December with preschoolers can be a little hectic and filled with a high-level energy. Excitement is in the air and harnessing that feeling to get some learning done during the day can be a challenge.
Here is an activity that capitalizes on the excitement of opening gifts, plus it builds in some phonological awareness practice. Today we are opening letter sound holiday bags.
Holiday Book and Beginning Sound Activity
The skills covered in this activity include:
- enjoying and valuing reading
- demonstrating knowledge of the alphabet and letter sounds
- recognize rhyming words
- following directions
- controlling small muscles in the hand
Materials Needed
- Llama Llama Holiday Drama book by Anna Dewdney
- lunch-sized brown or white paper bags (one per student)
- variety of objects or toys that can fit in the bags (one per student)
- crayons, marker, and holiday stickers (optional)
The Book: Llama Llama Holiday Drama
Gather the kids together and invite them to tell you what they notice on the front cover of the book. Many of the kids may recognize Llama Llama from previous books. Ask the kids what they remember about the main character from other stories such as Llama Llama Red Pajama or Llama Llama Misses Mama. Read Llama Llama Holiday Drama at least one time to the kids.
After reading the story, revisit some of the rhyming words in the story and have the kids repeat them with you. Some of the rhyming pairs from the story include: bread/red, date/wait, elves/shelves, go/know, and duck/truck.
Holiday Letter Sounds Bags Activity
Setting Up the Activity
- Let the kids decorate the paper bags with a holiday flair.
- Place an object in each bag. Small toys, classroom tools, or other small items work well.
- Fold the top of each bag so the kids can’t peek inside.
- Place all the filled bags in the middle of the work/meeting area.
This activity can be done during a whole group circle time and then added to a literacy center.
Playing the Activity
After sharing the book with the kids, you are reading for the beginning sound activity. Gather the kids around the filled bags. Tell the kids that they will each have a turn to be Llama Llama and pick a bag, open it, and show everyone what is inside.
Share the rhyme below and have the kids chant it with you.
Llama Llama
Pick a present.
Show us. Show us.
What was sent?
(Download the Pick a Present Chant and display it for preschoolers to see.)
Select one student to pick a bag, open it, and identify the object inside. Then, invite the child identify the beginning sound of that object.
Chant the rhyme again and pick another student to select a present bag. Continue until everyone has had a turn.
Variation
Instead of placing objects in the bags, you could place a letter of the alphabet. The kids can then identify the letters inside the bags.
Enjoy a little holiday reading and playing with your preschoolers to build phonological awareness skills.
BIO: Jodie is the creator of Growing Book by Book. She believes that we can meet the needs of all our growing readers. She guides you with developmentally appropriate book lists, reading and writing activities, and literacy-building tips for young children. Check out her Exploring with Preschoolers resources! You can connect with her on Facebook and Instagram.
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