Little Hands-On ABC's and 123's - ABCs at Snack Time

Sometimes the unplanned, simple idea works really well.  I had a different post in mind, but the night I was to write it, this activity happened and I decided it was a better idea for now.

I have a toddler boy who does not sit still for very long so I look for teaching opportunities whenever they can happen, like at snack time, when J-jo is obliged to sit.

 

This particular week, I had the letters c, m, a, t out for J-jo.  So I quickly made a little mat...

...and then started asking him questions.

"J-jo, can you feed the 'a' a grape?"

"Great job! How about the 'c'? Can you feed 'c' a grape?"

"Great job!  Can you give 'm' a grape?"

"Now 't' wants a grape."

"Great, J-jo.  All the letters have grapes.  Now can you eat the grape that is on the 'c'?"

"Next, can you eat the grape that is on the 't'?"

This activity would work for a lot of material - other letters, sight words, cvc words, numbers, addition, subtraction, shapes, colors....  Just make sure the snack is relatively dry:)