We’re on to our next letter in our preschool alphabet games and you know what we had so much fun doing?  Watching videos of fire-bellied newts on Youtube.

Now you may be asking yourself, “What’s a Newt?”  Well it’s a type of salamander and has a variety of tail widths and feet depending upon the breed.  For your free Newt printable click here: N is for Newt.

You have to be careful with Youtube, some folks add music to their videos that may or may not be appropriate for children.  But if you can check the videos before sharing with your kiddos, it’s a great free way to teach them about animals.  Kind of like “Animal Planet” but on Youtube.

All the items you see below are things I already have in our home.  As you can see I did not have much in terms of “sensory” items which is why our craft today was so fun.  We made a “noodle necklace” more on that later.  Peanut is 32 months old and we are linking up at 1+1+1=1 and Weird Unsocialized Homeschooler’s. 

I used flash cards from our “Hooked On Phonics” set and they included a necklace, nest, needle, nose, nail and net.  I also love our alphabet letter book where you trace the shape of each letter with your fingertip.  I used alphabet blocks to spell out “necklace” and “newt” since those became our star activities for the day.

Peanut wasn’t very interested in the vocabulary review today, but he really perked up when I told him we were going to make a noodle necklace.

Video Tutorial on stringing a noodle necklace.

 

Things you’ll need:

• String, I used thin wrapping ribbon from Christmas in silver (be extra careful if you have pre-toddlers – this can present a strangulation hazard if it gets into the wrong little hands).
• Pipe Cleaner – I cut mine to create a “needle” and stopper.
• Paint tray – I used styrofoam egg crates
• Poster Paint – we used red, blue and yellow washable paints
• Paint Brush
• Smock
• Penne Paste (uncooked)
• Straw pieces (again a chocking hazard for pre-toddlers – keep under close supervision)

Directions:

Cut pipe cleaner into two pieces.  Tie one piece to one end of your string and create a “stopper”.  Tie the other pipe cleaner to the other end an twist together to create a “needle”.  Teach your preschooler how to thread the noodles and straw pieces onto the “needle” and let them create!  This is a great activity for enhancing fine motor skills.

After Peanut finished threading his necklace I put a dab of paint into the egg crate wells and let him paint the noodles.

He got so excited about painting he also wanted to paint the newt.

We had so much fun!  And Peanut couldn’t wait to show his paintings to daddy when he got home from work.

To me “N” means “nurture”.  My role as a mom is to nurture the hearts and souls of these little ones so they will seek a life of love and learning.

I thank God for allowing me to be home with my boys and for helping me come up with creative and fun things to do.  I encourage you to enjoy these little learning years.  I’d love to hear how you’re having fun in your home with your little ones.  I’m always looking for new ideas!  Please leave a message in the comments.

Feel free to download any of the free printables for your preschooler over at Free Stuff.

Thank you for joining us on our journey through the alphabet.

In His Grip,

Monica

Linking up at: http://www.hiphomeschoolmoms.com/2013/01/hip-homeschool-hop-12213/

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For some of our previous posts on our journey through the alphabet go to:

M is for Monkey
L is for Ladder
K is for King
J is for Jump
I is for Igloo