One thing I have had my soon-to-be-kindergartners do is practice writing each letter as we come to it. I buy them a lined practice notebook (the kind with a dotted line to show them where the lowercase letters start). They practice a line of the capital letter and a line of the lowercase letter. Then we brainstorm people we know who have names that start with that letter and they write those names. If we can't think of many people with that initial, we think of places that start with that letter. I try to limit it to proper names, but you certainly wouldn't have to do that. This last summer I wanted to keep my oldest occupied in an educational way while his sister practiced her letters. I gave him a notebook and had him list as many words as he could think of that started with that particular letter.
Below is a list of things that we have done in our ABC summers, plan to do for #3's big summer, or things that I've considered doing. There are so many foods, restaurants, local landmarks, historical locations, parks, etc. that can be used for ABC summer plans. Of course, your locale will determine the names of many places.
Places to go that start with A:
*towns/cities
*the Amana Colonies (a historical group of towns in Eastern Iowa)
*Applebee's
*Arby's
*Auntie Anne's pretzels
*airport
*Animal Rescue League
*art center
*art store
*art festival
*parks that start with A (ex. Ashby Park)
*playgrounds at schools that begin with A (ex. Ashland Meadows)
*amusement parks (the nearest one to us happens to be named Adventureland)
Things to do that begin with A:
*arm wrestle
*board games like Aggravation or Apples to Apples
*read ABC books or books that begin with A (Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, and Are You My Mother? are classics)
*draw a picture using colors that start with A (amber, amethyst, aqua, etc.)
*watch movies that start with A (Annie)
*listen to music (either songs or singers that start with A) - we're partial to Justin Roberts' songs like "Airplane of Food," "All Eyes on You," "Apple Tree," "A, B, C, D, E," or Dan Zane's "All Around the Kitchen"
*play dates with friends whose names start with A (we have friends named Aimee, Austin, Averie, Ava, Anya, Audrey... you get the idea)
*watch kids' shows that start with A (Arthur)
Foods to eat that begin with A:
almonds
Almond Joy
alphabet soup
Alphabits cereal
angel food cake
angel hair pasta
animal crackers
ants on a log (raisins on PB or cream cheese spread on celery sticks)
apples
Apple Jacks cereal
apple pie
applesauce
apricots
artichokes
asparagus
avocado
Finally, I try to find at least one Bible verse for each letter than I can incorporate somehow. Sometimes I choose by the name of the book in the Bible (for instance, we could read from the book of Acts). Once in a while I select one of my favorite verses just because first word begins with a certain letter (ex. "All athletes practice strict self-control. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize." 1 Corinthians 9:25). Usually, though, I choose a verse based on the category under which I have filed it (I keep a notebook of index cards on which I list favorite verses under categories that I feel will help me teach my children our family values). For example, I have an "attentiveness" category and an "attitude" category. My favorite from that is, "A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person's strength." Proverbs 17:22. I also have a few categories to pull out when the children need to be disciplined on a certain topic. Under "arguing," I have Philippians 2:14, "In everything you do, stay away from complaining and arguing." My kids love it when I pull out my little book. ;)
Here are the photos #1 took of found objects that looked like the letter A:
So, the notes I make for myself about each letter's activities looks something like this:
Monday - have a picnic including apples at Ashland Meadows; meet Aimee, Austin and Averie at Ashby Park this afternoon
Tuesday - have applesauce at snack time; lunch at Arby's; play Aggravation
Wednesday - snack on animal crackers while enjoying Annie
I typically attempt to have two or three letter related activities each day. Like I mentioned in previous posts, you will need to remain flexible. Weather interferes and people get sick, so not everything will work out as planned. If you don't get to all of your ideas, keep the list for future summers! Feel free to comment if you have even more ideas.
Next up: letter B!
*For those new to my blog, check out the beginnings of ABC Summers here.*
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