Letter A: Letter of the Week (Age 3)

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

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 not so much. A lot of days, I'll read to both of them while they're eating breakfast. I checked out our Letter A Booklist at the library a week in advance. The picture above were our very favorite books, but you view more great Letter A books by clicking on the booklist link.

Read Letter A 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 A's (since we are focusing on both this year) and we talked about the pictures. 

Learn Letter A 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 A Songs & Rhymes with us this week. 

Letter A Fill Activity. I brought out our animal stamps to fill in the Letter A. He didn't "stamp" as I had expected. Instead, he used the stamp to slide down the left side of the A and then the right side and cross. I learned he's ready for a marker. A few months ago, I bought A is for Apple (Trace & Flip Fun!) and my almost three loved learning how to trace letters. Each page has one letter (the letter is indented, so children can easily "trace" the letter with their finger) and a flap to open. Inside the flap is an item that starts with the letter on the page. The letters have numbers and arrows, teaching children and parents the correct way to form letters. 

Writing Practice. My almost three has shown a lot of interest in writing letters. I couldn't believe how much he liked writing letters today! He only did five of the biggest A's before he told me he was finished. I found "A's of All Sizes" on The Measured Mom. Because he loved handwriting so much, he practice writing more Letter A's from our ABC Write & Wipe. I need to learn how to teach pencil grip. ;)

Craft #1: Apple Craft from The Measured Mom. Each week we will do three crafts. I will save one of the crafts for each letter and compile them into a "craft alphabet book". My almost three loved being able to use his own glue stick today. He glued all over the inside of the apple, before sticking on red tissue paper squares. Notice the leaf on top of the apple is his handprint.

Craft #2: Ant Craft adapted from Classified Mom. My almost three really loved using toddler scissors to cut slits in the grass. I taught him how ants have three parts, so I had him hold up three fingers, dip them in black paint and stamp them to make the ants. Did you notice how the anthill is the letter A?

Craft #3: Foam Alligator Craft adapted from Crystal & Co. My almost three loved glueing on foam pieces to make an alligator. Did you notice the alligator is in the shape of a sideways A? 

Color Review - Ant Colors from Confessions of a Homeschooler. I like that this activity works on color recognition as well as sorting uppercase and lowercase A's. I put all the ants cards in a pile. My almost three drew an ant and he identified the color. Afterward, he sorted the ants into uppercase and lowercase letters. 

Math - Shape Activity from The Measured Mom: My almost three loved this activity! I put the giant shape outlines (print from link) on the floor and our set our Farm Animals in a plastic sack. I told my almost three that each of the animals in the bag had a favorite shape. He drew an animal and I whispered, "The horses favorite shape is a square," and he would put the horse on the square. 

Math - Ant Hills Counting Activity. We have used these plastic ants for so many ant activities. I wrote numbers 1-10 on brown paper sacks (ant hills) and my almost three identified the number before counting the same number of ants into the anthill. He did only four bags and said he was done. I had him only identify the remaining numbers and laid ants on the ground for him to count. We're working on saying only ONE number per ant. 

Sensory Bin - Letter A from The Measured Mom. My three has always loved sensory bins and I found out this week that my one really enjoys them as well. We talked about big and little A's before my three put them (he only did 6 or so) into an empty sour cream container. Lots of pouring, scooping, dumping and pretend play. Have you ever tried dying white beans before? It's actually VERY simple and didn't take a lot of time to put together. Here, you can print the Letter A Cards.

 

Letter Aa Activity #1 - Roll & Race from This Reading Mama. I was really excited to try this game, but my almost three wasn't quite getting how to play. He was so excited about the Big Letter A winning, that he'd quickly fill in the ladder with only Big Letter A's. "Big Letter A won!" No die needed in our version :) He did enjoy sorting the uppercase and lowercase letters and playing with the die afterward, so it was still a good letter review. We'll try this another day. Click the link to print this game.

Letter Aa Activity #2 - Cover the Aa's from This Reading Mama: I wrote uppercase and lowercase a's on office stickers. My almost three covered the uppercase A's with an uppercase A sticker and the lowercase a's with a lowercase sticker.

 

Letter Aa Activity #3 - Apple Hunt from The Measured Mom. I drew big A's and little a's on apple post-it notes and hid them around the room. My almost three and one loved finding the apples and placing them on our apple tree. I would ask my three, "What letter did you find!?" or "Did you find a big or little A!?" I drew our apple tree on a window with a green window marker.

Letter A Beginning Sounds Activity: One of my goals is for my almost three to start understanding beginning sounds. We'll try it out for a few weeks and see if he's ready. This week, I printed some Letter A picture cards from The Measured Mom. My almost three drew a card, we talked about the picture and I said A-A-A Apple. Apple starts with Letter A. Then, he would put the card into an empty sour cream container.

Letter A Science - Hatching Alligator Eggs: I made Hatching Alligator Eggs and hid small, toy alligators inside. I hid them around the yard for my almost three and one to find. When the kids found an egg (made with baking soda), they threw it into hatching pot (filled with vinegar) and watched the eggs bubble. My boys used spoons to scoop the Alligators and Letter A's out of the bubbles. This was a highlight of our week!

Alphabet as a Whole. Each week, I like to review the entire alphabet, so my almost three can see the big picture. This week, we did a simple alphabet puzzle we already own.

Name Review - Marshmallow Cover from The Measured Mom. I think it's helpful for my almost three to see his name written out each week, so he recognizes it. I wrote my his name with a black marker on a piece of paper. Next time, I'll make the letters a little bigger. Then, I outlined his name with glue. My almost three covered the letters with marshmallows.


And that's it!