Alphabet Spoon Puzzle

My daughter, Hazel, has had her uppercase letters mastered for a while now, but the lowercase ones were giving her some trouble.  We practiced writing them in a plate covered in homemade whipped cream, we drew them in sand in the yard, and she played some pre-K iPad games geared towards letter-learning...all to no avail.

And so, I started to brainstorm some other ideas.  I had seen this spoon trick used for a different memorization project on Pinterest last year and thought I'd give it a shot with letters...voila!  It appears the combination of a challenge to complete, tactile movable parts, and picking out her favorite color of spoons was the perfect storm she needed to master her lowercase letters. 

This project is inexpensive and super simple to make...and if you have older siblings in the house, this is something they'll love to get involved with.  The spoons are also easy to tuck in a bag or keep in the car to be used during an older sibling's soccer practice or dance recital.  Follow the three steps below to make your own Alphabet Spoon Puzzle (or a puzzle for anything else your child is struggling to learn):

1. Purchase 26* colored spoons and 26 clear spoons.
2. Using a Sharpie, write an uppercase letter towards the top of each spoon.
3. Lay a clear spoon over the colored one and write the corresponding lowercase letter towards the bottom of the spoon.

* - Unfortunately, there are no packs of 26 spoons to purchase.  Fortunately, the extras can be used to eat ice cream.  I highly suggest eating ice cream for dinner with your family at least once a year, maybe even two or three times annually.  Try this trick tonight and enjoy all of the extra hugs and kisses you are sure to garner.  You're welcome!

What Do We Plant?

Part of today's homeschool lesson included reading the poem What Do We Plant? by Henry Abbey. I was distracted while reading this to August and Martha because their eyes were searching up, out the window and deep in thought. I could picture the picture of each tree and object they imagined in their heads...as the ship and house and flag staff were constructed.

Poetry and the arts and all forms of creative expression have always been a big focus in my family...my children were all rhyming as soon as they could talk. They write song lyrics, poems and stories on a daily basis...and I LOVE that! I believe it provides them with an outlet to deal with feelings and thoughts...and I hope it makes them more sensitive to others.

Here's the poem in it's entirety if you'd like to read it to your children:

What Do We Plant?

What do we plant when we plant the tree?
We plant the ship which will cross the sea.
We plant the mast to carry the sails;
We plant the planks to withstand the gales -
The keel, the keelson, the beam, the knee;
We plant the ship when we plant the tree.

What do we plant when we plant the tree?
We plant the houses for you and me.
We plant the rafters, the shingles, the floors,
We plant the studding, the lath, the doors,
The beams and siding, all parts that be;
We plant the house when we plant the tree.

What do we plant when we plant the tree?
A thousand things that we daily see;
We plant the spire that out-towers the crag,
We plant the staff for our country's flag.
We plant the shade, from the hot sun free;
We plant all these when we plant the tree.

- Henry Abbey