Letter recognition eggs

So, Easter is over and you seem to be left with lots of empty, redundant plastic eggs. Instead of storing them for next year, put them into good use and change them into a fun literacy game to promote letter recognition. All you need is some sticky labels/masking tape and a pen.


Who can play?
This activity is intended for children aged 3 years and above, however all activities depend on the child's age and stage of development.

Safety:
The plastic eggs could cause a choking hazard if your child puts them in their mouth. Supervision is recommended at all times.

What do you need?

• Empty plastic eggs
• Sticky labels/masking tape, to write the letters on
• Marker
• Container to store the eggs

What did we do?
To set up the activity, I took a plastic egg and wrote an upper case letter on one half and a lower case letter on the other.

1. Make 6 eggs with the upper case and lower case letters s,a,t,p,i and n (The first letters that are taught in the Department For Education and Skills Letters and sounds document) I did this by writing the letters on the sticky label (but you could also use masking tape) and sticking it to the upper and lower half of the egg.
2. I then separated the eggs so that when my daughter visited the activity, she would have to firstly recognize the letter and then find its corresponding upper/lower case letter
3. Once she had recognized the correct pairs she attached both halves together, developing her fine manipulative skills.

What did we learn?

• Communication and language-Speaking and listening.
• Physical development- Fine manipulative skills when trying to open and close the eggs and coordination.
• Personal, social and emotional- Making relationships, social skills, feelings and self help
• Literacy- Linking sounds to letters, learning and how to read. Recognition of upper case and lower case letters.
• Mathematics- Matching and sorting. Finding the correct sized other half of the egg

What could be done next?

• To add an extra twist to this game, you could add small objects that begin with the letters on the eggs and that can fit inside. The children can sort and classify them into the correct egg.

• Hide the eggs in the garden or in the home. Once they have been collected the child has to tell what the letter is on the front.
• You could write the rest of the alphabet on the eggs to complete the set
• If this activity proves too challenging for your child, instead of writing upper and lower case letters, you cold write the same letter on both sides of the egg. You could also write a letter on the top half and then a drawing of an object that begins with that letter on the other.

Bunny bowling

Want to make an easy and fun Easter game with your child? Look no further. This home made game is a great activity during the run up to Easter, or could be given as an alternative chocolate free gift.

                                                     

Who can play?

Children aged 2 years and above. As all activities it depends on the child's age and stage of development.

Safety:

Secure the lid on the bottle by applying cello tape. This will ensure that the lid does not come off and pose a potential choking hazard.

What do you need?

• 6 empty water bottles.
• A ball
• 6 cotton wool balls and glue
• Card
• Scissors
• Felt tip pen
• Food colouring and water
• Chalk to record the score

What did we do?

Firstly, we made our bunny bowling pins by following the steps below:

1. Apply glue to a piece of cotton wool and stick onto the back of the bottle (lower half).
2. Fill the bottles with a few drops of food colouring. Add half an inch of water. This not only helps children develop colour recognition when knocking down the bottles, but helps them stand up.
3. Draw 6 bunny faces on some card and cut out
4. Cello tape around the lid of the bottle to secure it into place
5. Add bunny faces to the top of the bottles.
6. Arrange the bottles in a triangular formation.

Next, we learnt how to play our bowling game. Bee tried rolling the ball on the ground, however she found out that if she threw it, it knocked down more bunnies. At first we just practiced rolling/throwing the ball into the rabbits and lining them back up. We then took it one step further and began recording our scores on the floor with chalk, to encourage mathematical and literacy skills.

 If she knocked down two rabbits she record this by putting two lines under her name. We would then compare how many rabbits we had knocked down and talked about more and less. 

What did we learn?

• Communication and language- Talking about what she is doing and what is happening.
• Physical development- Fine and large manipulative skills (rolling and throwing) and coordination
• Personal, social and emotional- Making relationships, social skills, fun and enjoyment and following the rules of the game.
• Literacy- Recording scores with chalk (mark making)
• Mathematics- Developing an awareness of space and measurement. Recording scores in a table and counting how many bunnies she has knocked down. Learning about more and less.
• Expressive arts and design- Creating her own game and developing an awareness of colours.

What could be done next?

