Letter E Crafts and Activities

“Egg” plants

Items Needed

* Eggs & egg carton
* Potting soil
* Seeds (dwarf marigolds work well, but experiment)

Crack the egg and keep at least half of the egg shell intact. Drain the egg out and very carefully fill with soil. Push two or three seeds into the soil. Cover with a little more soil and place in carton. Repeat until carton is full of “egg” plants. Water gently. Keep in filtered sunlight and keep moist.

Option:  Gently write your child’s name on the egg shell with a “sharpie” or decorate with colored markers for a gift. For gift giving, send individual “egg” plants home with child in little “take-out” containers found at craft and party stores.

Egg Yolk Painting

Items needed:

* Eggs (just the yoke)
* Food coloring
* Small paper cups
* Paint brushes
* Paper

In the paper cups, add different colored food coloring to each egg  yolk. Use thick paper and paint brushes and let the kids “paint”. They’ll dry quickly and shiny! This is a fun and really easy project to do.

Elephant – Pin the trunk on the elephant

Items Needed:

* Poster board (grey)
* Grey construction paper
* Double Sided tape

This is the classic “pin the tail on” game! All you need to do is draw a big elephant on poster board paper and cut out trunks from construction paper. Take turns pinning the trunk on!

Eskimos

Items needed:

* Construction paper
* Scissors
* Cotton balls
* Glue

Make a large face from construction paper and draw in eyes, nose and mouth. Then have the kids glue white cotton balls around the face for a fur hood. While they are gluing, talk about how Eskimos live and need warm clothing.

Letter D Crafts and Activities

Alphabet Crafts and Activities

Diamonds

Items Needed:

* Lots of glitter
* Glue
* White cardstock
* Ribbon or string

Cut diamonds in various sizes and shapes out of cardstock, then punch hole in top of each diamond. Then add glue, glitter and string ribbon through the diamond for a beautiful necklace or decor. Instant glamour!

Doll Closet

Items needed:

* Unsharpened Pencil
* Shoe Box (with lid)
* Items to decorate your box

This is simple and very fun! Decorate the outside of a shoe box using markers, stickers, scrapbook paper, any craft supplies you have. Then poke two holes about 1 inch from the top of the shoe box. Insert the pencil like a closet rod into the two holes. Then your child can use little hangers to hang up her dolly clothes. Shoes can go on the bottom end of the box and you can make an accessory shelf by attaching the lid upside down on the top of the shoe box.

Dancing

Items Needed:

* Dressed up children
* Music
* Fancy food

Have the kids dress in their finest dresses and suits and have a dance, give mini lessons on the spot or before the dance so the kids will feel comfortable dancing. Put on classical music, serve punch and finger sandwiches and make it an afternoon to remember. Don’t forget to take pictures!

Dolls – Old Fashioned Paper Dolls

Items needed:

* Paper
* Pencil or pen
* Scissors
* Crayons, markers, stickers, buttons, etc.

An old favorite, paper dolls stand the test of time. Fold your paper accordion style and cut out simple body shapes, leaving the one hand and foot attached on the folded end. Cut and decorate doll forms with crayons, markers or paints. Add various fun items like stickers, buttons and more to make this a super afternoon activity! You can make different sizes of paper dolls and have a large chain of them.

Letter C Crafts and Activities

Creepy Creatures

Items Needed:

* Pipe cleaners
* Wiggle eyes
* Hot glue (for adults only)
* Felt (optional)

Use pipe cleaners to make snakes: bend one end at an angle like the number 7. Leave some for the neck and then wind the rest of the pipe cleaner into a spiral, leaving a small bit out for the tail. Glue on wiggle eyes with hot clue. You can also make a colorful snake by winding two colors of pipe cleaners together. Use other pieces of pipe cleaner or felt to turn your snake into other creatures with wings, ears, etc.

Comet Toss

Items needed:

* Styrofoam Ball (1 or 2 inches or bigger if you want a BIG comet)
* tennis ball or other ball that you’re not using for a ball anymore
* Pencil or pen to poke a hole
* Thin ribbon in various sizes
* Foil

Use the tip of your pen of pencil and poke a hole in the ball. Put a small dab of glue into the hole and take several strands of various color ribbon tied together in a knot and stick the tied end of the ribbon into the hole. Finally, use the aluminum foil to wrap the ball. Leave the ribbon hanging out like a tail.  The kids can use the comet to play catch, etc. Great for a science study or just to play catch!

