Enchanted Mommy

Learning the Letter “T”

Terrific, tremendous, and tasty are all words that start with the letter “T”, and they also describe today’s special “T”-themed activity: Tic-Tac-Taco! 

This fun and re-usable activity includes a printable game board and pieces that kids can color however they want before cutting them out to use as moveable game pieces. All you need to get started is a printer and some crayons, markers, or colored pencils.

The first step to this activity is to print out the following game board:

Letter T Activities for preschool children

While the board comes pre-colored, you can always choose to print it in black and white to let your kids have complete control over how it looks after they have decorated it.

Once you have the game board ready, it’s time to print out your tic-tac-taco pieces. What sets this game apart from regular tic-tac-toe is that instead of playing with Xs and Os, this version of the game uses two different foods that start with the letter T: tacos and tortilla chips. Even better, these game pieces can be cleared off the board and re-used time and again so you aren’t using an entirely new sheet of paper every time you play!  

To get your game pieces, print out the following sheet and have your kids color in the tacos and tortilla chips however they want. Once they have been brought to vibrant life, it’s time to play! 

Letter T Activities for preschool children

Learning the Letter “S”

If you’re making your way through the alphabet with your preschooler, it’s easy to get stuck on what seems to be the simplest letters! In trying to find inspiration for the later letters in the alphabet, I realized that so many activities for learning the letter “s” are about snakes. Yikes! I know I hate snakes, and maybe you and your kid do too. What if you want something a little more fun and seasonal? 

For this activity, we’re going to be focused on one of my favorite flowers, and one of my favorite “s” words: sunflowers! This activity is perfect for the spring and summer, which are also great seasons to get your preschooler familiar with the letter “s”. Today, we’re making paper plate sunflowers! This craft is simple, inexpensive, and uses materials you’re likely to already have around your house! 

Here’s what you need: 

  • 1 paper plate
  • 1 craft stick
  • 1 piece of green foam paper
  • Yellow paint
  • Green paint
  • Handful of sunflower seeds
  • Scissors
  • Glue

First, cut small triangles out of the rim of your paper plate. Show your child how to cut on an angle so the gaps look like flower petals. Cut all the way around the plate. Then, paint the craft stick green and the paper plate yellow. Let the paint dry and then begin to glue the sunflower seeds to the middle of the plate. 

At this point you can also cut two small leaves from the green foam paper and glue them to the craft stick. Now you’re ready to glue the craft stick to the back of the paper plate to act as your stem, and your paper plate sunflower is complete! 

Looking for more ways to teach your child the letter “s”? Check out the printable coloring page of a beautiful sunflower field below! 

Letter S Activity for Preschool Children

Learning the Letter “R”

ROOOOOOOAAARRR!

That’s the sound of a lion, and it’s also the sound of today’s featured letter – R!

Many parents and little ones are cooped up inside right now and craving connection with the outdoors, which is why our letter “R” activities are all about nature and the outside world.

Along with letters, animal names and sounds are among preschoolers’ favorite things to learn and explore. How many “R” animals can you think of together? Here are some animal names that begin with R:

  • rabbit
  • rooster
  • rhinoceros
  • raccoon
  • rat
  • rattlesnake
  • reindeer
  • ram

Preschoolers love imaginative play, so a great way to learn this letter is pretending to be “R” animals together! Emphasize the letter “R” as you turn yourselves into rabbits, rattlesnakes, or roosters. For more immersive fun, print and cut out these adorable animal masks to complete your transformation.

Letter R Activity for Preschool Children
Letter R Activity for Preschool Children

Another great “R” word is RAIN! You can enjoy the soothing sound of rainfall even indoors by making a rainstick. Here’s what you’ll need:

  • Pencil
  • Scissors
  • Paper towel roll
  • Aluminum foil
  • Brown paper grocery bag
  • Rubber bands
  • Dry beans or rice
  • Colorful yarn or ribbon (optional)

Your paper towel roll will serve as the body of the rainstick, while the grocery bag will be used to cap the ends. The aluminum foil will be coiled up inside the tube, helping to slow the beans and rice as they fall and creating that familiar rain sound.

Begin by gathering all of your supplies.

Letter R Activity for Preschool Children

Trace the end of the paper towel roll onto the grocery bag.

Letter R Activity for Preschool Children

Then, draw a larger circle around the traced one, leaving about two inches of space between the circles. Do this two times. Cut out your circles and set them aside.

Letter R Activity for Preschool Children

Use the aluminum foil to create a spiral. We recommend making one skinny spiral and one fat one, then nesting one inside the other. This will do the best job of filling up the tube and making your “rain” fall nice and slowly.

Letter R Activity for Preschool Children

Measure out ¼ to ½ cup of rice or beans to go inside the tube.

Now it’s time to put it all together! First, cap one end of the tube by folding a grocery bag circle over the end and securing it with a rubber band. 

Letter R Activity for Preschool Children

Next, insert your foil spiral. After that, you’ll want to carefully pour in the beans and rice. Finally, cap the second end of the tube just as you did the first.