• At the end of the activity, Bee made up her own game, by lining up the bunnies and then knocking them down with beanbags. She asked me to call out a colour and she would try to knock them down.
• Add numbers to the bunnies, so that when you knock them down, you have to record the numbers and then add them together.
• Add letters to the pins, to encourage letter recognition. You could even get the child to try and make up a cvc word with them, such as cat or dog.
• Arrange the bunnies in a line, to encourage precision skills when throwing the ball.

Put on your Easter Bonnet

Easter is fast approaching, so why not get creative and decorate your own Easter bonnet? I remember doing them as a child. I didn't necessarily enjoy wearing them myself, but I loved designing and making them. Have fun and be creative!!

When researching the history behind the Easter Bonnet, I discovered that an Easter Bonnet parade began in New York during the 1870's. The parade gave people the opportunity to show off their new Easter clothes. Women would wear their new Easter hat (Easter bonnet) during this parade.This Easter Parade song on YouTube, gives an example of what the parade was like. For more information check out Wikipedia

Who can play?

The activity is best suited for children aged two years and above, but this all depends on their age and stage of development. If the decorations have a sticky back, younger children would also enjoy this activity (under close supervision)

Safety:

As with any activity, it is best to supervise young children.

What do I need?

• Stick on Easter felt decorations and flowers bought from your local craft/dollar store
• Glue
• Hat
• Ribbons

What did we do?

1. To set up the area, I placed some newspaper on the table to protect it. I then arranged the Easter felt decorations in a tray for easy access and placed the hats next to them. 
   
2. Choose your favourite colour hat and begin sticking on your preferred decorations. If not using sticky back decorations, you may need to apply glue at this point. Bee chose just to use the patterned eggs. When I offered the other items, she said "no thanks, I just want the eggs". This was OK, because it was her personal choice. We talked about what patterns she could see on the eggs.
   
   
   
   
3. We wrapped a ribbon around the hat and tied it with a bow (Bee needed help with this)
4.  We sang along and watched the Easter Parade song and Bee commented on all the pretty hats she could see. 
5. We plan to wear our bonnet during our Easter egg hunt on Sunday.

What did we learn?

• Communication and language-Speaking and listening. Talking about what they are doing.
• Physical development- Fine and large manipulative skills and  coordination.
• Personal, social and emotional- Self help, fun and enjoyment. Pride from finished product.
• Mathematics- Shapes and developing a concept of space. Patterns on the eggs
• Understanding of the world- Learning about culture and the world around them
• Expressive arts and design- Designing your own hat. Being creative.

What could be done next?

• Read Mrs Honey's hat. A lovely book about a lady who has a hat. The objects on the hat are swapped by different animals whilst she is at the park. Happy Little Munchkins have a great activity to accompany this.
• Older children may enjoy designing their hat first on paper and then making it.
• Make your own hat out of card.
• Decorate an Easter basket to go along with your beautiful Easter bonnet.
• Hold an Easter bonnet competition on Easter Sunday. The best hat wins a small egg/gift.
• Have an Easter bonnet parade
• Have a mad hatters tea party.

Sleeping bunnies

I thought I would share one of our favorite Easter songs, The Sleeping Bunny song. My daughter loves this one and I remember the children in Nursery and School enjoying it too. This song is not just for Easter, it can be sung the whole year through.

To add a bit of creativity to the song, we made our own bunny ears.

Who can play?

Children aged 1 year and above.

Safety:

Ensure you have enough space for your child to jump around and that the area is safe (nothing sharp to bump into or objects to fall over)

What do we need?

• Card
• Crayons
• Cello tape
• Scissors (for adult)

What did we do?

To make the bunny ears:

1. Cut one length of card around 22 inch long and 3 inch wide, for the head band
   
   
   
2. To make the bunny ears, cut two ear shapes around 8 inch long by 3 inch wide
3. Cut a slit down the centre of each ear, around 2 inch long from the bottom. Then place one side slightly behind the other to create a 3D effect. Secure this in place with a piece of cello tape. 
   
4. Colour the bunny ears and headband. Add cotton wool to the centre of the ears.
5. Place the headband around the child's head. Ensure that it is big enough and attach the two sides together with cello tape.
6. Attach the ears to the headband with more tape.
   

Once the bunny ears were ready we popped them on our head and began singing the sleeping bunny song.

The first thing we had to do was lie on the floor and pretend we were sleeping. I began to sing:
" See the little bunny sleeping, till it's nearly noon.

