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| Preschool Themes | The Alphabet Pages | Letter Aa

A *beary* nice welcome!
Fun Things to Do With the
Letter Aa

Activities & Crafts
Songs, Finger Plays, Nursery Rhymes
Recipes


Activities & Crafts:

I Know My Address
Encourage each child to memorize his or her address.  Draw and cut out a large construction paper house to place on a bulletin board.  Then, as the children memorize their addresses, invite each child to pin his or her name and address on the house shape.

A's on an A
Have the children trace the letter "A" and glue Alphabet cereal onto the outline.  Display the A's on a bulletin board with colorful drawings of "A" objects.

Aliens
Provide the children with an A-cutout.  Have them glue the A-cutout onto a piece of construction paper.  Encourage them to create a A-Alien by providing a variety of art materials.

Learning about the Apple
Give each child an apple.  Ask them to describe the apple using all their senses except taste.  Then cut the apple in half - explain that they grow from seeds.  Point out the various parts - ask to help you count the seeds - cut the apple into bite size pieces - let them eat a piece and describe how the apple tastes.

Recognizing the Letter "A"
Introduce the letter "A" to the children by showing them the written word "Apple" and helping them to see that it begins with an "A".  Cut a large apple shape out of paper and write the letter "A" on it.  Have the children tear or cut out magazine pictures beginning with the letter "A" and then glue the pictures on the apple shape.

Angels
For the body, cut out a large triangle from white construction paper.  From pink construction paper cut out a circle for the head.  Glue to the tip of the triangle.  Have the children dip their hands in white paint and make hand prints of each hand on light blue construction paper for wings.  Cut them out when dry.  Glue to back of body.  Add facial features with colored markers.  Add a gold pipe cleaner for a halo. 

Airport
Build an airport in your  dramatic centre.  Provide small chairs to line up for airplane, blazers and captain'shats , tickets, a hole punch, rubber stamps, ink pads, table, old suitcases (small), and pictures of airplanes, dress up clothes for traveller's, a flag for someone to wave when runway is clear.

A is for Astronaut
Make an Astronaut helmet out of paper grocery bag or cardboard box using foil, stickers, pipe cleaners, styrofoam balls and other items on hand.

Go on an Astronaut walk on the moon.   Have the children look for moon rocks (treasure hunt) made out of foil covered rocks or foil made into balls or rocks or Styrofoam painted in silver.

Ants
Use 3 sections of a cardboard egg carton to form the body of an ant.  The children paint it and add antennas, using pipe cleaners, on the first section.  Add four legs to each of the two back sections.  Add wiggly eyes (or draw in marker) on the front section.

Airplanes
Make paper airplanes and fly them outside!

Apple Juice
Show the children how apple juice (recipe) is made. 

Dried Apple Wreaths
Cut a wreath shape from cardboard.  Glue dried apples rings around the wreath overlapping them.  Add some dried flowers & leaves to fill in the wreath. Add a bow at the top. (Recipe  for Dried Apple Rings)

Make Apple Prints
Tips for Better Apple Printing: Cut the apples the day before you will use them for printing. Put the paint on a piece of paper towel in a tray. It becomes more like a stamp pad and the apples print better. 


Songs, Finger Plays, Nursery Rhymes:

A, A, What Can I Say?
A, A, what can I say?
Just what can I say about the letter A?
Air plane and alligator start with an A.
Acorn and apple begin the same way.
Anchor and astronaut start with A too,
As do apron and acrobat, to name just a few.
Abracadabra begins with an A
It's a magical work that I like to say.
Ant and axe both start with A
Lets hear it for A!  Hip, hip, hurray!

Let's Sing Hurray For A (sung to The Farmer in the Dell)
Lets sing hurray for A,
Let's sing hurray for A
Let's sing hurray for A today,
Let's sing hurray for A.
Apple and ant start with A,
Asparagus starts the same way.
Let's sing hurray for A today,
Let's sing hurray for "A"

I'm A Little Airplane
(tune:  I'm a Little Teapot) 
I'm a little airplane,  (children raise arms at sides to shoulder height.) 
Now watch me fly!  (They spin one of their arms in front of them as if it were a propeller)
Here are my instruments 
From down low to up high.  (With their other arm, they reach from the ground to above their heads.)
First I get revved up.  (Children make engine-like noises while still spinning their arms.)
Then I can fly,   (Children raise arms to shoulder height.) 
Lifting off the runway   (They start walking forward.) 
Up into the sky!   (They go up on their tiptoes and circle around and around the room!)

Ants
Ants, Ants, 
Everywhere, 
Rushing here, 
Rushing there. 
Carrying treasures 
To their nest, 
Never stopping 
For a rest. 
Ants, Ants, 
Here and there, 
Hurrying and scurrying 
Everywhere.

The Apple Tree
Two little apples hanging from a tree (fists in air) 
Two little apples looking at me (turn fists inward) 
I shook the tree as hard as I could (shake fists) 
Down came the apples (fists down) 
My! They were good! (rub tummy)


Recipes:

Ants on a Log
Spread cream cheese or peanut butter on a piece of celery or apple slice.  Add raisins for ants!

Apple Sandwiches 
Slice apples the "round way" so that a star is formed in the center. Spread a slice with peanut butter and top with a second slice to form a sandwich.

Applesauce 
For each quart of peeled and sliced apples, add: 
1 cup water 
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. lemon juice
1/4 tsp. cinnamon 
pinch of salt 

Cook until tender. Mash apples with a potato masher or electric mixer. Add more sugar, if needed. Serve cold. 

Apple Juice 
1/2 cup seeded apples 
1 cup water 
1 tsp. sugar

Blend the ingredients in a blender. Serve chilled.

Dried Apple Rings
Peel, core, and cut apples into rings. Soak in salt water for 15 minutes. Dry for two weeks.

Apple - Fruit Leather Logs
Cover a baking sheet with plastic wrap.  Spread 2 cups applesauce in a very thin layer on the wrap.  Bake at 150*F for 6 - 8 hours or until applesauce has a leathery look.  Cool slightly and remove the plastic wrap.  Roll up the fruit leather and slice it into small "logs".

bearpaw line

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