Letter C: Letter of The Week (Age 3)

Here's what our week looked like for Letter C: 

Read, Read, Read. I love reading to my kids on a daily basis. My almost three has always loved being read to, but my one is pretty hit and miss. A lot of days, I'll read to both of them while they're eating breakfast. I checked out our Letter C Booklist at the library a week in advance. The picture above were our very favorite books, but you view more great Letter C books by clicking on the booklist link.

Read Letter C Book. We also love to read these Little Letter Books from The Measured Mom. There are only eight or so pictures in each booklet. I pointed out the uppercase and lowercase C's (since we are focusing on both this year) and we talked about the pictures. 

Letter C Songs & Rhymes. This year, I'm putting together an interactive set of songs & rhymes for each letter of the alphabet. I know this series is focused on my almost three, but my one year old had so much fun doing the Letter C Songs & Rhymes with us this week. 

Writing Practice. Every child is different, but my almost three loves writing letters! We practiced writing the Letter C's with "C's of All Sizes" from The Measured Mom. I decided to laminate these, so we can use them over and over again. Because my almost three loves writing so much, we practiced more with our ABC Write & Wipe.  

Craft #1: White Clouds & Blue Skies from Preschool Alphabet. Each week we do three crafts. I will save one of the crafts for each letter and compile them into a "craft alphabet book" to have at the end of the series. For this craft, I drew clouds and Letter C's with a white crayon on a piece of white card stock. My almost three painted the entire paper with blue water (water mixed with blue liquid watercolor) to reveal the clouds and letter C. 

Craft #2: Coin Piggy Bank from Frogs & Tails & Puppy Dog Tails: This was so much fun to make. My almost three loves peppa pig, so I just had to buy peppa pig stickers to stick on our piggy bank (empty baby puffs container). It's hard to see them, but we also used home made Letter C stickers, letter C's written and cut from contact paper, as a review of our letter this week. When my almost three finished decorating, we talked about coins as he placed them inside his new piggy bank.

Craft #3: Cotton Ball Stamping. My almost three dipped and stamped cotton balls on a piece of paper (the cotton balls are held by a clothespin for an easier grip). I wanted this to be an open ended project, so I have no instruction other than to stamp the cotton balls. My almost three decided it would be the most fun to hurry and stamp the C and be finished. My one loved joining in on the fun as well.

Color Review - Where's the coin? I drew Letter C's (in all different colors) on white squares of paper. I placed them on the ground and hid a coin under one of them. My almost three would ask, "Is the coin under the (color) C?" Then he'd remove the card. If the coin wasn't there, he'd try a new card. If it was, I gave him a little candy. 

Math - Cloud Shapes: My almost three really loved this activity. I drew shapes on the non-sticky side of contact paper and taped the contact paper onto the window (sticky side up). My almost three drew one cloud (cotton ball) from the bag and I would ask, "What's that clouds favorite shape?" And my three would respond something along the lines, "My favorite shape is a circle," and place it on the circle. My one couldn't help but join in on the fun. 

Math - Counting Stars & Toy Cars from The Measured Mom. My almost three counted the number of stars in the lines (with help as needed) and parked the car with the matching number. Find other ideas to do with toy cars by clicking here.

Sensory Bin - Cars & Cloud Dough. My almost three and one both loved playing with cloud dough! My almost three watched 101 Dalmations yesterday and was fascinated when Cruella drove her car off the cliff at the end of the movie. So, that's mostly what was discussed while my almost three drove "Cruella's Car" through mounds of cloud dough reenacting the scene. It's starting to get cold outside, so I put our bin in the tub to contain the mess. It swept up quite nicely afterward. Click here to learn how to make regular cloud dough and fizzing cloud dough.

Letter Cc Activity #1 - Cc is for Cats from This Reading Mama. My almost three covered the Big C's with a blue power magnet and the little c's with a yellow power magnet. The worksheet is on a magnetic cookie sheet, so that magnets stick. He loved this so much, he requested to do it again when he was finished. 

Letter Cc Activity #2 - Letter C Hunt from The Measured Mom: A lot of times, activities don't go exactly how they're explained or planned. And I'm learning with my perfectionist personality to not worry about it. The goal of this worksheet is to find and stamp all of the big and little letter C's. My almost three said, "Letter D is my favorite! I'll stamp that one!" And then he stamped all over the cat at the bottom of the page. Needless to say, this page turned out pretty messy by the end. But, we did stamp all the Letter C's, which was the main point of this activity anyway. :)

Beginning Sounds Activity: Beginning Sound Coloring Page from The Measured Mom. One of my goals is for my almost three to start understanding beginning sounds. I pointed to the pictures one at a time and had my almost three identify the picture. "/C/ /C/ /C/ Candy. Does that start with the Letter C?" My almost three colored in the objects that start with the Letter C.

Letter C Science - Rain Clouds: Before this experiment, we talked about how rain comes from clouds. Clouds collect water and when there is too much, the water leaks through, forming rain. My almost three dropped "blue water" into our "cloud" and sure enough, when there was too much water it started to "rain". I have to admit, the most fun part of this activity was playing with water and shaving cream afterward. Click here for a tutorial.

Alphabet Review - License Plate Letter Match from Preschool Alphabet: Each week I like to review the entire alphabet, so my almost three can see the big picture. We pretended my almost three was a police officer and needed to find all the missing letters and numbers. We went on a walk outside and my almost three looked at license plates and put an office sticker on the matching letters and numbers on our alphabet car printable. 

Name Review - Push Pin/Fine Motor Name Review: I wrote my almost three's name on a piece of white card stock and placed the paper on the carpet. My almost three used a pushpin to poke holes in the letters of his name. This was a fun project to hang on the window as light would come through the holes.


And that's it!