Preschool Alphabet Activities and Crafts
by Aunt B
Copyright 2004-2006 Story Soup Kids, a division of Enchanted Corner
By Letter
Recommended Preschool Alphabet Books
The Alphabet Room
by Sara Pinto
Starting with the simplest images-apples for A, bowls for B, cat for C-Sara Pinto has taken a magical leap in the concept of alphabet books. Each letter has a door, and behind each door the objects arrange and rearrange themselves so that with every letter the picture becomes more complex. Letter by letter, magical scenes unfold inside the room. With gentle humor and charming design, this lift-the-flap alphabet book transcends the genre to offer something truly unique.
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom
by Jr, Bill Martin, John Archambault, Lois Ehlert
In this bright and lively rhyme, the letters of the alphabet race each other to the top of the coconut tree. When X, Y and Z finally scramble up the trunk, however, the weight is too much, and down they all tumble in a colorful chaotic heap: “Chicka Chicka . . . BOOM! BOOM!” All the family members race to help, as one by one the letters recover in amusingly battered fashion. Poor stubbed toe E has a swollen appendage, while F sports a jaunty Band-Aid and P is indeed black-eyed. As the tropic sun goes down and a radiant full moon appears, indomitable A leaps out of bed, double-daring his colleagues to another treetop race.
Alphabet City
by Stephen T. Johnson
Beginning with the A formed by a construction site’s sawhorse and ending with the Z found in the angle of a fire escape, Johnson draws viewers’ eyes to tiny details within everyday objects to find letters. In this wordless tour of sights from Times Square to the Brooklyn Bridge, he invites young and old alike to take a new look at familiar surroundings, discovering the alphabet without ever looking in a book or reading from a sign.
Alphabet Crafts for Kids
Finger Print Alphabet Flash Cards
Card Stock
Pencil
Washable Stamp Pad
Write the each letter of the alphabet on a piece of card stock using the pencil. Then have your child use their finger or thumb to make prints on the lines of the letter. Once you are done your child will have a complete set of flash cards that they created themselves.
Alphabet Scrapbook
1 Subject notebook
Old Magazines
Blunt Child Scissors or Mommy Size Scissors
Glue Stick
Marker
Have your child decorate the front of their alphabet Scrapbook. Use a marker to label each page of the scrapbook with an alphabet letter. Look in the old magazines to pictures that go with each letter, your child can cut them out or you can. Try to find multiple pictures for each letter. The more pictures the better. Glue them on to the correct page. This can be done in a one day long project or can be done over time as you learn each letter.
Letter Puzzles
Card Stock or Foamy Craft Foam
Markers or Sharpies
Blunt Child Scissors or Mommy Size Scissors
There are a couple ways to do this craft. One way is to have your child write out the alphabet on the cards stock. Next have your child cut this card stock up in to pieces. Then challenge your child to put the alphabet puzzle back together again. Another way to do this is for Mom to use a Sharpie marker and write the alphabet on a piece of Foamy Craft Foam. Then your child can cut the foam into pieces to form a puzzle. Again challenge the child to put the puzzle together again. Ask other family members to try as well. Time each other. Make it a family game.
Edible Alphabet
Alphabet Cereal
Softened Cream Cheese
Graham Cracker
Plastic Knife or Craft Stick
Have your child spread cream cheese over the graham cracker using the plastic knife or a craft stick. Next offer your child a bowl alphabet cereal and ask them to find one of the following: the letter of the day, one of each letter in the alphabet or the letters in their name. Have your child place their findings on the cream cheese graham cracker.
Water Preschool Theme Crafts and Art
by Aunt B
Copyright 2004-2006 Story Soup Kids, a division of Enchanted Corner
Water Crafts for Kids
Bubble Painting Art
Small Cup
Straw
Bubbles
Paint
Finger Paint Paper
Fill the small cup about ¼ of the way with bubbles. Add a couple drops of paint. Mix this will the straw. Place the cup of bubble paint on top of the finger paint paper and blow through the straw. This will make bubbles and they will over flow on top of your paper making a wonderful painting.
Summer Sprinkle Painting
Powdered tempera paint in shaker-top cans
White construction paper
Plastic trash bags
Rain in the form of a sprinkle
Place the plastic trash bags out side on the ground. Sprinkle powdered tempera paint on to the white construction paper. Lay the white construction paper on the trash bags and step inside. Watch through a window how the rain sprinkle will turn the powdered paint into a beautiful piece of art work.
