The Toddler Hacks Alphabet Letters A-M

 For the letter A we will be putting together a safari animal sensory bin, making airplanes and pretending to be animals. Download your printables this week to make an alligator from the uppercase A and an apple from the lowercase a. 

This week's shopping list is relatively straightforward!

Start off our themed week by week alphabet play by making your own animal alphabet. Plus learn the rhyme A-Tisket, A-Tasket.

 It's a safari animal sensory bin this week! For the filler we used packing peanuts but shredded paper would also work well! Find anything safari themed you have around your home - we had an animal match game we used and read the book The Ugly Five and tried to match some of the animals. 

 For this week's arts and crafts make airplanes with your toddler. There are 2 methods:

1. Wooden peg airplanes (the non flying version). Decorate a wooden peg and some lolly sticks. 

Stick 2 lolly sticks onto the top of the wooden peg. A glue gun will give the best stick but PVA glue is fine as long as you're prepared to wait for it to dry. 

Stick a thinner lolly stick or wooden part of a matchstick onto the front and back of your peg to make the propellor and wings. 

2. Paper airplane. Follow the guide we have up here to make a flying airplane then have a race with your toddler. Who can make theirs go the furthest? 

Play at being different animals for this week's active play! You could just call out some animals or see if you have a pairs or other game somewhere with animals on them, like this one. 

Can your toddler roar like a lion, reach up tall like a giraffe, trumpet like an elephant or run fast like a cheetah? Give it a go!

Make an alligator or apple out of the letter A as a bonus activity this week. The template is free to download below in the printables section!

 It's the letter C this week in the Toddler Hacks Alphabet! Set up a car wash for your sensory play, make clouds for the arts and crafts and do some chalk drawings in your active play. Plus download your printable to make a cat or cow out of the letter C.   

This week you will need some cars and cotton balls, as well as some (blue) card and chalk!

Sing Clap Your Hands with your toddler this week and read the C themed book, Oi Cat.

It's a car wash for this week's sensory play! 

• Get some mud! You can make this from greek yoghurt and food colouring OR cocoa powder, flour and water OR just use some real soil*
• Get some toy cars
• Get the cars dirty and then set up a bowl of water for your toddler to wash them 

Want to get outside? 

• If you've got a little tikes car why not set up a car wash station and get your toddler to wash it! 
• Or if you have a car you could wash that with your toddler 

* As with all the activities on here, please only set up things you are comfortable with. If your toddler puts things in their mouths or you're worried about infection risk then real soil is probably one to avoid

Make clouds out of cotton buds for this week's arts and crafts. 

Tear and stick cotton buds to a piece of card with PVA glue

If you want, put some food colouring in a bowl of water and help your toddler drip it onto the "clouds" with a pipette. A Calpol syringe would work just as well for this! 

 Another easy active play suggestion for this week's C theme. Get some chalk and get outside to do some pavement drawings! 

Why don't you challenge yourself and try to draw all the things you can think of beginning with the letter C? 

 Make a cat or cow out of the letter C for this week's bonus activity. I've done a simple printable to help you on your way, if like me you have zero drawing skills!  

Find the link below in the printables section.

 It's the letter E this week in the toddler hacks alphabet! Make an elephant and excavation themed sensory bin, make animals out of egg cartons and have an egg and spoon race! 
 

This week you will need some cars and cotton balls, as well as some (blue) card and chalk!

Your E-themed book for this week is The Odd Egg. Plus sing Eeny, Meeny, Miney, Mo!

 Feed the elephant for this week's sensory play. We made a simple elephant printable, which is available for download in the download section at the bottom of this page. The printable comes with peanuts to cut out and feed the elephant but you can always sub in real monkey nuts if you're peanut allergy free! 

Then to add interest we buried numbers from a counting game in rainbow rice left over from rainbow week. We found the numbers, counted out peanuts and fed them to the elephant! 

 For this week's E themed arts and crafts make egg carton animals. We made a turtle and a tiger. 

For the turtle, paint the egg carton green. On a separate piece of paper draw out a head and some fins for your turtle. Then cut out and stick to the bottom of the egg carton. 

How to guide is up here.

For the tiger, paint the egg carton orange. When dry use a marker to draw black stripes around the sides of the face and the top. You can stick ears onto the top. 

We used paint sticks for this activity to limit mess levels. Get some here - they're great if like me you can't face cleaning up the mess from paint and paint brushes!

 This week's E themed active play is to have an egg and spoon race with your toddler! We found the bigger spoon the better so used a serving spoon along with eggs from an arts and crafts kit. Plastic eggs would work just as well! 

 Make an elephant or egg out of the letter E for this week's bonus activity. We've done a simple printable to help you on your way, if like me you have zero drawing skills!  

Find the link below in the printables section.

 It's the Toddler Hacks Alphabet and we are onto the letter G! For this week's play, make gel bags, glue shapes and go on a green scavenger hunt. Plus make a giraffe or grape from the letter G.

Bit of a random list for this week! You'll need some resealable bags, some type of gel-like substance (like clear soap, hair gel, baby oil, hand sanitizer!), small objects like sequins, pom poms or beads and colourful card or foam!

Follow along Gerald's story in the magical rhyming Giraffes Can't Dance. Plus sing Goosy Goosy Gander 

 Make gel bags for this week's G themed sensory play! 

You may have seen these suggested for sensory play when your little one was a baby, but how about giving them a go and getting your toddler to make them with you! 