Cartoons or Comic Strip Bookmark

Items Needed:

* Cartoon strips
* Cardstock or construction paper
* Glue

Cut favorite cartoon strip from Sunday paper. Glue onto cardstock and cut into strips. You can use the strips to make a fun bookmark for your child or another family member.

Letter C Activities

C is for Counting Games

ONE, TWO, BUCKLE MY SHOE

One, two,
Buckle my shoe;
Three, four,
Knock at the door;
Five, six,
Pick up sticks;
Seven, eight,
Lay them straight;
Nine, ten,
A good, fat hen

Eleven, twelve,
Dig and delve;
Thirteen, fourteen,
Maids a-courting;
Fifteen, sixteen,
Maids in the kitchen;
Seventeen, eighteen,
Maids a-waiting;
Nineteen, twenty,
My plate’s empty.

Cookies

Baking cookies is both fun and educational and even children as young as 2 can get involved. Depending on your child’s age let her help and don’t worry too much about how the final product will look or even taste. It is also fun to just put a pile of ingredients out so your child can play in that or with that while you bake cookies. Don’t forget to provide a variety of toppings for the cookies such as sprinkles, frosting, candies, etc.

Letter B Crafts and Activities

Boat

Items Needed:

* “Ivory” brand soap
* Coffee stir sticks
* Construction paper
* Tape
* Container with water for regatta

Cut the construction paper into sail shapes. Tape the sails onto a stir stick and then stick it into the soap. Make a mini regatta with a little wind power.

Option: For an older child; research what makes Ivory Soap float? For a younger child, help them do the research!

Bakery

Items Needed:

* Aprons
* Lunch bags
* Play dough
* Cookie cutters, rolling pins
* Foil or parchment

Cover your table with paper or plastic for protection. Your kids will spend hours playing with their play dough to “bake” cookies and other things. When they get to wear aprons and put the cookies in lunch bags it makes it even more fun!

Binoculars

Items Needed:

* Toilet Paper rolls (2 per child) (or cut a paper towel roll in half)
* Rubber bands or Masking Tape
* Stickers markers and other decorations

Tape the cut paper towel roll or toilet paper rolls together to make binoculars. Decorate them with stickers or markers, or if the child wants to leave them plain they can immediately start playing! Use the binoculars to play “I spy” around the house!

Bubble Maker

Items Needed:

* Paper Cup
* Drinking Straw
* Dishwashing soap
* Food coloring
* Water

* This activity is best done outside or in the bathtub!

Poke a hole in the side of the paper cup, closer to the bottom then the top. Put the straw in the hole. Add detergent, food coloring and water to the cup. Blow through the straw and bubbles will start to fill the cup and go into the air once they reach the top! This is a fun and easy bubble maker to make and play with.

Bird

Items Needed

* Multicolored feathers purchased at craft store. (Feathers you find in the wild may contain fleas etc. Not a good, clean source.)
* Paint
* Glue
* Paper/posterboard

Draw a bird and have them fill in the bird with the feathers.

Letter A Crafts and Activities

Apple Stamping

Items Needed:

* Paper
* Acrylic Paints
* Paper plates
* Apples

This is a fun activity for kids and a great one for learning as well. Cut an apple in half around the midsection so that you see the “star” in the center (so around the belly, not from stem to bottom).

Use acrylic paints on a paper plate as your ink palate. Stamp the apple image all over your paper for a fun look. Or get more creative and carve shapes into the apple halves and stamp again. Remember do not eat the apples after stamping.

Animal Charades

Items Needed:

* Slips of Paper
* Pens
* 3-5 children (or more)

Using the slips of paper write animal names and fold and pile all the slips in a pile on the table. Choose one child to start and have her select one paper slip with the animal name on it. Charades is a game played without the person acting out making noise so the child would then act out their animal leaving the other children to guess. The first to guess the correct animal will be next to be the actor.

Ants galore

Items Needed:

* Cardboard Egg Carton
* Pipe Cleaners
* Wiggly eyes
* Glue
* Brown paint and paint brushes

This is a great use for an old egg carton. Use 3 sections of the carton for the body and paint it brown. Use pipe cleaners for antennae and legs. Draw on eyes with makers or use glue for wiggly eyes on the head. You can make several ants at once and have fun playing with them!

Ant prints

Items Needed:

* Black or brown washable stamp pads
* Paper
* Markers

Using a black or brown washable stamp pad, have the kids make three fingerprints in a row for the ant body. Have them do this all over their paper in a pattern. Then using a black maker, draw in the legs, antennae and eyes.

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