - precut bunch of grapes shape the kids colored and then glued purple tissue paper. *********************************************************************** Hh HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH *HANDS Ask the children to carefully trace one of their hands and cut out the tracing. Have them write their names on the cutouts and keep them to attach to and identify artwork throughout the year. *HOPPING ON A TRAIL Press down contact-paper foot shapes along a play area. Let the children hop along the trail making the sound of H as they go. *HORSESHOES Have the children play a game of horseshoes with plastic horseshoes. *"H" Makes Me Happy H is for hair and H is for hand (point to hair, then hand) H is for heels on which we stand (stand back on heels) H is for houses here and there (gesture to left, then to right) H is for hats seen everywhere. (stand hands on top of head) H is for hearts and horses too, (touch chest, then gallop in place) H makes me happy, how about you? (point to others) *HAIRY HARRY Styrofoam cup or paper cup (recycle) :) scissors, construction paper, markers, glue, buttons (or cut them out of paper for young children), potting soil, rye grass seed Have the children cut eyes, ears, mouths, nose, etc...out of construction paper and glue in place on their cup. Let them also use markers to color on the cup. Let them use buttons to embellish or anything else you may have lying around. Have the children fill their cups about 2/3 full of potting soil. Then plant the rye grass seeds in the soil. Place the cups in a sunny place and water regularly. Hairy Harry will begin to grow "hair" in about seven days. *HOKEY POKEY *HEIGHT Measure each child's Height *HOLES Have each child use a Hole puncher *HIPPITY HOP Hh Draw a large H on the carpet with tape and have the children hop along the letter H *PLAY HOT POTATO *PLAY HULA HOOPS *Hh FOODS Ham, hamburger, hash, hazelnuts, hoagie, honey, honeydew melon, hot chocolate, hot dog, hot sauce *INK HANDS Make hand prints with a washable ink pad *********************************************************************** Ii IDEAS IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII *INCHWORMS Play music and have the children move as inchworms on all fours. Show them to move like an inchworm, they should move their arms first, making their bodies go down, then their bodies arch up as the move their feet forward. *THE LETTER"I" I stands for me when I want it to, I is for ink and for ice cream too. I is such a simple letter, There's no other that I like better. *BURR!! Play with ice at water table *MAKE AN INSTRUMENT *Ii FOODS Ice, ice cream, ice tea, Italian bread *IRON SANDWICHES A great idea for the letter I is iron sandwiches. It's basically grilled cheese, but instead of putting it in a pan, you wrap it in wax paper and use an iron with the kids to make the "grilled" sandwich. The kids love it! *********************************************************************** Jj IDEAS JJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJ *JAR, JARS, JARS!!! Collect jars of different sizes with lids. Have the children practice finding the correct size lid for the jar. Let them practice size comparisons by arranging larger to smaller etc.. Practice counting skills as well as matching skill. *JUMPING JACKS Teach the children how to do jumping jacks. Count the number of times you can do them, see how high you can count. You can also call out the letter "J" every time you do a Jumping Jack. *JELLY ROLLS Give each child a slice of bread and help them to trim the crusts off. Show them how to flatten the bread with their hands or a rolling pin. Use Jelly or Jam and let each child spread some on their bread and roll up the bread. Enjoy. *JESUS Being a Christian day care, we did jigsaw puzzles of Jesus for this letter. It was a big hit with the kids. We glued pictures of Jesus on construction paper and had the kids color them and then cut them into pieces. They were all very protective of their puzzles so be sure to have small plastic bags available and clearly marked. *JUMP ROPE GAMES tried to actually "jump" rope; played "limbo"; put rope on floor and played "snake" on the floor where they have to jump over the wild slithering snake as holders shake rope *JEWELRY Bracelets out of fish tank filter tubing filled with sesame seeds, small cake decorating sprinkles, glitter, confetti tin foil beads - roll foil into balls and roll in tempera paint - allow to dry and string with large tapestry (dull) needles on fishing line *JAZZ Dance to some jazz music *JELLYBEANS Use these for sorting and counting activities *Jj JUMPING Then help your child to lay the jump rope on the ground in the shape of a "J". Start at the top where you would start if you were writing the J and jump along the "J". With each jump say the letter sound. When each child gets to the end he should walk around to the top for another turn.