Teaching Together: Learning Your ABCs and 123s

I've been working on teaching Olive her ABCs and colors lately and we've had a great time playing all kinds of alphabet games.  It's all fun for her so I thought I'd share some preschool teaching ideas with you today.

 LEARNING IN THE BATHTUB:

We have foam bath letters and numbers, cups, funnels and animals.  There are tons of colors, letters and fun learning opportunities so we take advantage of it.  Olive has loved these bath toys for at least a year.  She initially just chewed on most of them and stuck them to the walls, but now she's able to do more with them.  We don't do all of these activities every time we do baths, but try to squeeze them in when we have time.

We pick a color and gather everything we can find in that color: 

BLUE and then count how many items we came up with.

 Name letters and numbers.

 Sort out all of the animals.  Name them and talk about their colors.

 Find all the cups.

 Dig the letters and numbers out of the sea of bubbles.  

We name them and then stick them to the wall.

 Practice counting and stacking things.

 Practice spelling her name and monogram :)

Sometimes we even sing her name to the tune of BINGO

 LEAP FROG ALPHABET

We got this learning game for Olive last Christmas and it's been on our fridge ever since.  She plays with it while I cook and loves it.  It says the sound of each letter, gives words that start with that letter and then uses the word in a sentence.  It also sings the ABC song.  It's been a favorite for almost a year.

TOUCH AND FEEL FLASHCARDS

Flashcards often get a bad rap these days, but these flash cards are the best!  They are Touch and Feel flashcards and they come in several different varieties.  We have four sets and love them all.  There are pictures, numbers, counting, colors and each card has a section to touch & feel.  They are so much fun.  On the back of each flashcard there are questions to engage your child with.  We have just started using the questions now that Olive has mastered naming the objects.  We also point out letters on the front of the cards.

 POINT OUT THE LETTERS ALL AROUND YOU

I point out letters on signs, in the books we're reading and now Olive points out the letters on her own.  It's an easy, nearly free way to practice letters anywhere you go.

BORROW BOOKS FROM THE LIBRARY

We loved the 123 NYC and Edible Numbers book from our last library trip.  There was so much to talk about and learn from on each page.

 ALPHABET PLACE MAT

I picked up some Alpha Bits cereal and we had a great time with it.  We sorted the letters, named them and put them in letter piles on the alphabet train place mat.

 We also eat several meals a week on this alphabet place mat.

WRITE

I offer Olive lots of opportunities to write.  She loves to trace letters, write together with me and is getting the idea that you write letters.  She can name most letters that I write and tries her best to write her own letters.  Most of the time it looks like scribbles (except for her Os) and she tell me what letter it is - This is an A Mama :)  She loves her magnadoodle and I keep a tiny pen & notepad in my diaper bag for her to doodle on while we wait.

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