The Mom I Want to Be

The letter M is an extremely reliable letter.  It only makes the mmmm sound as in mat.  This makes it an easy letter to teach.

The activities are organized from easiest to most difficult.  Feel free to go only part way through the activities depending on the comfort level of the child!

 

1. Present a capitol and lower case M to your child.  See if she knows the name of the letter and the sound it makes.  Give examples of M words such as mouse, milk and Monday.

 

2. Read The Mitten

 

3. Go on a scavenger hunt around the house to find items that start with M for the M bag this week.  You might find mittens, mouse, map, muffin tin, marbles, mask, magazine, magnet, mirror, monkey, milk jug, etc

 

4. Create an M collage.  Have your child search through magazines for M words, and glue them to paper for her alphabet book.

 

5. Marble Painted M’s.  Cut out an M, and attach it to a piece of construction paper the same size as a shallow baking pan or cardboard box, using repositionable adhesive.  Place in the pan or box.  Drop a marble into a small dish of paint, using a plastic spoon to roll it until it is covered, and then remove it from the paint and place on top of the M.  Show your child how to tilt the tray to roll the marble around.  Try tilting with several marbles at once, dipped into different colors.  When dry, remove from construction paper and glue to a sheet of 8.5 x 11” paper for their alphabet book.

 

6. Provide a worksheet with a line of M’s to trace across the top and a blank spot below, cut out mitten shapes, a small length of yarn, stickers or bits of construction paper, markers and a glue stick.  Have your child decorate their mittens as desired, glue them to the page, then glue on the yarn to attach them together.

 

7. Other activities: Play mitten match – cut out several sets of mittens from construction paper, then decorate, making each pair different; act like monkeys, march to music, bake mini muffins, make macaroni collages, sing five little monkeys, talk about mommies, demonstrate a magic trick, buy a marbling kit – marbling paper is easy and fascinating for children – and use it to decorate an M, make strawberry Mice