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C is for caterpillar

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I love child-led learning. When I’m helping a child learn a new skill I try to put them and their interests at the centre of any activity. Little is starting to be very interested in letters and writing and I’m always looking for ways to encourage her to explore these ideas. So when she discovered this beautiful green caterpillar in the garden we used it as a springboard to play.

She was wondering where the caterpillar’s head was and we were talking about the spiral shape it had made as it curled up. We grabbed some outdoor chalks and tried to copy the shape ourselves. It’s great for children to try making all sorts of marks – not just using paper and pencil, and not straightaway trying to write letters.

Then we talked about the word caterpillar and what sound came at the beginning – which lead us on to writing a ‘c’.

And also inspired the next letter for our touchy-feely alphabet: c is for caterpillar.

This week why not get some chalks and see what shapes you can make?

abc button

Alphabet wallchart

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We’re making Little a parade of letters to go around her bedroom wall. Big has had an alphabet wall chart up since she was 3, and if Big Sister has one…

We could buy one of course, but where’s the fun in that? By making our own we can incorporate lots of other skills and new things to try out, such as using scissors. We’re going to include a sensory element too – having touchy-feely letters you can trace round with your fingers helps children to learn the letter’s form. We’re not working from a – z, as learning alphabetical order will come later. Our focus to begin with is on letters which mean something to Little, and as we’ve been knitting this weekend we’re starting with…

W is for wool

I drew out a ‘w’ on some red paper.

Little has learnt how scissors operate and enjoys snipping away to make random shapes but now I’m encouraging her to try and follow along a line sometimes too.

She applied glue very liberally to her W.

And then we added lots of soft wool onto the glue. We left if to dry and then stuck it onto a piece of card. We’ve not decided yet how we’re going to put them up on to the wall – maybe on a long roll of paper, maybe on a washing line. Any suggestions for us?

How are you introducing letters with your child?

Embroidery for children

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My oldest daughter loves crafts (would you have guessed?) so, when she was 7 earlier in the year, we wanted to get her a birthday present that would encourage her creativity. We have paint, card, glitter and crayons galore so I was stuck for what to get her. And then I saw an idea over at maya *made on embroidery for children and knew a sewing and embroidery basket would be the perfect present for Big. I bought a woven basket and filled it with some of the things suggested by maya to give Big all she needed to get started. (You should pop over to read maya’s post for a great guide on what to include and how to get started.)

sewing projects for kids

This weekend she tried it for the first time, and here are the results. Do you like them? I threaded the needle for her as the thread was quite thick and also tied a knot to get her started – everything else is all her own work.

That ‘m’ is for Mummy – she’s a sweetie.

And this is a portrait of our cat, drawn first with a pencil and then stiched on top.

She’s so pleased with what she’s made and has plans to make lots more to give away as gifts.

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Want more happy handmade crafts?

Our Happy Handmade resource is bursting with colourful and imaginative crafts and DIY toys that are designed to add even more colour and creativity to your home. With easy-to-follow tutorials and free patterns and printables, you can read, make, and start playing today! See more of Happy Handmade here.

 

Teach the alphabet with dough

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A simple bread dough is a perfect medium for children to explore with. It’s easy to make using ingredients you can keep in your storecupboard and I find children always take great pleasure in using ‘real grown-up’ materials. There are lots of ways you can use a bread dough to let your children play with counting, measuring, pouring, cutting. Today we’ve been teaching the alphabet with bread. We’ve a recipe and a song to share with you.

 

Weigh 500g of strong bread flour and a teaspoon of salt out into a big bowl. Little thought it felt very tickly.


 

Practise your scissor skills to add a 7g sachet of fast-action dried yeast.


 

Pour in 300ml of warm water and a tablespoon of olive oil using good hand-eye co-ordination. Little liked mixing the colours to combine all the ingredients into a ball of dough.


 

Develop strength in your fingers by kneading the dough for 5 minutes on a floured surface. (Getting fingers ready to one day hold a pencil and write well.)


 

Try out a different texture as you spread a little oil on a baking sheet.


 

Introduce some letters by making your own dough alphabet. (If you want to use the recipe to make a proper loaf you can shape it and then leave it to prove for 45 minutes before baking.)

 

Put your letters on the baking sheet and bake in an oven pre-heated to Gas 7/ 220C for about 10 minutes, depending on the size of your letters. (Bake for 25 minutes if you’re making a whole loaf.)

If you can spot the letters in your name you can eat them!

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