Squirt Bottle Painting
Squirt Bottle
Water
Paint
Large Paper (Kraft Brown Paper is good)
Chain link fence
Clothes pins
Fill a squirt bottle with a 1 part paint 2 parts water mixture. Hang your large paper on a chain link fence with clothes pins. Squirt out a painting with your paint squirt bottles. I recommend you make up a couple different color bottles.
**Wear a smock**
Water Painting
Bucket
Big Paint Brush
Water
Fence or sidewalk
Fill a bucket with water. Next encourage your children to paint pictures with the water on the fence, sidewalk, or driveway. When the water dries it will disappear and your child can start over.
Water Art Books for Kids
Every child enjoys water color. Well these books are great all you do is add water and watch the pictures come to life with color.
Paint with Water Book to Color: Berry Fun! Strawberry Shortcake
by Dalmatian Press
Disney Princesses: Coloring, Paint With Water, Activities
by Golden Books
Patriotic 4th of July Preschool Theme Crafts
by Aunt B
Copyright 2004-2006 Story Soup Kids, a division of Enchanted Corner
4th of July Crafts and Art for Kids
Patriotic Flag Craft – Hand Print Art
Red, Blue and White paint
Brown Paint
Paint brush for each color
Paper
*Optional: Baby wipes for easy clean up.*
Have your child hold their hand up with their fingers together, thumb out. Paint your child’s thumb brown. Paint a small square on the palm near the pinky finger base blue. Paint the pinky and middle finger red and the ring and pointer finger white. Make a hand print on the paper. You should have an USA flag. Use baby wipes to help for quick clean up.
Fireworks Craft for Kids
Glitter
Black Construction Paper
Q-tips
Glue
Using the q-tips, paint all over your paper with the glue. Next sprinkle on the glitter. Shack off excess glitter and you have beautiful fire works picture.
Firecracker Treat Craft
Toilet Paper Roll
Red, Blue or White Wrapping Paper
Red, Blue or White Ribbon
A small treat for in side – candy, stickers, small car, small doll etc…
Clear Tape
Optional: Markers
Fill the toilet paper roll with the small treat. Using the tape, anchor down the paper to the toilet paper roll. Continue to wrap it around the roll and secure it with another small piece of tape. Tie off both ends with a piece of ribbon. Depending on what kind of paper you used your child can use markers to decorate this little firecracker treat.
Tin Star Punch
Aluminum Pie Plate
Nail
Yarn
Scissors
Sharpie Marker
Pencil
Hammer
Star Cookie Cutter or Star shape Stencil
Tracing Paper
Cut out a piece of paper the same size as the inside of the pie plate. Next trace the star shape in the center of the paper using your pencil. Place the paper inside the pie plate and with a sharpie marker make dots about 1/4th inch apart. When you lift the paper your dots should have gone through. (If they did not try this with a piece of tissue paper.) Next you are going to take a nail and a hammer and punch out the dots to make holes in your pie tin. When you are done add an additional hole at the top and string yarn through the hole to make a hanger for your new Tin Star Punch.
4th of July Books for Kids
Happy 4th of July, Jenny Sweeney
by Leslie Kimmelman
As Jenny rides her bike through town on the Fourth of July, she sees the townsfolk preparing for the parade, fishing, showing off newly acquired citizenship papers, and enjoying a picnic. The mayor gives her speech, and the parade begins: “Let the celebration start! / Everybody plays a part.” Jenny ends her day in the park watching fireworks with her parents.
The Fourth of July Story
by Alice Dalgliesh
The thirteen colonies unite in the desire for independence, select Thomas Jefferson to write the Declaration of Independence, and carry the news of independence across the colonial settlements
Let’s Get Ready for Independence Day (Welcome Books: Celebrations)
by Lloyd G. Douglas
A young girl explains the meaning of Independence Day and describes how she and her family celebrate the Fourth of July.
Space Preschool Theme Crafts and Activities for Kids
by Aunt B
Space Crafts for Kids
Shape Ship
Shapes cut out of different colors of construction paper
Solid piece of black construction paper
Glue stick
Silver star stickers
Using your black piece of construction paper as a background lay out your shapes to create a one of a kind space ship. Once you have the design chosen use your glue stick to glue it into place. Next place the silver star stickers all around the shape ship.