You'll need some liquid! Hair gel works well if you have some lying around. Or how about shaving foam or baby oil. Or to cut costs you could just use some water! 

Find things to put in it! Sequins, beans, buttons or pom poms - just have a look around your home for small objects. You could add food colouring and glitter too. 

Then you'll need a resealable bag. And one you trust is both resealable and leak proof!

If you're setting this up for a baby then tape it to a table. 

Bag got markings on it? Use some hand sanitizer to get them off!

Not keen on putting everything in a bag? If your toddler is past the point of putting things in their mouths how about moving it into a sensory bin, adding in a lot of water to make it water play!

 For this week's G themed arts and crafts glue shapes! 

• Cut out some shapes from coloured card 
• Get your toddler to glue them down! Easy! 
• One option is to cut them out of foam! We did this during shape week a few months ago. If you get a squirt bottle of water your toddler can then use the water to stick them to a window or door 

 For this week's G themed active play go for a hunt for green objects around your house or outside! How many can you find? 
 

 Make a giraffe or grapes out of the letter G for this week's bonus activity. We've done a simple printable to help you on your way, if like me you have zero drawing skills!  

Find the link below in the printables section.

 Welcome to the letter I! This week have an ice filled sensory play, paint with ice and play an imitation game. Plus make an iguana and ice cream from the letter I. 

You'll need ice, lolly sticks and food colouring for this week's set ups.

Your rhyme of the week is Incy Wincy Spider! And your I themed book is I Am Moana. Who doesn't love a sound book?

 Your sensory play this week is simple. Freeze some ice cubes and leave them out for your toddler to play with! Extra points if you want to freeze animals inside them for your toddler to break out. 

 Make some simple ice paintings for this week's arts and crafts for the letter I theme. Put water in an ice cube tray and add a couple of drops of food colouring to it. Put lolly sticks into each one. Once they are frozen create art! It will get more messy as they melt so it's a good one to take outside - I set it up in a tuff tray with a paper roll. 

 Play an imitation game for this week's I themed active play. You could set it up as a follow the leader style game but we imitated animals. 

 As we are still doing the Toddler Hacks Alphabet there's a free printable for you to create an iguana or ice cream from the letter I.   

Find the link below in the printables section.

 Welcome to K week! This week, use kinetic sand for your sensory play, create simple kites and play kickball. Plus make a kangaroo or kite from the letter K.
 

You will need kinetic sand (or any sand will do), some moulds, 4 lolly sticks and card for this week's activities.

Your rhyme of the week is Kookaburra Sits In The Old Gum Tree. Your K-themed book of the week is The Little Red Kite. Fly into this story and discover what happens when a sudden breeze pushes The Little Red Kite down towards the trees. Get your copy here or have a look for it in your local library.

For your sensory bin this week, fill a bin with kinetic sand and moulds.

I used moulds I have set aside from playdough from an old baking set.

Don't have kinetic sand? If you have a look online you can normally find some cheaper alternatives to kinetic sand (in the UK, The Works or ebay have options). Or use just normal sand!

For your arts and crafts for K week make simple kites.

1. Get 4 lolly sticks and stick them together in a diamond shape
2. Stick to a piece of card and cut this out in the shape of a diamond
3. You may need to reinforce it with some tape on the back
4. Decorate the kite! Paint, felt tip pens or tissue paper are all great options
5. Stick some ribbons to the bottom and there you have it - a simple kite!

Your active play for K week is to play a gentle game of kickball outside.

Another K related active play idea is to fly kites! If you have one sitting around then how about finding a windy spot and trying to fly it with your toddler?

 For your bonus activity this week, make a kangaroo or kite from the letter K.
 

Find the link below in the printables section.

Time for the letter M in the Toddler Hacks Alphabet. Make moonsand and masks with your toddler, plus play a game of musical chairs. Your bonus activity is to make a monkey or mouse from the letter M.  

You will need flour and baby oil for this week's sensory bin. Want to avoid using food? Sand will work just as well! Plus you'll need paper plates and some colourful paper or card.

Your rhyme of the week is Mary Had A Little Lamb. Your themed book is the very cute Little Moon - available here or try your local library. 

 Little Moon was born deep in space where it was cold and lonely. Join him on his amazing journey through our universe as he meets planets, black holes and stars in search of a warm, cosy place he can call home!  

For your sensory play this week make moonsand. You will need an 8:1 ratio of flour to baby or vegetable oil.

To make it taste safe use vegetable oil. I also heat treated my flour before using it, putting it in the oven at 200 degrees centigrade for 15 minutes. The theory behind this has been disproven but it make me feel better about my baby playing with it.

I used 16 tbsp of flour and 2 tbsp of baby oil but use whatever quantifies you've got.

I set it up as part of a space themed set up but you could always use it like sand or sub in actual sand instead.

For your arts and crafts for M week make masks.

1. Cut a paper plate in half
2. Carefully add 2 holes for eyes
3. To make a bird, draw semi circles around a piece of paper, using the paper plate as a guide. Cut out and stick to the back then add on a triangle for a peak. Colour in or paint the plate.
4. To make a rabbit, draw out 2 bunny ears and stick these to the back of the plate. Add on a nose and whiskers to the front.

Your active play for M week is to play musical chairs with your toddler.

 For your bonus activity this week, make a monkey or mouse from the letter M.
 

Find the link below in the printables section.