Toddlers are incredible. The amount of information that they take in, learn and retain on a daily basis is astounding. I am fascinated by my daughter & also often surprised by her as well. From the time she was an infant, we surrounded her with the alphabet. I sang the Abc’s to her when she would cry, which was all the time. We also had a few visual aids…
Mai’s Nanna made this beautiful ABC quilt for her. It hangs on the fence in her playroom.
With all of the alphabet jammed down her throat, it was no wonder that she learned her Abcs early. She has been sounding out her letters for some time now. She will play with her refrigerator magnets often while I am cooking. “B! Bbb bbb boy” You are right baby, B is for boy. She is growing up so fast that I can hardly believe it. With Mai sounding out her letters so much, I came up with a game that could hopefully challenge her phonics learning and entertain her.
This was a cheap and easy to make activity for my toddler. Just line muffin tins with pictures of different animals & objects and let her match up the alphabet magnet to the coordinating word. For example, matching the A to apple or B to banana.
What you will need:
2 muffins tins
Printouts of clip art objects to cover every letter of the alphabet (There are only 24 spots in the tins but you can switch out the other 2)
Alphabet magnets
Using the muffin tin as a stencil, outline the clipart & cut to fit inside of the tin.
Gather your magnets.
Watch your little one with pride as they pick up the letters and place them on the correct pictures. “M! Mmmm mm m monkey.”
I was overcome with pride watching my daughter do this activity. I have to admit that my eyes watered a little as she completed the tins. I could tell she was proud too. Next step…reading.
Related Topics:
http://littlehousecharming.com/2014/02/26/6-toys-approved-by-my-toddler-and-me/
http://raisingkidswithlove.wordpress.com/2014/02/26/tools-of-the-trade-for-literacy/
20 comments
This is really cute and so ingenious. I am know exactly what you mean and was shocked at how my 3 year old knows the alphabet song from start to finish, spells her name, knows most letter by site and also does know most of the sounds, too. So, think she would love this one and may need try now!! 🙂
It seriously amazed me. I knew she had a pretty good grasp but watching her match these up was incredible. We played it again this morning. I hope your daughter likes them too.
Thanks for sharing my post! I love your activity too. We are going to give it a go!
I hope you do. Thanks for stopping by.
What a fun and adorable way for children to learn!
Thank you, Amanda.
That sounds great, great way to teach the letters!
Thanks Claudia.
I homeschool, I love this idea, please let me know where you get the printables – I didn’t; see it in the post. I would love to try this!
Thanks Mama. I just used clip art on a Word document. It never occurred to me to put a printable. Thanks. I will have to add one tonight.
Wonderful idea! Just look at your daughter and how interested she is in the letters! That’s fabulous! I will have to try this with my little cousins. Thanks!
I hope they like it as much as my daughter did
This is such a cute idea!!! Looks like she’s doing a great job learning her letters! Way to go!!!
Thank you. I love listening to her as she sounds them out and then put them in the tin. It makes me smile.
How cute is this?! What a fun and yummy way to learn!
Thanks!
My boys are older now (the youngest is 8), but I still have to tell you this is a great idea? I love the muffin pan ABC’s idea. I’ve been a mom for 21 years and a Homeschooler for about 15 years and I never thought to do this. We always had abc puzzles or abc magnets. I love this because you can do so many different activities with the tins. Very cute!
Thank you very much. My daughter enjoys it too. We are all so proud watching her do it.
Love this idea! ‘m glad I found your blog on the blog hop, am now tagging along, and can’t wait to read more. Hoping you stop by to say hi sometime. http://wanderlust-wishlist.blogspot.com
Thank you. I am glad to have you. Dropping by to check you out too.