We just recently started doing letter and number games, and I have been amazed at what Ms. Tiger (age 3) already knows. Because she has years (3 to be exact) until she is able to start kindergarten, I feel no rush to force education upon her (and my mom the expert and retired kindergarten teacher agrees). But lately I have noticed she knows so much, it’s time to start facilitating learning in a fun way. That is how we came up with these fun games for my little preschooler that involve letters, numbers, and shapes.
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The first time I pulled out this activity it didn’t go as planned, but that doesn’t mean we didn’t have fun. It was the afternoon and Ms. Tiger was not in the mood to follow much direction, so I just let her put the milk caps all over the printable. It was more playing then learning. Sometimes I have to remind myself that first and foremost she should be having fun. If I take the fun out of the activity by giving too many directions or getting upset then I have failed. We ended up putting the activity away and trying it again later.
Directions:
- Have your kiddo place the milk caps in a row on the printable covering the circles. We started with the red milk cap, and then followed with the green caps. Then, remove the caps together and name the letter, number, or shape that was hiding under the cap.
- Ms. Tiger loved the surprise of it all. We started saying “peek a boo” and then the name of the letter, number, shape. This game was great for her level because she felt no pressure to not make a mistake. We were discovering together what was hidden under the milk cap and not quizzing her on her knowledge.
- Name a letter, number, or shape and have your kiddo find it and place a milk cap on top of it. Continue until all caps are used.
- This was a bit harder for Ms. Tiger because she is still learning to recognize her letters and numbers. At first I began with letters I knew she would know and then I would continue sequentially (A-B-C) . She eventually got the pattern of the game, and would know what letter I was saying because it was next in line. Once she figured it out, she felt less pressure and enjoyed the game more. We started with our red cap, and continued with the green caps to make a caterpillar.
Caterpillar Blackout-This game will require 24 milk caps
- Have your kiddos put a milk cap on each letter in any order they want to. Name the letter as the cap goes on. This game was great because she had freedom to place caps anywhere as we reviewed all the letters in the alphabet. Once all the letters are capped, have kiddo remove the caps in any order and name the letters as they appear. You can play this game again using all numbers or shapes too.
Click here to see more Very Hungry Caterpillar activities-Fun Food Ideas
Have a great day!