Here are some more ideas to take you through the first weeks of the new year:
Impy Ink - Copy or draw Impy Ink on finger-paint paper. Fold the paper in half vertically. Unfold. Fill a small jar with blue paint, and using an eye-dropper, drip paint onto one side of Impy . Then fold the paper over, and “smush” with fingers. Finish by gluing the letter shape onto the bottle. (The photo shows what is meant!)
Jumping Jim - Cut out the letter shape from tag board or Bristol board. Drip glue onto the shape in any design, and then cover with jello powder. When this dries, it makes a “scratch and sniff” letter, which the children love!
Kicking King - Have the children cut out a crown which you have drawn onto a piece of yellow construction paper, and glue on pictures and/or words that start with “k” (these can be found in any alphabet activity book); when finished, attach the ends and staple into a crown.
Lucy Lamp Light - Copy or draw Lucy onto tag board, then cut out the lampshade and tape or glue the child’s choice of coloured cellophane onto the back. Have the children colour her shape that same colour as the cellophane. Use a small flashlight (you can buy them at the dollar store) to shine the light from the back to make a lamp, or simply hold up to the window or a light.
Munching Mike - Photocopy or draw Mike onto tag board. Have the children glue macaroni on to the letter shape, and pasta wheels on the bottom of the legs; after it’s dry, spray paint with silver, to look like metal. Finish with a “googly” or black sequin eye. This one is definitely worth the work - they look wonderful and the kids love them.
Noisy Nick - Colour Nick, and then glue nine finishing nails on the letter shape.
Oscar Orange - Finger paint with orange paint (or vanilla pudding coloured orange for a treat!). When dry, have children cut out in a circle, and you add Oscar’s eyes nose and mouth with a permanent marker - it will write over the paint.
Peter Puppy - Colour Peter; make popcorn in the classroom and then glue on to the letter shape.
Quarrelsome Queen - Give each child a piece of paper (about 15 cm square, depending on how many children you have) with a large letter “q” drawn in the middle. Have a variety of materials available - yarn, beads, glitter, etc. - and have the children glue their choice of material onto the letter shape. Then you glue all of the small pieces of paper onto a large piece in the shape of a quilt. Add lines for stitching with marker if you wish. As this is fairly big, I usually hung it on my classroom door.