Books to Grow On Alphabet Contents Books Q is for Duck: An Alphabet Guessing Game Mary Elting The Turn Around Upside Down Alphabet Book Lisa Campbell Ernst O is for Orca: An Alphabet Book Andrea Helman 26 Letters and 99 Cents Tana Hoban Kipper’s A to Z Mick Inkpen Alphabatics Suse MacDonald Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Bill Martin Ashanti To Zulu Margaret Musgrove The Graphic Alphabet David Pelletier Dr. Seuss’s ABC Dr. Seuss Adult Resource Book Alphabet Art: With A to Z Animal Art & Fingerplays Judy Press Compact Discs Alphabet Jam Cathy Bollinger Can A Jumbo Jet Sing the Alphabet Hap Palmer Here Come the ABCs They Might Be Giants DVDs Related Activities Fingerplays Alphabet Song (Tune: “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star”) A-B-C-D-E-F-G H-I-J-K L-M-N-O-P Q-R-S T-U-VW-X-Y and Z. Now I know my A-B-C’s Next time won’t you sing along with me? Traditional “A, B, C” A is for apples we love to eat, (form circle with hands) B is for books we wear on our feet, (point to feet) C is for candy that tastes so sweet. (lick lips) Elizabeth McKinnon A is for Alligator A is for alligator, chomp, chomp, chomp. (move arms like an alligator chomping) B is for Bouncing, hop, hop, hop. (jump up and down) C is for Circle, around and around. (spin around) D is when we all sit Down! (sit down) Sing Hurray for A! (Tune: “Farmer in the Dell”) Let’s sing hurray for A, Let’s sing hurray for A, Let’s sing hurray for A today Let’s sing hurray for A. Apple starts with A, Asparagus starts the same way, Let’s sing hurray for A today, Let’s sing hurray for A. (continue with any letter of the alphabet) Fun and Games Name Game After sharing 26 Letters and 99 Cents, have each child come up with something that starts with the same letter as their first name. It may be easier to choose a theme to get them started (e.g. animals, foods, etc.). Letter Match Print simple words from Alphabatics onto index cards. Place the cards and a set of alphabet blocks or any representation of the letters on a table. Let the children chose a word card then have them find the letters that match to create the word. The Alphabet Zoo Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Toys Coconut Tree Felt Set Alphabet Egg Puzzles Felt Set Continued... Rev. 4/2010 Body Alphabet Ask the children to use their bodies to make the following letters; I, L, J, N Y. Encourage them to explore working together to make the letters like M that require more than one person. Play Dough Letters Give the children play dough and show them how to roll the dough to make long snakes. Show them how they can use the rolled dough to create a chosen letter. Playing with play dough is not only a favorite preschool alphabet activity, it also helps develop the fine motor skills necessary for writing. If the child is unfamiliar with the letter, you can write it out for them on a piece of paper. Alphabet Go Fish Use a set of picture cards (or make them using 3x5 cards and pictures cut from magazines) and group them by the first sound in the word. The words you use should be simple and familiar to your child. Be sure that the printed word appears on the card so that you can point out that they all start with same letter. At first, use only two sounds. Later, after your child is better at this task you can increase the number of sounds to categorize. Finally, you can make the game involve many sounds by playing “go fish” with the initial sounds of words. Create a shuffled “deck” from the picture cards (making sure that there are at least two of each beginning sound). Give you and your child each five to seven cards and then take turns trying to create pairs by asking the other player if her or his hand includes a card with a specific first sound (e.g., “Do you have a “b?”). When the player has that card, the opponent gets to create a pair; otherwise, the opponent gets to “go fish” for a match in the deck. Continue the game until one player has eliminated all of the cards in her or his hand. The player with the most pairs wins. Hands-On Letter Exploration Cut out alphabet letters from a variety of materials, such as sandpaper or felt and then let the children trace them with their fingers. You can also “write” the letters on the carpet with masking tape for the children to walk around or trace. Children can also write the letters in sand, shaving cream, finger paints or pudding. This alphabet activity is great for kinesthetic learners. Flash Light Letters Get a flashlight and dim the lights in the room. Using the flashlight, make giant letters on the wall. Have the child name the letters that you make. Children can also trace letters on the wall with the flashlight. Alphabet Hunt Go on an alphabet hunt. Search the house or neighborhood for things that begin with a certain letter. Take pictures of the items and make a poster or book. We hope you enjoy this theme kit! Each Books to Grow On theme kit includes books, a curriculum packet and other library materials related to a specific subject. These kits have been designed to use with preschool age children. We recommend that you review each item in the kit before you share it with your children. We also encourage you to return the kit to your local library as soon as you are finished so we can make it available to others. 960 Newport Way NW Issaquah, WA 98027 425.369.3323 1.877.905.2009 Ext. 3323 www.kcls.org