The Toddler Hacks Alphabet Letters N-Z

 Welcome to the Letter O week! This week make an orange sensory play, make owls from leaves and set up an obstacle course. Plus make an owl or octopus from the letter O.

This week you'll need an orange, some leaves from outdoors and some glue. If you don't have a big PVA glue it's worth getting one - such as this washable one.

 This week's rhyme of the week is Old MacDonald had a farm. Plus pick up a copy of the book of the week, the fantastic Oi Frog here. 

Make an orange themed sensory box for this week's Letter O themed set up. 

I started off with a satsuma I had in the fridge that I put in water along with the peel. My toddler had great fun separating out the peel from the edible fruit. After the activity I washed it and ate it so nothing went to waste! 

Then in the other part of my flisat table I made orange water. It's really simple to make mystery water, just add a scoop of cornflour and then some drops of food colouring. Retrospectively this wasn't a great idea as I didn't want my toddler to drink it. I had to keep telling him it wasn't juice!

 Make an owl from leaves for this week's O themed arts and crafts. 

• Go on a nature hunt and see what leaves you can collect
• Stick them on a piece of paper using PVA glue. I used a big leaf for the head and little ones for the body 
• Add 2 circles for the eyes and a triangle for the beak 
• And there you have it your owl 

 For this week's O themed active play  make an obstacle course! A surefire hit in the Toddler Hacks House is sofa cushions but see what you can find and scatter around!

Make an owl or octopus from the letter O for this week's bonus activity. Download your printable below.

 It's Q week in the Toddler Hacks Alphabet! This week's do colour matching with Q tips, create paper quilt squares and play a quiet game. Plus make a queen and quail from the letter Q. 

All you'll need this week is some cotton buds / q tips, colourful paper and glue!

This week's rhyme of the week is Queen of Hearts. And check out this week's book, The Queen's Hat.  A sudden gust of wind sets of a marvellous London adventure for the Queen, the Queen's men and one very special hat. So let's follow one determined, dare-devil queen through London Zoo, over Tower Bridge and up Big Ben ... just where will that hat land?
 

Get your copy here or have a look in your local library
 

 For this week's Q themed sensory play, do colour matching with Q tips or cotton buds! 

Cut them in half and colour in the cotton ends. 

Then you've got some different options for how to play! The simplest set up would be to draw something on a cardboard box (like colourful circles or a rainbow), cut out holes and get your toddler to fill in the gaps with the q tips. 

Or you could print off one of the printables we've designed and use that as your starting point. Get hold of them in the download section, below.

Very simple but effective! 

 For this week's Q themed arts and crafts make quilt squares. 

1. First cut out some squares from colourful paper. 
2. Then draw a grid on a piece of paper
3. Then stick the squares to the paper (we used pritt stick)
4. And that's it! 

It was one of those things that seems too simple to be enjoyable but it was a hit so why not give it a go!

This week for Q week play a quiet game with your toddler! 

The aim of the game is for your toddler to move quietly around the room. 

This week for your bonus activity make a queen or quail from the letter Q! Download your free file from the printable section below.

This week is the letter S . Set up some science themed sensory play, make shrinkies or sun catchers and play Simon Says. Plus make a snake or star from the letter S.

This week you'll need a few different items but trust us it's a good week!

• These colour mixing tabs
• Baking soda - I've now bought this big tub!
• Washing up liquid
• Vinegar
• Red food colouring
• A3 card
• Felt tip pens
• 
  

 This week's rhyme of the week is Sing a Song of Sixpence. And check out this week's book, Sid the Snake.

 "Sid started the day feeling so sad, not one single friend he’d had. He has ended it with five, all from a journey to a hive." Journey through the jungle with Sid the Snake as his acts of kindness lead him to unexpected friendships. This rhyming tale is about a feared Snake and how he makes some long lasting mates, as he travels through the jungle helping lots of other animals! 

Get your copy here or have a look in your local library

Do some simple science themed sensory play this week and make a volcano!

• Get a bottle or cup
• Place it upside down and draw around it on a piece of(ideally) A3 card
• Cut straight through to the middle f the card and cut out the circle in the centre
• Roll the card up to make a cone and secure it with sellotape
• Optional extra - use paint to decorate your volcano!
• In the cup or bottle mix together 1 tbsp baking soda (bicarbonate of soda) with 1 tbsp washing up liquid. 
• Add 2 tbsp of water to this mixture
• Put the cone on top of your cup or bottle with the solution in it
• In a separate jug mix together 1/2 cup of vinegar with 1 tbsp of red food colouring
• pour the vinegar mixture into the volcano and watch it erupt!

For some bonus science (ish) themed sensory play set up a colour mixing station!

Use these colour tabs from crayola and make red, yellow and blue water.

Set up them with 3 other glasses and a pipette and mix the colours together!

• Red + yellow = orange
• Yellow + blue = green
• Red + blue = purple
• Red + yellow + blue = brown

 Make shrinkies or sun catchers for this week's sensory activity! Ideally you'll use permanent markers or dry erase pens rather than washable, they will last a bit better.

• Get some plastic like the sort you get from fruit containers. Cut into shapes and colour it in! 
• If you'd like to make sun catchers attach some string so you can hang it up in a window. 
• Or to go one step further you can put it in the oven for 10-15 minutes at 180 degrees C until they start to shrink. All depends how comfortable you are melting plastic at home as it will release fumes. 

 This week's active play is to play Simon Says with your toddler. 