And that’s it! If you want to decorate your rainstick, you can add some pretty ribbon or yarn to cover the rubber bands. If your preschooler wants to color on the tube or decorate it with stickers, it’s best to do this before the rainstick is assembled.

Letter R Activity for Preschool Children

Learning the Letter “N”

Not sure how to teach the necessary letter N? You’ve come to the right place. 

For kids who are preschool aged and who are starting to learn the alphabet, it’s fun to find different activities to help them learn the letters. That way, there’s something to remember the letters by! It’s always fun to start teaching your kids new things, and with different activities, not only will you be able to keep them busy but you’ll also be able to make some memories with them. 

While there are tons of different words starting with the letter “N,” there’s nothing more magical than the starry night sky. 

That’s why we thought it would be fun to teach the letter “N” by creating a beautiful glow in the dark night sky for your child’s bedroom ceiling. Let’s get started. 

Here’s what you’ll need

To get set up to make these glow in the dark stars, you won’t need many materials. You’ll definitely need to supervise your preschooler while you use some spray paint that’s involved, but otherwise, this is a no muss no fuss type of craft! 

These are the materials you’ll need to create your night sky: 

  • Scissors
  • Old cereal boxes 
  • White paint 
  • Glue dots or command strips 
  • Glow in the dark spray paint (you don’t have to use spray paint if you’d like to use a paint you can brush on instead) 

The first step is to outline your constellations and stars on the cereal box. You can use the stencils below for your stars! 

Letter N Activities for preschool children

Your next step is to paint the stars, moons, and other planets of your night sky white. Let them dry completely before moving on to the next step. Step three is to use your glow in the dark paint and coat the night sky stars, moons, and planets with several thin coats of the paint. 

Charge your night sky by leaving it out in the light for 15-20 minutes where the light or the sun can charge the glow in the dark paint. Then you’ll be ready to stick your stars on the ceiling and create a beautiful night sky! 

You need the letter “N”, so here are (n)ine other words that start with “N”: 

  • Nose
  • Nickel
  • Nurse
  • Ninja
  • Necklace
  • Name
  • Noise
  • Nana
  • Noodles 

Learning the Letter “J”

Time to get excited, because today we’re learning the letter “J”! There are so many cool words connected to this letter, but we’re going to focus on jewelry. 

Making jewelry is a fun and creative way for children of all ages to express themselves. Whether it is making friendship bracelets or a pretty beaded necklace for mom, kids can practice independent expression while showing affection for loved ones. Creating jewelry and patterns using colorful objects assists kids in developing fine motor and planning skills. Completing these activities with friends can also help them develop social and communication skills. 

Now, have you ever heard “Diamonds are a girl’s best friend?” Well, today “Snacks are a preschooler’s best friend!” We’re teaching you how to make a cereal and marshmallow rainbow necklace. This craft will double as a fun and tasty craft for your little ones. 

But don’t worry, this cool activity only requires a few materials and it’s hardly messy! 

What you will need:

  • Fruit Loop Cereal
  • Marshmallows
  • Yarn or String 
  • Plastic yarn needle 

First, sort the fruit loop cereal into piles by color. Secondly, color coordinate the fruit loop cereal to pattern a rainbow. Finally, add marshmallows at each end to symbolize the clouds at the end of a rainbow. 

Preschool age kids will need assistance with threading the needle, but afterward they will have so much fun adding the fruit loops and marshmallows. When they’re all done, they can rock their cool new necklace, or have a blast eating it. 

You can also find more details on how to make this necklace here

After this activity, have some more creative fun with this jewelry coloring illustration. You can download and print them, and let your preschoolers’ imagination run wild! 

Letter J Activity for Preschool Children

Learning the Letter “I”

The letter “I” is an important one for preschoolers to learn. However, this letter can be tricky because, like the other vowels, “I” makes two different sounds.

You can hear the “long I” in many words your preschooler already knows – words like “smile”, “time”, and “night-night”.  “Short I” also crops up in plenty of common words like “fish”, “sit”, and “tickle.”

For this letter with TWO sounds, it only makes sense to have TWO different fun activities. First up – homemade Long-I ice cream!

Whipping up a micro-batch of ice cream at home is quick, fun, and uses real ingredients you probably already have on hand. Here’s what you’ll need:

  • 1 gallon-size plastic bag
  • 1 sandwich-size plastic bag
  • 1 cup half-and-half
  • 2 Tbsp sugar
  • ½ tsp vanilla 
  • Ice
  • ¼ cup salt (rock salt or kosher salt work best)

Add your half-and-half, sugar, and vanilla to the sandwich-size bag. Close it up, eliminating any air from the bag as best you can. (Make sure the bag is completely sealed – you don’t want salt getting in and ruining the ice cream!)

Place your bag of ice cream mix into the gallon-size bag. Fill the gallon-size bag about halfway with ice, then add your salt. Seal up the gallon-size bag and shake, shake, shake! After shaking for 6-8 minutes, remove the sandwich-size bag. Rinse it well with cool water to remove all the salt, then squeeze into a bowl and enjoy.

