Letter A

Introduction:

Apple, ambulance, ant, alligator, axe, apricot, anteater, avalanche, airplane, astronaut, Alaska, animals, avenue, apes, aardvark, Africa, adventure

Books:

The A Book
Addy (American Girl series)
Angelina Ballerina series
Alphabet books (ie - Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr. & John Archambault)

Music/Movement:

The Ants Go Marching
I like to eat Apples & Bananas
Allee Galloo
Alphabet Song
Johnny Appleseed
Lots of other poems and finger plays about Apples here

Activities:

Build an Ant Farm

Ant Watching (ie - put a piece of food down on the ground outside and watch for awhile to see if ants come, how they scout out food, how they follow one another's trails and scents, etc)

Matching game - apples (make a variety of cards: ie - 2 cards with red apples, 2 with yellow apples, 2 with green apples, etc or 2 with 1 apple, 2 with 2 apples, 2 with 3 apples, etc)

Bob for apples

"Alligator, alligator, what time is it?" Game ("Alligator" player stands at one end of the room, all the other players stand at the other end of the room and ask "Alligator, Alligator, what time is it?" The Alligator says a time and then the players take that many steps toward him (ie - 2 o'clock - take two steps). When the players are getting close, when asked what time it is, the Alligator says "Lunch time" and then chases after the players, who run back "home" (the end of the room where they started). If he catches one, that player is the Alligator next time around.

Crafts:

Paint an Apple tree (green handprint - tree, red fingerprints - apples)
Fingerprint Ants (3 fingerprints)
Build an ant (egg carton body, pipe cleaner legs, etc)
Make paper airplanes
Make a salt dough map of Africa /Alaska/Arizona/Arkansas

Snacks:

**A lot of these snack ideas can be made by kids with little to no help, which would be a fun activity to do together!

Apple sticks
Ants on a log (raisins on peanut butter on celery sticks)
Apple muffins
Apple-bagel sandwiches
Applesauce
Animal crackers
Alphabet crackers (Cheezit crackers often have letters in them)
Alphabet soup
Animal cookies
Apple creatures

Letter B

Introduction

Bears, bumblebee, bicycle, beehive, beanstalk, banana, baseball, bat, balloon, binoculars, bottle, ballerina, brown, blue, bull, bugs, beetle, box, bunny, brother, bus, banjo, band, button, bowling, bowl, black, big, baby, book, broom, berry....

Books

The B Book
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see?
Jack and the Beanstalk
Berenstain Bears (series)
Jamberry
Big Red Barn
The Bears in the Bed and the Great Big Storm
Bear (series) by Karma Wilson

Music/Movement

Ballet dancing to classical music
I'm Bringing Home a Baby Bumblebee
99 Bottles of Pop
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, Turn Around
Teddy Bear Picnic
Bubbles
Baby Animals
Babies (lots of books about this)
Band - create a band using instruments you have on hand (ie - egg shaker, sticks for tapping, oatmeal cylinder drum, etc) and make music together!

Activities

Blow bubbles
Bear hunt with binoculars (make as a craft activity) - hide a bunch of teddy bears, and have the children search for them
Bounce balls
Balloon bounce (don't let balloon hit the ground)
Bowling
Ball games (baseball, basketball, etc)
Bean Bag Toss
Bicycle races/obstacle course (older children)
Bow - learning to tie shoes

Crafts

Binoculars (toilet paper tubes) - can use on bear hunt
Balloon animals
Book - have the kids create their own book
Paint with blue, black and brown
Baby - make a picture of a baby or sew simple ones out of cloth and stuff with beans - have them "decorate" them by coloring clothes, face, hair, etc. on them
Bean Bags - easy for kids to make
Berry paintings - mash up different types of berries and paint with them
Bows/Barrettes - little girls enjoy making hair bows and barrettes

Snacks

Banana bread
Bananas
Berries
Beans
Bee graham crackers
Teddy Grahams (bears)

Letter C

Introduction

Car, cape, color, crayon, camping, cat, crash, cranberry, cookie, cupcake, captain, cake, cereal, coin, clown, circle, catch, crown, crow, corn, captain, candy cane, cloud

Books

The Crayon Box that Talked
Corduroy
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

Music/Movement

"C" is for Cookie
She'll be Coming 'round the Mountain
Who Stole the Cookies from the Cookie Jar?

