Chanukah, Oh Chanukah: Alphabet, Aleph-Bet & Early Literacy Activities

Chanukah, Chanukah, READ ALL ABOUT IT! We learn about English and Hebrew letters year round and I especially love when I can incorporate our learning activities into our current theme. Here are some of the Chanukah-themed ways we've incorporated learning about letters and early literacy into our play this month:

 We learned about the letter D! We always start with our favorite letter introduction song and some sort of manipulative to handle and explore, like magnets, stamps, stickers, foam letters, blocks, etc. For the letter D, we began by reading Jane Yolen's and Mark Teague's How Do Dinosaurs Say Happy Chanukah. We love to have a story buddy join us, and my little guy loved sharing this one with his toy dinosaur!
Next we were ready for some letter D themed Chanukah fun!

 We started with this doodle dreidel, made from a recycled CD labeled with the appropriate Hebrew letters and a marker set through the center. He loved trying to spin it and doodling with it!
Next it was time to take some traditional dreidels and paint to the table for dreidel painting. Older artists will be able to spin the dreidel in the paint for some great splatter/spin art. Younger hands may still struggle with this skill but will nonetheless enjoy trying it (and watching it) as well as dabbing, and dotting the dreidel in the paint. We left the results to dry while we got out some do-a-dot markers to decorate this paper dreidel.

A little cutting/prep by Mommy and some glue helped us with our finished product all about the letter D!

We learned the Hebrew letter tes by trying our hands at tearing tape together to prepare this tape-resist menorah project:

Tearing tape is a great fine motor activity!

He needed a piece for his shirt, too.

We headed to the table with some paints and brushes to paint over the prepared canvas. Once it was dry, we removed the tape and used the results from our process art activity earlier in the week to make some flame shapes to glue on top of the candles.

Reading together is a great activity for emerging readers of all ages. I always teach my students (and son) that there are many ways to read! Recognizing letters and words is just one. Recognizing pictures or colors is another way little ones demonstrate their ability to "read." We love Mommy & Me books here--whether it's a couple of copies of one favorite children's book to share or a couple of printed booklets from online. I printed off this little booklet entitled "Hanukah's Rainbow of Lights," and went through underlining each color word with the associated color. I sat next to my little reader and showed him how to open our books together, use our pointer finger for left-to-right directionality, and when we got to a color name, he "read" the word! He felt so proud of himself, he wanted to do it again (and again and again)! My biggest goal with emerging readers is always to instill a confidence and joy in reading that will carry them through developing the skills to go alongside it. This, I believe, fosters a lifelong love of reading and learning.

We also "practice" sight word recognition in other ways. I love flashcards--but not for drilling and grilling in the traditional sense. Rather, we use picture cards with vocabulary words through play to develop early reading skills. Using Chanukah themed vocabulary cards that you print offline or make yourself can be a great way to play a game of I-Spy. Your player(s) select a card and then must search for and locate the associated item from a tray, sensory bin or sand table.

For children ages 4/5 and up, a game of Letter Latkes can be a great way to review letters and practice some silly motor skills at the same time!

To prepare, set up your learning space or "pan." I used a tape dreidel shape on the carpet, but you can also use a large picture of a pan or a towel or mat to designate the space. I prepared my letter latkes using paper plates colored brown to represent the latkes. Depending on how advanced your players are you can include  more or fewer letter latkes. On each plate, I wrote one letter in uppercase and lowercase form. I had a collection of pictures of objects that began with each of the letters, with at least 3 or 4 pictures for each letter. On his/her turn, each player selects one letter latke and uses the spatula to pick up the pictures beginning with the letter from the "pan" and puts transfers them to the latke. It's silly. It's fun. It's early reading!

There are so many great ways to play about and learn early reading skills. The very best and most important one of all is, of course, reading together! So head to the library or your own collection and grab a favorite Chanukah book. There's little in life more cozy and warm than cuddling up together with a great book.

Happy Reading, Happy Chanukah, and Happy Playing!