For your next batch, add a little chocolate syrup, peppermint extract, fresh fruit, or crushed candy. You could even try a dash of food coloring to create something totally unexpected. You definitely won’t find blue vanilla with strawberry and chocolate chips in any grocery store.

When your little ice cream chef is ready to move on, share the coloring page below. See how many “I” words you can find together.

Letter I Activities for preschool children

Learning the Letter “G”

The letter “g” is associated with so many fun activities and objects. One in particular that comes to mind is the guitar. 

Music is a fantastic way for children of all ages, from preschool and beyond, to express themselves. Music allows children to dance, sing, and exert energy in an uplifting way. It also can help them learn new things, like memorization and motor skills. 

One of the most popular musical instruments is the guitar. The guitar is a string instrument and comes in two forms: acoustic and electric. Lots of music genres use the guitar, some of these include country, punk rock, pop, metal, jazz, and more.

This letter “g” activity is a fun musical activity that allows preschoolers to be creative and make them feel like a real-life rockstar. While most of us don’t own a guitar, you might be surprised at how easy it is to make one at home with just a few items. This activity requires scissors, so please make sure a parent or guardian is available to help cut.

To make your very own shoebox guitar, you will need the following items: 

  • 1 Shoe Box
  • Cardboard
  • Rubberbands 
  • 1 Pencil 
  • 1 Pen
  • Scissors
  • Tape
  • Stickers (optional) 

Watch this YouTube tutorial below to create your own!

If you don’t have any of the above items readily available at home, there are a few other fun activities you can do instead that involve the instrument. You can listen and sing along to popular songs that use a guitar or you can download, print, and color in the guitar illustration below.

Letter G Activity for Preschool Children

Let us know in the comments below how your shoebox guitar turned out and what songs you played with it!

Learning the Letter “E”

So many exciting and extraordinary words start with the letter E. For preschoolers who are starting to work with the alphabet it’s always fun to mix in new and creative activities that involve the letters of the alphabet. Today we are sharing with you fun activities to do with preschoolers that involve the letter E.

This activity requires very little mess, which also means very little clean up for you, mom. For this activity you’ll just need some colored pencils or crayons and the free to use picture for coloring.

We will be coloring a beautiful majestic elephant and a cute egg. Both of these things start with the letter E.  While sharing them with your preschooler you can help them make the letter E sound and invite them to color in the picture.

Letter E Activities for Preschool Children
Letter “E” Activities for Preschool

While things in the world may not seem so positive right now, elephants are beautiful creatures that symbolize many great things. While your kids are coloring their pictures, take this time to talk with them about elephants and how people believe they symbolize good luck, power, and wisdom – all things that are great to be reminded of.

“Eggs” are great for helping preschoolers learn the letter e because of the many related words that start with E.   When it comes to eggs – you (e)at them, they give you (e)nergy and they are (e)xtra delicious. Make your egg colorful and fun! Something that really shows your personality. 

Letter E Activities for Preschool Children
Letter “E” Activities for Preschool

In the comments below, feel free to share other activities that can help preschoolers learn the letter E.  

(E)ight other fun words that start with E:

  1. Earth
  2. Empathy
  3. Excitement 
  4. Elbow
  5. Engine
  6. Eye
  7. Exit 
  8. Entry

My Fireplace Is Ready For Halloween!

Happy early Halloween!  I’m trying to keep life as on-track as possible for the girls right now.  I’m 39, yes 39, weeks pregnant today. We just had so much fun decorating the fireplace!  In case you don’t remember my fireplace before we white washed it, here is that post.  You might notice that we added a little molding around the old thin mantle (thank you, dad).

halloween-new-wreath-2

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Not-So-Healthy Kids Snacks

As any mother can tell you, the only thing harder than trying to eat healthy is trying to get your kid to eat healthy. Just try giving your kid a side of broccoli for dinner: It doesn’t matter how much cheese you smother it in, odds are it will still end up going to the dog. Going through this cycle night after night can be discouraging. Luckily for you, many companies are developing tasty, healthy alternatives for food, with the promise that these items are chock full of vitamins and nutrients to help child development. Unfortunately for you, many of these so-called “healthy alternatives” are not as good for your kid as they might appear to be.

Using data from FoodFacts.com, we examined three foods that many consider “healthy alternatives” for kids, and we debunked some of the health claims behind them.

 

 

1)   Annie’s Homegrown Fruit Snacks 

annies“It says organic, so it has to be healthy.” Right? Wrong. These organic fruit snacks are widely considered healthy because they contain 0 grams of fat (any kind), sodium, and cholesterol. On top of that, they are chocked full of so much Vitamin C, they provide 340% of the recommended daily value. However, these statistics don’t tell the whole story. For starters, these 3 oz. bags of fruit snacks contain 250 calories each, a frighteningly high amount for a tiny bag of gummies. Additionally, each bag is full of 33g of sugar, more than enough to give your kids cavities and send them bouncing off the walls.

FoodFacts Grade: C-

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