Cheryl commented yesterday asking about the medium used for Keianna's most recent letter.  (The letter "C" happens to be decorated in little confetti hearts that I found lurking in the bottom of my craft drawer.) 

I’m sure the possibilities are endless, but I kept a list on file after my eldest did hers.  Somehow I just knew that without a list I would once again be stumped, wondering, "What shall we glue to the X?" Here are things I’ve used for my little abecedarians in previous years:

Rice

Sand

Cotton Balls

Sequins

Confetti

Pipe Cleaner Bits

Pistachio Nut Shells

Packing Peanuts

Excelsior

Curly Ribbon (Curl it first, then cut into short pieces)

Stars (cut with a craft punch from pretty paper)

Dried Beans (This one can get heavy for hanging on the wall)

Mini Clothes Pins

Aluminum Foil bits

Pencil Shavings

Paper Clips

Dried Floral/Potpourri

Popcorn (popped or unpopped)

Beads

Feathers

Pom Poms

Maccaroni

Plastic Bag Bits (Like walmart bags.. we used one that was a blue color)

Brown paper bag bits

Glitter

Colored Cotton Balls

Newsprint Bits

Soda Can tabs

Sponge Bits

Foam shapes (craft foam)

Once I even used pieces of a torn vinyl shower curtain.

Cheryl also wondered where to find an upper and lower case puzzle.  I can no longer remember where I purchased ours, but it is a Melissa & Doug just like this one at LiveandLearn.com (scroll down the page to see the puzzle). It is also sold by Amazon.

My 'Anna is quite proud of her ABCs!

As she learns each letter, she adds it to the wooden puzzle; reworking the puzzle each day using only the letters introduced thus far. 

Perhaps due to her eldest sister's fascination with sheep, Keianna spent longer on the letter "A" than I would have anticipated. She was insistent that it should say "Baa(h)" instead of "aa(h)"

Finally she figured it out, and we are onto Mommy "B" and Baby "b"!

She is so proud of her new letter!

Amethyst23 commented on our previous letter post about craft projects and mess, and I sure can relate! Messy crafts drive me bonkers. Therefore, even when we are doing these in winter (As Keianna's older sisters did), we do them on the deck. I fill the letters with glue first, and have a limited amount of whatever medium we are using in a small container so mess is minimized for my sanity's sake. 

The ritual of going OUTSIDE for each "new letter" is fun for them too.  (And it only takes about 5 minutes outside, so even in the snow we don't have to gear up much.)

Keianna is so much fun. A few nights ago at the " big girls' " piano recital, I kept having to physically restrain her. After each person played, the teacher would ask who would like to go next. Each time my Keianna started to hop off her chair saying, " 'Anna turn!"

I told her she could give her own recital at home, and she walked up to the piano, mimicking the children at the recital. With perfect form she introduced herself and her piece, "I 'Anna, an' I play Honeybee." (Honeybee is a song in the early Suzuki repertoire)

She's definately eager to start piano lessons next year!

(Really, more of a PINK letter day!)

Before we begin Teach Your Child To Read in 100 Easy Lessons, I like to teach the alphabet, upper and lower case, with simple letter sounds. The first two so enjoyed making these letters that I plan to continue it with each subsequent child.

Today, Keianna reached a milestone! She began making her "letters". I print out these openface letters, then fill the outlines with glue. The gluey page is placed on a cookie sheet, and some fun medium is placed in a small container. The little scholar then gets to sprinkle the medium on the paper, creating a unique piece of art. Today, Keianna learned "Mommy A and Baby A...A says aaah"

When dry, her letter will be hung on the wall. She'll add a letter or two a week (each using a different "filler medium") until she reaches Z! 

(Note to Jessica, we say Keianna's name "key-ah-nah".  You were very close!  Sometimes we shorten it to 'Anna. (Ah-nah) )