This is part of my series of research on how to give CocoJr# 1 a well rounded home based education at the age of 4 (I refrain from saying home-schooling as I think there’s more rigour and vigour to it and I’m really just compiling fun activities that achieve the main purpose – have fun and know your alphabets kid!)
I’ve done a bit of this with him before sending him to preschool. Some of these activities I did with CocoJr #1 when he was younger as well and I think is still applicable even at 4 years old:
- Sketchbook with a page dedicated to an alphabet. We then cut out pictures from magazines etc. of anything that starts with said alphabet. So A would have pictures of anything we see as we flip through magazines that starts with A, for example apple, airplanes, alligators etc.
- Magnetic alphabets on the fridge. CocoJr #1 used to sit in front of the fridge while I cooked playing with the alphabets and I used to call out the alphabet as I cooked. Sometimes he’d throw the alphabets into a pot I passed to him and pretended to cook. It’s all fair play! Recently we tried spelling some of his fav words with the alphabets such as Paw Patrol and his name. Mr.C’s idea to keep his interest up, works like a charm.
- DIY Alphabet trace book. Instead of buying books for CocoJr #1 to trace the alphabets, I would sit with him and draw the dots outlining the alphabet myself. He then joins the dots. Why do I do this? Well I don’t go out to buy him books, and I think it’s a waste of money anyway. We have all these free diaries from the insurance companies and banks, I can DIY this activity. It’s nothing fancy as this morning’s activity should showcase – very impromptu!
- A word a week in our reading. We do some reading everyday and I make sure to point out some words to him every time. Now I’ll be more deliberate in what I point out. If it’s a week for D, I’ll point out all the Ds I see in the book or any print.
- Sandy Alphabets! If you live near a beach, then writing the alphabets on the sand is fun fun fun!
- Laptop Alphabets! Mr.C is the brains behind this one – as we sometimes have to work from home and the laptop intrigues CocoJr #1, teaching him the alphabet using the keyboard got his attention for a bit. Open a Word document and type out alphabets, spell out names using different fonts and colours!
- Allaboutlearningpress has an Alphabet Progress Chart which I quite like. Stick it up on the fridge or play area and work our way through it.
- Handsonaswegrow has this easy and fun Magical Letter Alphabet activity I can see us doing!
- Credit to handsonaswegrow again for this Alphabet Maze Activity as well, may take a bit more time to think up a maze but I think will be loads of fun for the child especially one that has loads of cars and trucks that they can use to drive through the maze
- Coffeecupsandcrayons has this super fun post on Alphabet Charades which I think is fun. Acting out the alphabet!
- CocoJr #1 loves playing with playdough so making the alphabet with playdough can be done while making a particular shape. For example, A for Aeroplane (I’ve made playdough aeroplanes more times than I care to count at this point) or B for Bus (the bus as well) and C for Caterpillar (done that too!). D for Dog (this is a tough one so I stopped there till I practice my playdough Doggy. Maybe I should aim for D is for Dough!)
- I found some fun free resources online to help with alphabets:
- Youtube Singable Songs – Just search for “The A Song” (or any alphabet) or the Phonics Song – I know CocoJr #1 loves to sing so this might be a hit! The trick is to do it together so you can sing along with your child even after the clip.
- Free printables for each alphabet at TheMeasuredMom. Again I need to stress, do what makes sense and fits your time availability. All of the activities look great however if it takes way too much time to prep I skip it for now and do the easier bits. I particularly like the arts & crafts printables as those are some fun ideas and let’s the child work on creativity as well. I try to balance this without having too much clutter in the house as well, i.e. can I teach the alphabets without having all these flash cards and laminated cards or is it impossible? I think it’s possible so I’ll do without it!
This will be a living list as I do read a lot online about education and if I do come up with some fun ways to engage the child, I’ll be sure to share!
Your turn – what are your favourite activities on teaching your toddler the alphabets?
Author: Ms.K
Ms.K is everything that Mr.C is, without the natural interest in investing and company financials! The activity planner for the family, the driver of random ideas and soon to be ‘retiring’ in to full time motherhood – Ms.K has no idea what she’s in for but remains super excited!