The ABC’s award is a fun award for the Little Lambs. For some lambs, it’ll be a reinforcement to what they are working at home/in preschool. For others, it’ll be an introduction to the alphabet, and for a few, it’ll be a review of what they’ve known for quite awhile. The award does not require the kids to know their alphabet names or sounds, and I encourage you to not add that requirement. It’s totally fine to spend the meeting playing with the concepts of letters and their sounds. Have fun with it.
There is a long standing debate about whether kids should learn capital letters first (Easier to write and recognize) or learn lower case letters first (most of the written world is in lower case). Your Little Lambs class may have kids from both schools of thought. Or they might be learning both upper and lower case together, but going at slower rate. Considering all the possibilities, I either included both upper and lower case or gave options on any printables I created for this award.
I usually create the meeting materials for my club’s Little Lambs class and then hand them off to another teacher while I teach Helping Hands this year. However, last week I got to teach Little Lambs! Although I missed my Helping Hands, I loved being back with the preschoolers again. They are such a fun age. This year’s class has truly engaged and wonderful parents and seeing them working with the kids and being a part of the meeting was especially a delight.
Story: Chicka Chicka Boom Boom
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr., John Archambault, and Lois Ehlert (Illustrator) is a preschool classic, and it’s easy to see why. This book is fun to read and will keep your Little Lambs engaged. Chicka Chicka Boom Boom is likely to be at your local library. There are hundreds (and probably more) of alphabet books. Pick one you love!
ABC’s Craft: Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Name Craft
Although Pinterest is full of fun alphabet crafts, it’s challenging to find a craft that doesn’t focus on a single letter. Fortunately, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom has inspired many teachers to create fun crafts. This adorable craft by Jessica, at Jessica Travis Teaching, will give your kids gluing practice while also practicing their name. Bonus: It’s super cute! Jessica has a free printable for you here. I printed the leaf page at 90% so everything would fit fully on the page (so the finished craft will fit in their notebooks).
Game: Rainbow Hop Letter Sounds Game
Danielle at Fun Learning for Kids has a fun active game to practice the alphabet. Rainbow Hop Letter Sounds Game uses a life size game board!
Since some of our kids are still being introduced to the alphabet, we changed the game a tiny bit. The child rolled the dice. (Any six sided dice is fine. We used a large one to toss across the room.) They moved that many spaces forward and called out the name of the letter. (I was standing nearby to cue kids who don’t know their letters yet – this isn’t a quiz!)And the parents called back with the letter sounds. I loved seeing the parents involved in the game!
Check out Danielle’s post for more information about setting up the game. The printables (at the end of the post include Rainbow letter cards for the game board and three inch number cards for large dice with clear pockets. I laminated everything to reuse the next time I teach this award. There is also a black and white version of the printable in case you’d prefer to save ink and print on colored paper.
Preschool Skills (Matching): Alphabet Match
We played Spring Butterflies Alphabet Match our more calm game. I made enough games for one game per kid. I encouraged the parents and their lambs to use this activity in whatever fit them best. There were three kids in attendance, and each kid used the cards differently. It was so fun to watch!
Just in case you want some ideas, this is what they did. Kid 1 not only knows her alphabet, she’s actually reading. Her mom shuffled the cards and Kid 1 worked through the pile matching all the letters while noticing the pictures on the butterflies. Kid 2 played a modified memory game with her dad. (They flipped two cards over like normal, but left them face up at the end of the turn. They were concerned about taking too long if they played the normal way.) And Kid 3’s mom pulled matching cards from the stack and handed them to Kid 3. Kid 3 put the cards together and figured out what the picture on each pair of cards was.
There is a huge range of knowledge and abilities in an average Little Lambs class. I loved watching the parents taking the activity and making it fit their kid. It was so awesome!
ABC’s Activity: Alphabet Sticky Note Wall
Susie at Busy Toddler has a fun active way to practice alphabet matching. I made some adjustments to fit a group. Using painter’s tape, I taped alphabet cards from 123Homeschool4me around the room. Since I don’t expect Little Lambs to be fluent in their alphabet skills, I chose cards that include both capital and lowercase letters.
I put post-it notes with lowercase letters on the cabinet doors (One set of letters per door per kid) for the kids. They would take a letter from the door, find the correct letter on the wall and stick it on card. Then they’d run back to the cabinet doors to get the next post-it note letter. Since I wanted this to be an “easy-mode” game, both sets of letters were in order. If the kids were older, I might scramble the letters of at least one set.
Sticky Notes
Did you know you can print on post-it notes? I had heard rumors, but I hadn’t tried it until I starting preparing for this meeting. I’ve created a template just in case you’d like to use your printer to print on post-it/sticky notes. (If you’d prefer to not print on post-it notes, it’s easy to handwrite on the post-its. I did in previous years!)
- Step 1: Print Page 1 on plain printer paper.
- Step 2: Add sticky notes to each square. (Template uses minis – 1 7/8 to 2 inches) They do not need to be placed perfectly.
- Step 3: Stick the paper in the printer – my printer needs to have the paper sticky note facing down. Your printer may be different.
- Step 4: Print one page of letters for each template you loaded.
- Step 5: Admire your printed sticky notes! (Hopefully.)
More of a visual learner? I have a video for you.
The template includes two sets, one lower clase and one upper case. There is a third option for the last page of letters just in case you want to use both upper and lower case letters.
Extra: Capital Letter Name Page
Have some extra time to fill? How about working on those fine motor skills with stickers? I had this name activity from Colors and Kiddos prepared in case we had extra time. (We didn’t! We were so busy in this meeting.) I had star stickers ready to stick on the capital letter. Any tiny stickers will work great.
Closing
Story: Dr. Seuss’s ABC
Dr. Seuss has been teaching kids their ABC’s for generations. I included Dr. Seuss’s ABC because it’s fun. The parent reading the book made it even more fun by encouraging everyone to read the repeating letters together.
Song: ABC Song
Really, what other song could we possibly choose this week?
If You’re Happy and You Know It
My Little Lambs co-teacher many years ago insisted that we end Little Lambs with If You’re Happy and You Know It. And ever since, it’s always seemed like the right way to close a meeting.
Prayer
We finish each Little Lambs meeting with an abbreviated version of the Lord’s Prayer.
Reminder
I chose these activities to fit my club’s meeting length and needs. Your club is different than mine! I have more activities here than are required to complete the award. If you have less time, prioritize a book, a game, a craft, and a song. Add more activities in to fit your time constraints. If you have extra time, you could repeat a fun activity or add in other alphabet-related activities. Pinterest is a great resource!
What is your favorite craft to make with your Little Lambs when you teach ABC’s award? Please share with us in the comments!