 For this week's bonus activity make a snake or star from the letter S. Download your printable from the section below.

It's the letter U this week in the Toddler Hacks Alphabet. Make an umbrella sensory bin, create an underwater scene and go under tunnels. Plus make an umbrella or unicorn from the letter U.

You'll need some weather themed toys for the sensory bin. I used:

• cocktail umbrellas
• a weather stacking game
• blue yarn

Then you could also get hold of:

• paper
• underwater themed stickerss

 This week's rhyme of the week is Up On The Housetop. And check out this week's book, The Big Umbrella. Get your copy here or have a look in your local library

For this week's U themed sensory activity set up an umbrella themed sensory bin. 

I don't normally buy things for my set ups but couldn't resist these cocktail umbrellas. I have such strong memories of my excitement when I managed to get my hands on one when I was a little kid! 

I didn't appreciate before putting them out that they have sharp ends. I was comfortable my 3 year old playing with them, less so my 1 year old. 

Then I used blue yarn I'd bought ages ago when I did the pasta week set up as the base. I had a weather balancing game already so put that out, along with plastic cups so I could work with my 3 year old to match and post the sun, clouds and rain. 

I also reused the rainbow insert from Q week as it was a hit then.

 Create an underwater scene for this week's arts and crafts. 

The simplest version of this is to use a blue sheet of paper and get drawing and colouring! 

I printed off some underwater scenes -available here - and we stuck stickers to them

This week's active play is to go under a tunnel. Stretching it a bit with the U theme but I ran out of inspiration! 

I used a large box we'd got a delivery in and it's been a hit so far with both my 3 and 1 year old. 

We've also got a pop up tunnel I bought when I was panicking about not having enough toys to put out when my eldest turned 1 and we had our first experience of a kids birthday party! They're cheap and it's been a great investment, so I'd say if you are looking to invest in something for active play then this is something well worth considering. You can get hold of them cheaply - this like this one here.

Someone mentioned a couple of weeks ago that her toddler loves rolling up rugs to make tunnels so we gave that a go too

For this week's bonus activity make an umbrella or unicorn from the letter U. As always, printable available to download here. 

It's the letter W this week in the Toddler Hacks Alphabet. This week, make a worm sensory bin, create wind socks and play wheelbarrows or with water balloons. Plus make a whale or worm from the letter W.

This week you will need:

• spaghetti or yarn
• a cardboard roll
• tissue paper
• glue
• and potentially water balloons if you are currently in a warm climate!

This week's rhyme of the week is Wee Willie Winkle. And check out this week's book, The Storm Whale. I think this is my favourite kids book I've come across so far - it's a simple story but with a lovely rhyme and great illustrations. 

Get your copy here or have a look in your local library

For this week's W themed sensory activity set up a worm sensory bin. 

We used cooked spaghetti for this one, but if you want to use non perishable fillers then the yarn from pasta or U weeks would work just as well. 

Then to make it more interesting, we made a bird insert for my flisat table. The file is available here if you want to print it off and give it a go!

Create wind socks for this week's arts and crafts.

1. All you'll need is a cardboard roll, either from kitchen roll (cut it in half) or a toilet roll. There's a bit of a debate how hygienic toilet rolls are so use what you're comfortable with. 

2. Then decorate it! We used paint. Mess levels were slightly contained as I'd put some paper underneath the cardboard roll. 

3. Cut out strips of tissue paper and stick them to the bottom. I've recently found a new love of pritt stick, it's so much less messy than PVA glue! 

4. Then you'll need to create a handle. I used a strip of coloured card for this and stuck it to the top. 

5. The idea is you hang these outside and they will move in the wind and show which way the wind is blowing. Ours have been kept inside as I think the British winter would quickly destroy them! 

This week's active play is to do wheelbarrow walks. Have your toddler put their hands on the floor and lift up their legs, encouraging them to walk forwards! 

If you're somewhere warm, how about also getting some water balloons and playing a game with them outside, seeing how far you can throw them and whether you can hit targets? 

For this week's bonus activity make a whale or worm from the letter W. Printable available to download here.

It's the letter Y this week in the Toddler Hacks Alphabet. This week, make yellow and yarn sensory bins, do yarn wrapping and do some yoga. Plus make yarn or a yak from the letter Y.

This week you'll need some yarn and some card.

This week's rhyme of the week is Yankee Doodle. And check out this week's book, George's Digger. I'm not a Peppa fan, but this book immediately comes to mind when I think of the colour yellow. Get your copy here or have a look in your local library

For this week's Y themed sensory activity set up a yellow themed sensory bin. All you have to do is find yellow coloured objects around the room.

For this week's bonus Y themed sensory play set up a yarn sensory bin! We used the yarn cut up for the letter U week, along with the pom poms from Football week, and set them up in a bin together. 

Do some yarn threading for this week's arts and crafts. 

You'll need a paper plate and some yarn or shoelaces. We have this lacing set so used the string from it.

Then get a paper place and draw on the picture you'd like to cut out. Before cutting it out punch holes around it - then cut out the picture and there you have it, a very easy DIY'd lacing toy!

This week's active play is to do some yoga together! 

There are specific classes for young kids out there, or if you know some simple yoga poses how about doing them and getting your toddler to mimic you? 

Or alternatively how about making it animal themed? Some suggestions here from last year's Arctic Week

For this week's bonus activity make yarn or a yak from the letter Y. Printable available to download here.