Toddler Activities: Learning the Alphabet & Numbers

Alphabet Train Matching Game 

I went to the Dollar Store and spent less than $15 on awesome craft supplies. The foam rectangles were perfect for the body of the train and the letters are foam stickers! I cut out smaller squares for the letters that L will match on the train.

Here's the finished project! I used painters tape (by recommendation from other mom blogs) on the backs of the train pieces. Of course this is the only place the whole train would fit... right down the hallway! Oh, well! The fun part will be watching L take all those pieces (with more tape on the back) and match them to the letters.

The Counting Caterpillar

I wanted to encorporate learning with fun so we made a caterpillar with numbers and fuzzy 

balls for sensory play! L loves to count things but needs to learn her order of numbers. 

I also found these awesome foam circles and fuzz balls at the Dollar Tree.

Here's the finished project! This one thankfully fit on the wall in the playroom.

"Mr. Alligator" as L calls him is a furry little guy who is filled with polka dots and numbers.

She will learn her numbers in no time with this fun sensory play craft - hopefully she will learn the difference between an alligator and caterpillar too! (haha!)

Octopus Fine Motor Skill Craft 

After the crafts were done and drying we decided to do another fun craft we found on another mama's blog that I absolutely love! This blog has so many great preschool crafts for fine motor skills and counting! Check it out and have fun getting creative!

http://www.mamaslikeme.com/

I got the construction paper and glue at the Dollar Tree, too! 

Cheerios, of course, we had at home in the cupboard and decided we could spare a handful for this fun octopus craft!

L enjoyed drawing polka dots on the legs of the octopus and then she had so much fun using the glue bottle to put the dots on for the cheerios to stick to. FYI - Yes, at first I was really apprehensive about letting her use the glue by herself but after reading so many blogs about Montessori learning and motor skills play I figured it really couldn't hurt to let her try this! She did AMAZING! She only "over-glued" once and even cleaned it up by herself. It proved to me she can do things like this and be great at it! I was so proud of her. 

I can't wait to make more crafts and share them with you.

XOXO, K.