Star’s On the Wall
Toilet Paper Roll
Black Construction Paper
Tape
Push Pin or Safety Pin
Flash Light
Tape a piece of black construction paper on to one end of the toilet paper tube. Using your pin pock small holes in the black paper. Place the other end of the tube onto your flash light and shine it on the wall. This will make your wall look like the star filled sky.
Moon Rocks Hunt
Glow in the dark Paint
Large sized rocks (about the size of a child’s palm)
Paint brushes
Newspaper
Lay out your newspaper to protect the table from any paint. Next paint your rocks in the glow in the dark paint. Be sure to cover the whole rock in the paint. Set the rocks under a lamp to charge the paint up for about a half hour before you begin. Once it is dark outside. Mom, hide these rocks outside (in the backyard) and let your children enjoy going on a moon rock hunt. (For children who are not sure of the dark, be sure to send them on their hunt with a flash light.)
Space Activity for Kids
Moon Walking Shoes
Thick sponges
Rubber Bands or String
Tie thick sponges to the bottom of your child’s shoes. This will give your child the feeling of walking on the moon.
Great Space Books for Kids
There’s No Place Like Space : All About Our Solar System (Cat in the Hat’s Learning Library)
by TISH RABE
Go on a whirlwind tour of our solar system, with a few constellations thrown in for good measure. Cat in the Hat (along with beloved Thing One and Thing Two) straps on his space suit and rhymes his way among the nine planets, presenting important facts along the way. Where else could your preschooler learn phonics and astronomy at same time?
The Magic School Bus Lost In The Solar System (Magic School Bus)
by Joanna Cole, Bruce Degen
This latest expedition, on which the energetic Miss Frizzle offers a tour of the planets, should not be missed. When a closed planetarium disappoints her students on a class trip, the likable teacher saves the day. She manages to launch her rickety school bus into space and steers it around the solar system, visiting the moon, the sun, Mercury, Venus and Mars before an asteroid knocks out one of the taillights. When Miss Frizzle leaves the bus to investigate, she gets lost in space, and the students visit the outer planets without her. They reconnect with her eventually, and the group ends up back in the classroom, making a chart and a mobile based on their discoveries.
Stanley in Space (Flat Stanley)
by Jeff Brown, Scott Nash
When the residents of a far-distant planet send a message to Earth asking for someone to meet with them, the President of the United States asks Stanley Lambchop, an all-American boy, to be his ambassador.
Father’s Day Preschool Theme Craft Ideas
by Aunt B
Copyright 2004-2006 Story Soup Kids, a division of Enchanted Corner
Father’s Day Crafts for Kids
Scroll Father’s Day Card
2 Craft Sticks
Glue or Tape
Paper of choice (recommend heavy paper)
Scissors
Ribbon or Yarn
Cut paper to be about ¼” smaller then the craft stick on either side. Glue or tape the craft stick to the top and bottom of the paper. Draw a picture or write something nice for Dad on the inside. Sign you name at the bottom. (I always encourage date too.) Next you need to roll up the scroll from top and bottom at the same time, to meet in the middle. Once rolled up secure the scroll with ribbon or yarn.
Father’s Day Gift Idea: Back Massager
4 Large wooden macramé beads or spools from used thread.
Twine or cord – 60” long
Scissors
Ruler
Measure and cut twine/cord into two 30” pieces. Place the four spools or beads in a line leaving 3” between each one. String one cord in and out of each spool. Starting from the top left, go down then up the next spool/bead, go down and up the third spool/bead and down and up the 4th spool/bead. Leave approximately 3” of twine/cord in between each one. Next start on the right and do the same thing. This will give you a ladder affect to your spool/beads. Tie a double knot on left end spool and right end spool, where two cords meet. Tie both ends together. This will form handles at both ends.
Father’s Day Gift Idea: Dad take Notes!
Small Note Pad
Thick Foam Board or Piece of Wood
Paint of choice or Markers
Pencil
Glue
Optional Stickers or Pictures
First you want to lay out your small note pad on your board. Trace your pad with the pencil, this way you can design your board and know where not to paint, draw or place stickers/pictures. Next design your board how ever you choose.
