Let's Start at the Very Beginning....

So, it's Tuesday...and time to turn the T.V. off (to read why we're doing this, go here). But what sort of quality time should we create today?

Well, as Maria from the Sound of Music would say (or rather, sing) "Let's start at the very beginning...a very good place to start." Whenever I'm stumped or at a loss for something to do with my kids, I go back to the basics...the alphabet. Just going down the alphabet can give you some great ideas that can be easily adapted to any age. For instance:

A - Apples

Infant: look at apples in books, teach the ASL sign for "apple", play with/roll an apple around, eat bites of apples or applesauce
Toddler/Preschooler: work on recognizing upper and lower case Aa, talk about what sounds the letter makes, what different words (foods, actions, names, items) start with "a"(apple, ant, acorn, astronaut...), work on how to write the letter, make the letter with your body or with apple slices, popsicle sticks, pipe cleaners, etc., do a related project (ie - paint with apple stamps, mold an apple out of playdoh, create apple 'creatures' using toothpicks, marshmallows, raisins, etc)
School Age and up: Play the game "Apples to Apples", make apple muffins or applesauce cake, bob for apples, carve designs or names into apples, sculpt apples out of clay, try different ways of drawing an apple - chalk, pencil, charcoal, paints, finger paints, thumbprints, crayon, pen, colored pencil, etc.

The possibilities really are endless! I've started a very quick list below; see what you can add to it! (Obviously some topics are easier with younger children, while some are more suitable for older kids)

A- Apple, ant, alligator, ax, acorn, airplane, ape, arm, apricot, Alaska, Abraham Lincoln...
B- Box, ball, boy, baby, beach, book, beetle, bounce, brother, bear, bicycle, banana, bite, bee, bubble, ballerina, black, baseball, bus, basket, bread...
C- Cat, car, caterpillar, circle, camping, calendar...
D- Dog, deer, dinosaur, dig, dump truck, diamond...
E- Elephant, egg, ear, Easter, effort...
F- Frog, forest, fly, fish, farm, face, factory...
G- Gorilla, guitar, green, gate, game, guest, gym, gift...
H- Horse, house, hot, hexagon, heart, hand...
I- Icicle, inchworm, ice cream, igloo, ice, iceskating...
J- Jaguar, jelly bean, jack-0-lantern, juice, juniper, jello, jumprope...
K- Kitten, koala bear, kite, key, kiwi...
L- Lemon, leaf, ladybug, laughter, lime, love, lightbulb, lilac, lollipop, left...
M- Mouse, moose, muffin, mommy, maple leaves, marshmallow, mirror, moon...
N- Newt, nest, nail, nice, nickel, night...
O- Octopus, olive, olympics, ocean, opposites...
P- Prairie dog, platypus, plants, parrots, pink, post office...
Q- Quilt, queen, quail, quiet...
R- Rhinocerus, ring, rain, rainbow, right, river, run, rhythm...
S- Spiders, seeds, stop sign, sun, sunflower, star...
T- Tree, tooth, tiger, tarantula, toes, triangle...
U- Umbrella, under, unicorn fish, Utah...
V- Vulture, volcano, visit, violin, violet, video...
W- Whale, walrus, white, willow tree, watermelon, whisper, whippoorwill...
X- X-rays, xylophone, x marks the spot (treasure maps, etc)...
Y- Yak, yellow, yummy, yodle, yell...
Z- Zebra, zero, zipper, zoo...

With any letter/theme/idea you come up with, try thinking of one or more of the following to do with your child(ren): (Some you can easily come up with spur of the moment, others may require advance preparation)

Books - find some books or stories relating to the topic (your local library is always a great bet!)
Music/Movement - songs/dances/fingerplays/etc. related to the topic
Arts & Crafts - hands-on projects related to the topic
Activities - fun games/etc related to the topic
Snack - yummy (and, if possible, healthy!) snacks for the kids to enjoy - and, if possible, help create - related to your topic (ie - banana: banana bread, triangle: cut whatever food you're eating into triangles, ocean: eat 'seafood' or put some fruit in some blue jello...whatever you can think of - get creative!)
Field Trip - if there is any place that relates to your topic, try to visit! Kids LOVE outings with you!


**For more alphabet-related activities and links, visit my Do-it-yourself Preschool blog!