Hush shall we wake them with our merry tune.

Oh how still are they ill?... wake up soon...wake up soon...

Wake up bunny!!!

Hop little bunny hop hop hop, hop little bunny hop hop hop.

Hop little bunny hop hop hop, hop little bunny, hop and stop!"

Repeat for as long as your child (or you) want to. 

What did we learn?

• Communication and language-Singing, listening and following instructions
• Physical development- Fine and large manipulative skills and  coordination when doing the actions to the song.
• Personal, social and emotional- Making relationships, social skills, fun and enjoyment.
• Mathematics- Sequencing the actions to the song.
• Understanding of the world- Learning that bunnies hop
• Expressive arts and design- Dancing and role play whilst pretending to be a bunny

What next? 

• Sing .Little Peter Rabbit with Makaton
• Play hop scotch outside
• Practice hopping on one leg 

Noisy eggs

To add a communication and  language spin to an Easter activity, why not hide different objects in plastic Easter eggs. Encourage your child to shake the eggs and find its matching noisy egg. By listening to the different sounds of the eggs and discriminating them, they will develop sound recognition, this in turn will assist with recognizing letter sounds. So get shaking and have fun!                                                

                                     
Who can play?
The activity is intended for children aged 3 years and over. However, f you add cello tape to the seal of the eggs younger children would love experimenting with the sounds the shaker makes (ensure that they are supervised at all times)

Safety:
Be aware of the choking hazards that the objects could cause. Supervise children when playing this game, especially if little ones are around.

What do you need?

• 12 Plastic eggs
• Objects to place in eggs. I used rice, pasta, bells, pom poms, beans and left two empty.
• Basket/tub to hide the eggs in
• Shredded paper
• Empty egg box that fits 12 eggs
• Cello tape if you want to seal the eggs (so that the objects do not fall out)

How to set up the activity:
Taking 2 plastic eggs at a time, I filled them with the objects mentioned above. So that I had 6 pairs of noisy eggs. I placed some shredded paper in a basket and scattered the eggs inside. Next to the basket I positioned the egg box, ready for the eggs to be collected, explored and placed inside.

                                   

                                   
What did we do?

Bee looked excited when she saw the activity. She loved played hide and seek with the eggs in the shredded paper. She would take them out and shake them vigorously and then place them back into the basket.

                                                   
Her next choice was to shake the eggs and then empty its contents on the floor. We talked about the objects she had found inside and she said "I knew that egg had rice inside!"

                                                    
By this stage, the floor was getting a bit 'messy' so we began to put the objects back in their eggs. Bee enjoyed sorting the objects into their groups and counting them whilst putting them back in the eggs. 

She was also developing her fine manipulative skills whilst picking them up.

                                                     

I then introduced the noisy egg game. The aim was to shake the eggs and find its matching egg. At first she didn't really seem interested, but I made it fun by saying I was a chicken and wanted to sit on my eggs, so that they could hatch. Before I could sit on my eggs, they had to be sorted into matching sounds. This got her attention and she soon began on the task.

Firstly she would shake and egg next to her ear, then pick up a matching colour egg and shake that too.

                                         
Once she had found the matching sound, she placed them next to each other in the egg box.
                         

The eggs that contained the beans and rice sounded very similar, so Bee had to really concentrate to discriminate them. 

Bee figured out that eggs of the same colour, were also of the same sound, so I swapped them around to increase the challenge. At first she was surprised but it made her really listen to each egg for the matching sound.

                                                
Once the box was full, she asked me to sit on the eggs to hatch them. She thought this was very funny. Unfortunately, I do not have a photograph of this to show you.

What did we learn?

• Communication and language- Listening to the sounds inside the eggs and matching them. Discriminating them and describing what she thought was inside.
• Physical development- Fine manipulative skills when picking up objects and placing them in the eggs. Large manipulative when shaking the eggs. Developing coordination.
• Personal, social and emotional- Playing a game together and developing relationships/social skills, 
• Mathematics- Sorting objects, classifying and matching. Counting objects and eggs.
• Understanding of the world- Learning about where an egg comes from and how it hatches.
• Expressive arts and design- Making music with the shakers.

What could be done next?

• Sing the I know a chicken song whilst shaking the eggs.
• Play with the shredded paper. Trust me it might get messy, but the kids will love this activity.