** See optional at bottom.
** Once you have finished decorating your board, glue the small not pad to your board.
** If you use a piece of wood board you can place stickers and pictures of you and dad all around and seal it with a coat or two of clear varnish. Do this in a well ventilated area with the help of Mom. Once dry you will want to connect the note pad using a glue gun instead of white glue**
Father’s Day Gift Idea: Soap on a Rope
New Bar of Soap
Yarn Needle
Paraffin
Yarn, Twine or Shoelace
Hot Plate or Old Electric Fry Pan
Gift Wrap or Small Picture from a Greeting Card
Coffee Can
Scissors
Carefully poke a hole in the bar of soap with yarn needle.
Cut gift wrap scrap or picture from greeting card slightly smaller then the soap.
Dip back side of the picture in water and place on the soap. It will stick. Smooth out any air bubbles. Place the coffee can in the fry pan or on hot plate. Fill with paraffin, melt at a low temperature. Carefully turn soap upside down and dip into melt paraffin up to the depth of ½” or ¼”. This will coat the picture and make a permanent design on the soap. Quickly lift out soap and let dry. Thread twine, yarn or shoelace through hole to hang.
Father’s Day Gift Idea: My Kids Walk All Over Me Shirt/Apron
Fabric Paint
Paint Brush
Children’s Feet
Fabric Pen (Black)
T-Shirt (light color) / Apron
Baby Wipes (to make cleaning feet easier)
Card Board to place inside the shirt.
First assign a color to each child in the family. Next paint their feet with this color and have them walk on the shirt. They may only get one foot print at a time so make sure to take your time. (Use the baby wipes to wipe off extra paint from your child’s foot)
Do one side then wait till dry and repeat on the other. If you are making an apron you only need to do one side. Your child’s whole foot print does not need to be on the shirt every time you make a print. Once the shirt is dry go back with either with Black Fabric Paint and a steady hand or with a Black Fabric Pen write My Kids Walk All Me! Also you can go back and write real small next to one foot print per each child their name so that Dad and other’s know whose foot belong to whom.
Mother’s Day Preschool Theme Crafts
by Aunt B
Copyright 2004-2006 Story Soup Kids, a division of Enchanted Corner
Mother’s Day Crafts and Activities for Kids
Tea Light Holder
Small Baby Food Jar
Color Tissue Paper
Glue
Paint Brush
Water
Tea Light Candle
Tear the tissue paper into small pieces and set aside. Water down the glue and paint onto the baby food jars. Apply of tissue paper onto the glue and then paint another coat of glue over the tissue paper. Make a few of these for Mom to have around.
‘My Mother Is’ Portrait
8×10 Piece of Paper
Pencil
Crayons/Markers
8×10 Picture Frame
Have your child answer the following questions…
How tall is Mom?
How old is Mom?
How much does Mom Weigh?
What color is Mom’s hair?
What color are Mom’s eyes?
What is Mom’s favorite color?
What is Mom’s favorite food?
What is Mom’s job?
Next have your child draw a picture of what they think their Mom looks like. All around the picture of Mom, the adult can write what the child wrote. Example My Mom is 10 feet tall. My Mom has green hair. Frame the drawing and answers for Mom.
Mother’s Day Banner
2 Sheets Same Color Construction Paper
Pencil
Marker
Scissors
Tape
Trace the child’s hand on one piece of construction paper and cut them out. The second piece of construction paper cut into half the long length of the paper. Tape the ends of the paper together. Using tape, tape on the hand print shapes at the end of each piece of paper. Using the marker write, “I LOVE YOU THIS MUCH!” on the strips in between the hands.
Hands Down the Best Gift Wrap
Paint
Butcher Paper
Paint Brush
Baby Wipes
Cut a large piece of Butcher Paper and lay it on the table. Next taking turns with the colors of paint, paint your child’s hands and have them make hand prints all over the paper. I use the baby wipes to help keep the mess down.
*Optional*
Use a marker and write I Love You in between the hand prints. If child is old enough to do this have them do the writing.
Best Mom Hands Down
T-shirt or Apron
Fabric Paint
Child’s Hands
Fabric Pen
Paint your child’s hands with the color of your choice and have your child place their handprint on the shirt or apron with the fingers pointing to the floor.