Activities

Cave - create a "cave" out of blankets, chairs, etc
Climb - find a safe place the children can climb (ie - playground structure, rock wall, tree, etc)
Color - color with crayons - simple, but kids never tire of coloring!
Coins - talk about the different coins, what values they have, etc
Clouds - lay down, look up at the clouds, and see what shapes/pictures you can see in them

Crafts

Crayons - Make your own crayons
Capes - Make super hero capes
Car - makes cars out of cardboard boxes
Clown face - transform a paper plate into a clown face with"googly" eyes, stickers, a triangle hat, etc.
Crowns
Candle - roll beeswax candles, put pressed flowers on candles, make ice cube candles, etc
Candy Canes - alternate red and white beads on pipe cleaners and shape into cane.
Cloud pictures - use cotton balls to create your own cloudy sky

Snacks

Craisins
Cranberry bread
Cookies
Cupcakes
Cornbread
Cake
Candy Cane Cookies

Letter D

Introduction

Dog, deer, daffodil, daisy, dance, doll, dress, dalmation, down, dream, decision, delight, dairy, deck, deliver, dad, daughter, day, dish, diamond, dandelion

Books

101 Dalmations
Dad, Are you the Tooth Fairy?
It's the Best Day Ever, Dad
Daisy (series)


Music/Movement

Dance to any kind of music you want - practice dancing fast, slow...practice different kinds of dance: ballet, ballroom, hula, tap, waving scarves in the air, etc.

Doll dance- using your hands, make your dolls (or puppets) perform a dance

Activities

Deliver treats to neighbors or elderly - kids LOVE this!
Plant Daffodils
Pick Dandelions
Diamond hunt - Look around the house/neighborhood/street/etc to see how many diamond shapes you can spot!
Deer - if you live in an area where deer live nearby, look around for clues of them visiting (ie deer droppings, footprints, etc)
Dogs - see how many dogs you can find in a given area
Dress Relay Race - divide class into two teams - players need to run to the end of the room, get fully dressed (on top of the clothes they already have on, of course) ie - pants, shirt, socks, shoes (it is fun if you use adult clothing for this!), run back to the beginning, undress (the clothes they put on for the race) and then it's the next person's turn. The first team to 'dress' every player of their team wins.

Crafts

Dog Puppet - transform a paper bag into a dog puppet using paper cutouts
Diamonds - see how many pictures you can make using just cutout diamond shapes!
Dalmation - paint black spots on a white picture of a dog - try painting the spots with your toes for a variation! :)
Make pictures of daisys and/or daffodils
Dress - make outfits for paper dolls

Snacks

Donuts
"Doggie Chow" (Chex mix muddy buddies)
"Dog Bones" Rice Crispy Treats
Diamond sandwiches (cut into diamond shapes)

Letter E

Introduction

Egg, easter, ear, elephant, evergreen tree, excited, every, each, eskimo

Books

Each Peach Pear Plum
Green Eggs and Ham
Ella Elephant
The Ear Book
Elmer the Elephant (series)

Music/Movement

Ears - use your ears to carefully listen to a song and determine what instruments are playing, whether notes are getting higher or lower, whether notes are faster or slower, etc

Elephant stomp

Activities

Exercise - there are lots of great CDs for kids to exercise along with!
Excitement - think of scenarios in which someone is excited (ie - Christmas morning, birthday party, parents tell you you're going to Disneyland) and then act out your excited response (facial expressions, body language, words, etc)

Crafts

Easter egg - decorate hard boiled eggs like it's Easter time (even if it isn't!)
Easter egg - if you don't want the mess of real easter eggs, do a paper version (stickers, paints, etc)
Elephant crafts - color a picture of an elephant, make an elephant puppet, etc

Snacks

Hard boiled eggs
Eggplant (most kids won't love it, but it's fun to try new things)
Green Eggs and Ham
Elephant Ears

Letter F

Introduction

Fish, fly, feather, fern, friend, feelings, fight, foot, fragile, fit, fan, fun, fiddle, french, fantastic, fear, fairy, float, farm, far, fire, fair, family, favorite

Books

The Foot Book
Fire, Fire Said Mrs. McGuire
Fancy Nancy (series)
A Friend for Little Bear
Jack and the Beanstalk (think "Fee Fi Fo Fum")
Fairy Tales

Music/Movement

Farmer in the Dell
Old MacDonald Had a Farm
B-I-N-G-O
Favorite Things (there is also a book about this song, by the same title)

Activities

Float feathers - have a contest to see if you can predict where your feather will float, whose feather will go furthest, etc.
Feet - see how far/long you can hop on one foot
UNO Moo - game with Farm Animals
Make a list of all of your Favorite Things
Build your own Fairy Village
Flutter around the room like Fairies (with the wings you make for craft time)

Crafts

Furry creatures - make any furry creature (or farm animal) you desire by gluing feathers to styrofoam balls (or even paper cutouts). don't forget the googly eyes. :)
Fairy Wings - make some of your own!
Family - draw a picture of your family
Frame - decorate (ie - paint, color, etc) a picture frame (Michael's has frames for $1)
Feet - trace your feet and decorate them

Snacks

French fries
Fruit
Fudge
Fish Sticks
French Toast (or french toast sticks)