Thankful Spelling

November 22, 2019Leave a comment

Spell Thanks (3).JPG

Travis is quite proud of his spelling lately, so the Thanksgiving holiday was the perfect opportunity to practice with stick writing. What an advancement from when he and I made the alphabet in sticks before kindergarten started!

After a quick walk, we returned home with lots of little sticks. Make sure you have some that are long and some that are shorter.

Spell Thanks (1)

I had him carefully sound out the word T-H-A-N-K-S. As we got to each letter, he crafted it from sticks. He loved finding just the right piece, for example shorter sticks to cross his H or A.

Spell Thanks (2)

S was tricky, so we ended up snapping a long stick in such a way that it curved twice. He had so much fun that he continued to make letters on the floor for a while after! And I was thankful for that.

Spell Thanks (4)

Easy Spool Speller

February 18, 2019Leave a comment

Spool Speller (3)

Here’s a fantastic tool for kids who are learning to read and spell, made out of just a few upcycled items in your home!

Because Travis is a novice speller, I made a speller that featured three letter words, but bigger kids can accept the challenge of four spools!

On the empty spools, I wrote letters in permanent marker. Do try to think strategically for this: I had common beginning consonants on the first spool, vowels on the second, and common ending letters on the third.

Spool Speller (1)

Note: If you’re having trouble with this, download the template from Family Fun magazine’s Dec/Jan 2016 back issue.

Next I threaded the spools onto two pencils. Ideally, your empty spools will have small holes and fit around one pencil; however, I taped two pencils together, since my spools had wider holes. Secure the ends with eraser toppers.

Spool Speller (2)

Now twist and turn to make some words!

Spool Speller (8)

The speller worked in two fantastic ways for Travis. First, I could make a word and have him sound it out. This is great if you switch rapidly from one word to another. So if I have c-o-t it says cot…

Spool Speller (5)

…but if I twist just one spool, we have h-o-t hot.

Spool Speller (6)

More challenging was for Travis to try and make his own word, which he still needed some help with.

Spool Speller (7)

In sum, a great toy, and we’re thinking this will be perfect for car rides!

Little Tree Crate

December 2, 2018December 10, 2018Leave a comment

Little Tree final.JPG

We loved our Swirly Ornaments holiday crate from Kiwi Co., and the kit for Little Tree turned out to be just as wonderful. The project set the stage for a festive mood inside our apartment on a drizzly December morning. Read on!

To start making the tree, we first needed to do some math, dividing the kit’s green pipe cleaners into two equal piles. This was a neat way to introduce Travis to counting out two sets of something, just as you would for dealing out cards in a game, for example.

Little Tree (15)

Cut the pipe cleaners from one pile in half, and leave the others long.

Insert the provided wooden stick into the round wooden stand.

Little Tree (16)

Starting with the long pipe cleaners, wrap around the stand.

Little Tree (17)

Repeat with the short pipe cleaners. Travis loved the wrapping, and insisted on doing so himself for each one.

Little Tree (4)

Adult step: snip the pipe cleaners at an angle, so your tree is a triangle shape. Travis was really psyched to see our fake tree in the same tapered shape as our real tree.

Little Tree (5)

Peel the backing off a provided star sticker, and attach at the top of the tree.

Little Tree (6)

Next up, thread on the provided beads and bells as ornaments. “Which are ornaments and which are lights?” Travis wanted to know.

Little Tree (9)

Good question, but either way, all beautiful!

Little Tree (10)

To make the base, use any round bowl to trace a circle onto the provided red felt.

Little Tree (11)

Cut out and decorate with the provided gold glitter glue.

Little Tree (14)

Travis was equally delighted by the “presents” that can go under the tree – two wooden cubes, onto which we glittered-glued pom poms.

Little Tree (13)

You can set your tree out as a pretty decoration, and we also plan to leave it alongside cookies and non-dairy milk for Santa on Christmas Eve! It’s also the perfect size to be a play tree for your child’s stuffed animals.

Little Tree alt.JPG

To round out our festive morning, we made hot cocoa and added in a cute Snowman-themed spelling lesson from Education.com.

Little Tree (1)

This fun picture word match was a great way to cuddle up inside during the cold winter months and practice Travis’s spelling skills. For more spelling activities and printables like this check out Education.com!

Little Tree (2)