Letter D

This week, Kailynn and I focused on the letter D. It was obvious to me that our craft would have something to do with a dog since she loves animals. I searched my favorite site, pinterest, for ideas. I came across a few different animals in the form of the letter they each began with but I did not see a dog. Dragons and dinosaurs were a very popular pick for the letter D.

I figured it couldn't be that hard to make a dog in the shape of the letter D so I began cutting out the shapes I needed from construction paper. To make the dog, I simply placed the glue on the paper while Kailynn put the pieces together and formed a dog. She knew exactly what it was as soon as we were done and was so excited to see that she had created a dog from pieces of cut out paper.

Kailynn was not done with her letter D craft just yet. As soon as we finished our dog project, she asked for stickers. Instead of bringing out the usual sticker book, I printed out a letter D template from my laptop and gathered her dragonfly foam stickers. I instructed Kailynn to stay inside the lines to make the letter D. She did just that.

B Book

What better way to focus on the letter "B" than by making your own Book? Book starts with B so why not start with that? This "B Book" I speak of is filled with things that start with the letter...? You guessed it, B. Its easy to make and you can buy everything you need at my favorite place for toddler crafts, the dollar store. Here is what you will need:

(I forgot to put a glue stick and a stapler in the

picture so be sure to have those on your list as well.)

The prep work was done while princess Kailynn took a nap. I found pictures of things that start with the letter B on the web then printed and cut them out. I also attached the letters to the foam cover of our book and wrote the words of each picture onto the the pages made by cut out pieces of construction paper.

Since my one and a half year old doesn't know how to read, (if yours does please share your wisdom with me) I read to her each word on the page and she picked the picture that matched what I said. She then glued the picture to the matching word page. After all of the pictures were matched up with the correct words, we stacked the pages between the foam covers and stapled the book together along one side. Ta-da! Your very own "B Book." Now that our book is complete, all that's left to do is read it.

The Letter "B"

And so we continue with our ABC challenge! This week we will focus on the letter "B."

I have an alphabet app on my phone that Kailynn loves to play with. In the app, you "build" the letters. I thought why not turn this app into the real deal?

Since I already had the files on my laptop for each letter, it saved me preparation time on this week's alphabet activity. Be sure to have these tools handy before you start: scissor, glue stick, colored construction paper. (Feel free to use bottled glue if that's what you prefer. I used a glue stick because it makes for less clean up when it's in a toddler's hand.)


Step 1:  Print out letter "B"

Step 2:  Cut pieces of construction to fit into the shape of the letter

Step 3:  Glue construction paper pieces onto the letter

It's a simple activity that any toddler will enjoy. Kailynn loved this activity and has started pointing out the letter "B" in some of her books. I will admit that when I first started the alphabet challenge, I wasn't sure if she was going to understand much of it. To my surprise, she is able to identify these letters on her own. It seems to be working! Stay tuned for our next alphabet activity. I have a few creative ideas in mind that I'm sure you and your little one will love!

A is for Apple

As promised, we continued on our alphabet challenge. A few weeks ago, I decided to start doing arts and crafts with Kailynn revolving around the alphabets; focusing on one letter each week. A few days after we began, we went on a last minute vacation. Now that we are back to our normal schedule, it is time to continue what we started.

This weeks' project was a construction paper mosaic. Since the letter of the week was "A", we made an apple mosaic.  Follow these simple steps so you and your little one can create your own mosaic.


For starters, you will need:

• Construction paper
• Scissors
• Glue
• Pen or marker

Now that you have your materials, follow these simple steps:

1. Draw an apple on a piece of construction paper
   
2. Cut small pieces of your preferred color of construction paper
   
3. Place glue inside the drawing of the apple
4. Place your pre-cut pieces of construction paper onto the glued areas
5. Continue steps 3 and 4 until the drawing is covered with pieces construction paper 

I had full control of the glue because I was pretty sure Kailynn would have squirted the whole bottle all over the place if it was in her hands. I would place a few dabs of glue onto the paper while she stuck on the pre-cut pieces of construction paper. I must say we make a pretty good team. Here is Kailynn showing off the finished product!