Practicing Writing Letters (ABC’s) with My Toddler

Pencil and paper…not always so easy for little hands.

Plus, not nearly as FUN!

Let’s try shaving cream instead!

Simply add a big dolop of cheap shaving cream to a plate/half a styrofoam container/baking sheet.

If desirable, add a few dabs of food coloring (today is Flyer Red Friday, so we added red).

Then have your child mix the coloring into the shaving cream around the container with the paintbrush.

Give them time to “play” with the shaving cream and enjoy the “newness” of it.

Once enough time (you decide based on your child’s age and attention span) has passed, begin to ask them to draw certain letters with the paintbrush in the shaving cream.

If you are comfortable with it, they can even use their fingers to draw the letter.

Start with letters in their name.

If they are young toddlers, like Anthony, begin with a lower case “i” or an “x” or a “t”.

Apple Pie for Kids to Make

Well, ok, it’s not edible, but heck, it’s a ton of fun!

Easy clean up for you, and lots of fun for the active toddler.

What you need:
A paper plate for each child
A paint brush for each child
3 bowls for each child
red paint
cinnamon
sugar

Directions:
I prepped the table first by setting out the supplies. Leads to more attention on the actual project rather than the kiddos waiting around at the table.

Put a blob of red paint in a small bowl for each child.

I used small prep bowls and added enough sugar to fill about 1/4 of the bowl (one for each child)

I used a small bowl (but would have used a prep bowl too) with freshly grated cinnamon from the stick.

Since I used freshly grated, I actually put a small piece of the cinnamon bark in each of their bowls as well.

Set out the above with the paint brush and the plate in front of each child’s seat.

We started out by smelling the cinnamon and saying “cinnamon”. We described it.

Then I had them dab their finger in and taste it. Their description words were “spicy” and “delicious”. What colorful words!

Had they used words like “good” or “bad” I would have asked them to think of a more colorful word to use and guided them along.

Next we repeated the same process with the sugar. I bet you can guess their reactions! 🙂

Finally, we followed a “recipe” and added the paint the plate first, followed by the cinnamon, and finally the sugar.

After all the ingredients were added, they mixed away!

Once their pies were ready, we placed them in the “oven” to “bake” (dry). 🙂

We followed this up with a tasty snack of freshly sliced apples from the orchard.