I like to do crafts and activities with my kids, but I don't generally have a lot of free time to prepare stuff... I think activities that can be put together in 2-3 minutes are ideal.
Today for Day 15 of our A Very Toddler Christmas series we are going to practice some alphabet letter matching using stockings. This only took a few minutes to prep.
MATERIALS NEEDED FOR ALPHABET STOCKING MATCHING GAME:
- 1-2 copies of printable stockings on cardstock
- painters tape
- scissors
- a sharpie
- envelopes
If your child isn't ready to work on alphabet letters yet, don't worry! They'll still have fun sorting in their own way so let them try this.
HOW TO PLAY THE ALPHABET STOCKING MATCHING GAME:
1. Decide how many letters you want to use. We used 5 letters (all of the ones in my daughter's name). You could use colors or shapes instead too.
2. Stick up envelopes on the wall... one for each letter (or shape/color). Make sure you tuck the flap inside the envelope so it is easy to stick things in each one without having to open anything.
3. Print off enough printable stockings so you have two for each letter (I needed 10)... and cut them out.
4. Write the letters on the front of the envelopes and also on the stockings. There should be two stockings with the same letter on them and then a corresponding envelope with the same letter.
5. Mix the stockings up and put them on the ground. Have your child find the letter matches and put them in their corresponding envelopes.
6. Throw the paper stockings in the air like snow when you are done, and then try again.
If your child isn't working on alphabet letters, just have them try and fill up as many envelopes as they can with stockings and don't worry about which one they put them in.
This activity works on fine motor skills a bit, helps kids practice matching and identifying letters, and also gets them excited about the letters in their name. You can use all the ABCs or just pick a specific ones to practice. If you don't have envelopes, string up some yarn across the room and clip the stocking pairs up using clothespins.
After we matched the letters for a bit, then we used them to spell my daughter's name and talk about it together.
Try this activity out today and let me know how it goes. I loved it because it was so quick and easy to set up.
If your little one likes envelopes, she may also like toddler envelope sorting (scroll down in the post).
Another fun stocking themed activity to try would be our bubble wrap printed stockings that we shared over at Life Your Way.
If you need some activities to get you moving and learning with your kids after you've done your simple holiday activity, check out posts from our move and learn series. They are awesome.
If you've missed any of them so far you can find all of the A Very Toddler Christmas series posts HERE.
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