Early Literacy Center- Alphabet!

So this technically isn't located in our 'Play and Learn' area. In case you don't know, we have a huge boat in our children's room. It's awful. Kids love to run and jump on it all the time, but especially while parents are asking questions or checking out their books.

Earlier this month I decided to try and distract them by adding a fun new addition to the boat. We used our Cricut machine for the letters and found images online. When we were ready for them to be displayed, we just used contact paper to apply them on the surface of the boat. They've lasted for 3 weeks and haven't been peeled off yet!

They are at a perfect height for our favorite patrons, and they are spaced out over the entire boat. This gives kids an opportunity to still be moving, while keeping their attention focused on a specific task. This is great for early literacy game for a number of reasons. They're being exposed to letters and have an opportunity to trace them with their fingers, and they're working on their vocabulary with words like narwhal and yak!

Now instead of running, kids love to sing the alphabet to us, tell us about all the animals, or tell us other animals that begin with the letter they've discovered. My personal favorite is when a child goes to the letter their name starts with and says, "Look mom! They have my letter here!"

Our lovely college aide whipped these letters up in an afternoon and had them up by the next day. It's a huge hit and it was cheap and easy!