B—Campfire Bananas: Split a banana’s skin down the middle. Pack the
sides of the banana with chocolate chips,
mini marshmallows, or caramels. Wrap
in foil; bake in oven or over a grill until
melted. Form B’s with chocolate chips
and marshmallows.
C—Croissant Chicken Grape Salad:
Make sandwiches and form C’s with
grape halves.
D—Dirt Cups: Layer chocolate pudding, crushed Oreo cookies, Cool Whip,
and gummy worms in a cup. Make D’s
with gummy worms.
E—Egg Omelets: Experiment with
different combinations of ingredients.
Name the winning omelet after that
child. Children make E’s with green pepper slices.
F—French Toast Kabobs: Cut up
squares of cooked French toast. Slide
them on wooden skewers with slices of
bananas and fresh berries. Form F’s with
several kabobs.
G—Grilled Cheese: Make G’s with
strips of cheese and ham inside the sandwich; then grill.
H—Hot Dog Pasta Bites: Form H’s with
several hot dogs. Then slice into inch-sized
pieces and poke raw spaghetti in both sides.
Boil in water for several minutes.
I—Ice Cream Sandwiches: Make ice
cream sandwiches by spreading soft ice
cream between two soft cookies and then
roll the ends in sprinkles. Children make
letter I’s in sprinkles in a bowl.
J—Johnny Cake Casserole: Pour wet
cornbread mix over sliced hot dogs that
form the letter J and bake in oven.
K—Kabobs: Make fruit kabobs with
sliced bananas, berries, grapes, and
marshmallows. Dip in flavored yogurt.
Make K’s with grapes and berries.
L—Lasagna: Preschoolers cut out L’s
with extra lasagna noodles and use them
for each layer.
M—Mini Monkey Bread: Pour a shallow bowel of sugar and have the child
make M’s with his finger in it. Then use it
to make the bread in cupcake tins.
N—Noodles: Cook several types of
noodles and let the child dip them in marinara or white Alfredo sauce. Children
form N’s with raw or cooled noodles.
O—Oatmeal Bars: Children make
the letter O in a shallow dish of raw oats
and then mix up a batch of healthy oatmeal bars.
P—Pizza: Purchase a roll of packaged
biscuit dough, and cut one large biscuit in
www.TheHomeschoolMagazine.com
half. Roll it between your hands to make a
long snake. Form the letter P out of several
of them, then flatten the shaped dough and
bake until golden. Take out and add pizza
sauce, cheese, pepperoni, or other favorite
toppings and bake 5 minutes.
As home educators,
we have the distinct
advantage of creating
that “children’s garden”
with a plethora of
sensory activities that
enriches the preschool
child . . . .
R—Rainbow Bread: Paint rainbows
and R’s with food coloring and milk on
bread, and then make cinnamon sugar
toast.
S—Snowman Hot Chocolate: With
decorator’s frosting, make snowman faces on large marshmallows and then float
in hot chocolate.
T—Taco in a Bag: Open an indi-vidual-size bag of corn chips and layer
cooked taco meat, cheese, and lettuce inside. Make T’s with corn chips.
U—Upside-Down Cake: Make mini
pineapple upside-down cakes in a cupcake tin. Cut up pieces of pineapple to
form the letter U.
V—Vegetables: Make a fresh vegetable tray for lunch and let the children dip
the veggies in Ranch dressing. Children
form V’s with the vegetables.
W—Worms: Bind fifteen straws together with a rubber band. Pour cooled
Jell-O into the straws. Chill. Run water
over them after they are set and watch
the worms slide out. Make W’s with several worms, and then eat them!
X—Cookies: Children cut out X’s
in sugar-cookie dough. After they have
been baked and cooled, dip one end of
the cookies in melted chocolate and add
sprinkles.
Y—Yogurt Parfaits: Layer yogurt
with fruits, granola, or cereal. Make Y’s
with cereal.
Z—Zoo: Stick animal crackers in cel-
ery with peanut butter. Add a few raisins
as their food, in the middle. Form a big Z
with the “celery sticks zoo.”
These fun activities can help your
child become good friends with phonics
and embrace the skills that will give him
a solid foundation for literacy. With a
little planning, you can take away the
tedium of drills and make phonics fun.
You’ll be glad you did.
Jan May is a graduate of the Institute of
Children’s Literature and has a college
background in Biblical studies and Christian education from North Central University, Minneapolis, Minnesota. She is a
fifteen-year homeschool veteran and creative writing teacher and is the author of
Isabel’s Secret, the first New Millennium
Girls chapter books and writing curriculum for tweens. She hosts a fun website for
homeschoolers with free resources, projects, and kid friendly recipes. Come visit!
www.NewMillenniumGirlBooks.com
Endnote:
1. Geiser, Traci, All About Preschool: Phonics and
Phonemic Awareness. ( www.Education.com/
phonemic awareness.com)
