L Week- Letter L Sensory Tub

I had a bunch of fabric leaves, so I thought I would use them for this week's hide and seek bowl/sensory tub instead of pasta. Trip had enjoyed playing with them in the past, so I expected him to have lots of fun digging through all the leaves to find treasures. Unfortunately, he did not like the leaves much this time so it wasn't such a hit. Oh well!

L Week- The List

 
With six very large trees around our house, the amount of leave that have fallen in the last couple of weeks is staggering. Seeing as our yard and driveway have been thoroughly covered, L week seemed appropriate. Trip enjoyed playing in the leaves and I had fun finding pretty leaves on our walks.

Our L week fun included:

• a leaf and L object sensory tub
• a lion lunch
• playing in the leaves and then them getting covered in snow
• coloring on our light box
• a pasta lion
• a leaf-covered L
• painted leaves

My brainstorming list for L week is here.

C Week- Crocodile Clickers

I found the idea for these cute crocodile clickers on Pinterest and knew Trip would love them.

I cut out two strips of corrugated cardboard from a box and rounded the edges. I colored one side of each crocodile with a green Sharpie and the other side with a red one. I also added a face with silver and black markers.

Next came attaching the bottle caps. I considered several ways to do this, but ended up making a puddle of hot glue in each cap.

Once they were cool, I added another puddle on top of each one.

When the glue was built up a little, the caps could finally stick to the cardboard.

 Trip has had lots of fun playing with these cute clickers!

C Week- Food

I have so much fun finding foods that go with each week's letter. For C week, I made some special snacks for our many hours in the car and had a little fun with lunch once we got home too.

One of those snacks was a big batch of homemade Chex mix. I am crazy about the stuff and prefer to make it myself since the packaged kind is expensive and full of MSG and other junk. I also discovered these cool cheese crackers with letters on them at Grocery Outlet a while ago. They added both tastiness and the opportunity to practice letters.

I also made some C-shaped crackers using Smitten Kitchen's Whole Wheat Goldfish Crackers recipe. Last time, I followed the recipe exactly. This time, I used pepper jack cheese instead of sharp cheddar. They weren't as good right out of the oven, but a couple of days later, the flavors had really developed and they were slightly spicy and delicious.

After we got home, I made this tortellini caterpillar lunch for Trip. He absolutely loved it!

 

 He also enjoyed the cone filled with raisins, chocolate chips, and mini marshmallows he got to eat with it.

 

I had considered making this cloud dessert, but didn't end up getting it done, so it's something to save for next time.

C Week- Cloud Dough

I came upon the idea of cloud dough on I Can Teach My Child and was excited for C week to try it. My sister-in-law and nephew had already made some and reported that it was great fun. We waited until we were home from our trip to give it a try.

I mixed 4 cups of flour and 1/2 cup baby oil (which is half of the original recipe) in a big bowl, then we were ready to dig in. Trip enjoyed the silky texture of this substance.

He also liked smelling it and wanted to taste it.

It clumps together nicely and can be molded in cups, spoons, bowls, or sandbox toys.

This activity can be a little messy, so it is probably best done outside, on the kitchen floor, or at the table.

C Week- Bath Crayons

I had purchased some bath crayons on a great clearance this summer but hadn't tried them with Trip yet. He has been enjoying them for the last couple of weeks and bath time has become a great opportunity to work on letters and words. He asks me to write some of the letters we have learned so far and makes scribbles of his own too.

We have also worked on colors, 

and Trip loves to clean the writing and drawing off the walls with the rubber ducky sponge.

I love seeing where our work with letters can fit effortlessly into our normal routine. Some things we do require special planning and materials, but there are also many other times when we can practice letters while we go about our day.

C Week- Hide and Seek Bowl

A container with a lid made our C-themed hide and seek bowl easy to transport during our travels. It came in handy as a simple activity to pull out when Trip needed a distraction. We also had fun sharing it with a friend and letting him discover the contents too.