We are working on letter recognition, not memory. To help reinforce this idea -we have went with a scrambled theme. So instead of going in order A-B-C, we’ve mixed it up. The first week we did A…but this week we will be focusing on the letter J. I owe a lot of my inspiration and knowledge to Busy Toddler, I strive to be like her when I grow up! Her sensory ideas are killer and make their way into our classroom at least once a week.
Originally I planned to do one word / one letter for the entire week. But after being introduced to my group of freshly turned three year olds, that plan went out the window. Now we are doing one letter a week -with a different theme everyday. We covered the letter A with an apple theme before moving on to a varied theme that helps keep the learning fun and varied and holds their attention A LOT better.
J is for Jam, Jellybean, Jellyfish, Jaguar and Jump!
First up was Jam:
I always try to find books related to the topic of the day, but am limited to what our library carries. Sometimes I luck out, other times I strike out! A couple good books we liked were: Jamberry, Sam likes Jam, and Pass the Jam, Jim.
Our craft was of course, jam! I made some ‘bread’ out of white and brown construction paper ahead of time, and then together we made jam! We used clear hair gel, a few drops of red food dye and of course, glitter. Because glitter makes everything better! I gave everyone a plastic cup, added the ingredients and let them stir. They were all surprised that they actually made jam! Just make sure no one tries to eat it. Then they spread their jam on their bread.
As an added learning experience I dumped out my foam letter stickers and made everyone find a letter “J” to put on their project.
Tangled Thoughts 