Under or above the handprints write “Best Mom Hands Down”
Bath Salts
Epson Salt
Food Coloring
Baby Food Jar or Small Container
Flavoring such as Peppermint, Vanilla or Strawberry
Fabric
Scissors
Ribbon
In a small bowl mix a small amount of Epson Salt, food coloring and your flavoring. Place the mixture into the baby food jar place a lid on it and you now have Bath Salts created just for Mom. Cut a small round piece of fabric that is a little bit larger then the lid. Glue the fabric to the top of the baby food jar and tie a ribbon around the jar. Remember to write the date on the bottom of the jar. Try to use with in one year of the date, to ensure the freshest bath salts.
Vase for Mom
Empty bottle or jar
Masking tape
Shoe Polish (brown or blue)
Cloth Rag (scrap t-shirt)
Smock for kids
Gloves for kids
Completely cover your clean glass bottle, with torn or cut pieces of masking tape.
Making sure that the pieces of tape overlap each other. With an old rag, rub the shoe polish into the tape, leave to dry. If you would like a glossy look a second rubbing is needed. If you are having younger children make this please be very careful, you might even do the shoe polish rub yourself.
Fill with flowers or a plant.
** Do not get shoe polish on the inside of the bottle or jar.**
Recommended Mother’s Day Book to Read
Earth Day Preschool Theme Crafts
by Aunt B
Copyright 2004-2006 Story Soup Kids, a division of Enchanted Corner
Earth Day Crafts for Kids
Earth
Paper Plates
Paint
Paint 2 paper plates blue. Once the plates have dried, have your child drip green paint on one paper plate and then drip brown on the second paper plate. Put the plates together and it will form a neat pattern of the Earth.
Earth Day Bracelet
Contact Paper
Cut contact paper into a long strip to form a bracelet. Make the bracelet so that it will be sticky side up. Go on a nature walk and let your children put whatever they find (grass, flowers, feathers, sticks, pebbles, etc) on the bracelet.
Litter Bug
Misc. Craft Items such as
Paper Towel Rolls
Stickers
Markers
Pipe Cleaners
String
Buttons
Glue
Scissors
Using your misc. craft supplies and your imagination create your own Litter Bug. Be sure to make it an ugly little bug. Use this bug to show that this is what you look like when you don’t through your trash away.
Indoor Terrarium
Permanent Black Marker
Seeds
Water
Very Sharp Scissors or Knife (used ONLY by parents)
Potting Soil
2 Liter Soda Bottle w/ cap
Take the label off the bottle. Save the CAP! Wash and rinse out the bottle and the cap. Cut the bottle near the bottom, a good place to do this is at the bottom of where the label was. Fill the bottom with your soil. Make sure to leave the soil loose. Do NOT pack it down. Plant a few seeds in the dirt and lightly water. Place the cap on the bottle. Cover the bottom with the top of the bottle. You will have to play around with it to get the top to fit inside the bottom. Place it in a sunny spot and watch your seeds grow.
Earth Day Shirt
Brown and Green Fabric Paint
Paint Brush
White t-shirt
Paint your child’s arm brown and your child’s hand green. Place the painted side of the arm and hand down on the white t-shirt. You can write Earth Day 200- on the shirt also.
Recommended Earth Day Books to Read
Earth Day–Hooray!
by Stuart J. Murphy
Earth Day is on the way, and Ryan, Luke, and Carly have a plan. If they manage to collect and recycle 5,000 aluminum cans, they can make enough money to buy some beautiful flowers for nearby Gilroy Park.
Lets Celebrate Earth Day
by Peter Roop
Using a question-and-answer format, the Roops introduce the history and importance of Earth Day. They discuss Senator Gaylord Nelson’s creation of the celebration in 1970; the 1969 Cuyahoga River fire that led to the Clean Water Act; the concept of endangered species; some positive results of forest fires; and recycling.
Recycle! : A Handbook for Kids
by Gail Gibbons
How to recycle various products to cut down on the need for landfills–for which space is already in short supply.
Earth Day Cooking with Kids
Dirt Cups
Chocolate Pudding Mix
Milk
Oreo Cookies
Gummy Worms
Cool Whip
Cups
Spoons
Zip Lock Bags
In a zip lock bag place Oreo cookies, have your child break them up by banging the bag. Cover bottom of cups with crumbled Oreos. Combined pudding mix and milk to make your pudding, pour into cups; leaving 1/2 an inch of space at the top. Refrigerate pudding until set. Add crumbled Oreos to the top of each cup and garnish with a gummy worm.
