The Letter “L”

Arts and Crafts

“L” Stamps

Let the children use “L” stamps or sponges to create an art project.

“L” Collage

Have the children cut out the letter “L” from magazines and glue them onto a piece of paper.

“L” Collage

Make that letter “L” out of construction paper. Have the children cut the letter “L” out of magazines and glue them to the letter “L”.

Decorate a Letter

Cut the letter “L” out of construction paper. Have the children decorate the letter “L” with glitter, paint, markers, or other art materials.

Glue Letter “L”

Place glue on a piece of paper in the shape of the letter “L”. Have the children place glitter, colored rice or Kool-Aid on the glue.

Contact Paper Art

You will need a reverse picture of the letter “L”. Place the image on the table and place a piece of contact paper, sticky side up over the image. Supply the children with scraps of construction paper to tissue paper. Children use the scraps to create the image on the contact paper.

Letter Art

Place masking tape on a piece of finger painting paper to create the letter “L”. Allow the child to paint the picture. After the paint had dried remove the tape.

Cotton Letters

Place glue on a piece of paper in the shape of the letter “L”. Have the children place cotton balls on the paper.

Letter Hands

Paint the child’s hands. Have the children make the letter “L” with their hands.

Letter Rubbings

Cut “L” shapes from paper doilies or sandpaper. Tape these letters to the table. Have the children place a piece of thin white paper over the letters and rub a crayon over the letter.

Shaving Cream Letters

Add a drop of food coloring to a baseball-sized pile of shaving cream. Mix this with a paintbrush. Have the children be very careful, and use smocks because the food coloring will stain their clothing and hands. Have the children paint the shaving cream on a white piece of paper. The children can finish by using their fingers to draw the letter “L” in the shaving cream.

Variation: Add glue to this mixture to create a puffy paint look.

Left/Right Art

Fold a piece of paper in half. Have the child create two different pictures on each half of the paper. You can also do this with the top and bottom halves of the paper.

Lace Creations

Supply the children with lace to glue to a picture.

Lion Paper Plate Masks

Have the children paint a paper plate yellow or brown. After the paint has dried, have the children use a hole punch around the rim of the plate. Supply the children with yellow, orange and brown yarn pieces, about two inches in length. The children should place a piece of yarn in a hole and tie it. Continue until there is yarn all the way around the plate. At this point the children may cut out the facial features to make a mask, or glue on facial features.

Leopard Prints

Supply each child with a piece of brown paper and black non-toxic stamp pads. Show the child how to make fingerprints on paper, using only one finger at a time.

Cotton Ball Lambs

Have your child glue cotton balls onto a piece of paper. Then draw on the feet and heads as if the cotton balls were the lamb’s body.

Lizards

Cut out lizard shapes from construction paper. Have the children decorate them with scraps of paper, tissue paper, yarn and other items.

Ladybug Rocks

Obtain many round rocks. Show the children what ladybugs look like. Have the children paint the rocks with red paint. Then carefully add a line down the middle, and spots with black paint. If the rocks are smaller…you can glue a magnet on the bottom, and use it on a refrigerator.

Ladybugs

Provide each child with a red circle. Have them draw as many black dots as they would like on one side. Have the child count the dots on the paper and write the number on the other side.

Fingerprint Ladybugs

Supply each child with a piece of white paper and red, non-toxic stamp pads. Show the child how to make fingerprints on paper, using only one finger at a time. When finished add wing outlines, dots, heat, and antennae with a black pen, or for older children, have them add the features.

Ladybugs

Supply each child with a 4-inch black circle, a 4-inch red circle, and a 2-inch black circle. Have the child cut the 4-inch red circle in half. Then, glue the two black circles together, one is the body and one is the head of the ladybug. Then glue the red wings onto the body. Finally, allow the child to add fingerprint spots on both sides, using either black paint or a black non-toxic ink pad. Count the spots on each side. Are they equal? How many spots are there in total?

Paper Plate Ladybugs

Have each child paint a paper plate red. After the paint dries have the child add black spots of paint or paper on the back of the ladybug.

Fingerprint Lions

Put a small amount of tempera paint in a small shallow container. (The metal lid of a juice bottle works well) Show your child how to dip his/her finger in the paint and make a fingerprint on a piece of paper. (Alternative: Use a non-toxic ink pad) have your child make several fingerprints using yellow or light brown paint. After the paint dries, add the facial features with a pen.

Make a Lake 1

Cut lake shapes from large pieces of construction paper. Have the children finger-paint blue.

Make a Lake 2

Have the children paint a huge piece of butcher paper with a mixture of shaving cream and blue paint. This gives the water texture. Then have the children cut out various ocean animal shapes and glue or tape them onto the butcher paper.

Fish in the Lake

See above for making a lake instructions. Obtain bean bag fish… I got mine from the dollar store. Use masking tape to make a throw line. Set the lake (after it’s dry) on the floor, an appropriate distance from the line. Have the children stand behind the line and throw the fish into the lake.

Games, Math, and Science

Lake Bottle

Clean out an empty plastic pop bottle. Add water, blue food coloring, and glitter, and maybe a few pebbles. Seal the bottle closed using a little hot glue, allow to completely dry before the children can play with it. Tip the bottle back and forth. roll the bottle on the floor.

Letter Match

Write upper case letters on one set of index cards and lower case on another. Have the children find the matches.

Leg Exercises

Lie on your back, with your knees bent and feet on the floor. Ask a child to sit on your feet on place them on your feet, facing you. Lift your legs slowly so they are parallel to the ground. If the child holds on you can Lift them upside down.

Leg Count

Show pictures of different animals. How many legs does each of the animals have?

Bean Bag Toss

Obtain a large piece of cardboard. A large, unfolded box works well. Cut the letter “L” shape out of the cardboard. Paint the cardboard. When dry let the children throw bean bags through the “L” hole.

Letter Hop

Cut out large “L” shapes from colored paper (shelf liner works REALLY well). Laminate them and cut them out. Place them on the floor and ask the children to hop from one letter to another. These may also be used as seat markers for group time.

Lacing Cards

Cut colored poster board into the letter “L” or something that begins with the letter “L” and punch holes around the edges. Then let your child lace yarn or a shoestring into the cards.

“L” Sand Table

Add plastic lions, leopards, or lizards to your sand table.

“L” Dramatic Play

Add plastic lions, leopards, or lizards to your block area. Encourage the children to build a zoo.

Lion, Lion, BEAR!!!

Played like “Duck, Duck, Goose” except the children go around the circle, and say “lion” instead of “duck” and “bear” instead of “goose.”

Feel free to substitute “bear” for other zoo animals, and “lion” for other “L”-named animals.

Ladybugs Graph

Using the ladybugs from the above project, count the spots on each ladybug and graph how many spots each ladybug has on a bar graph. Ask questions about the graph. what is the greatest number of spots? The least? Display the ladybugs and count up all the dots.

More/Less

Disperse similar objects to all the children. Give three to some, four to others, one to some, and so on. Take a couple for yourself. Then show the children how many you have. Ask who has less? Who has more?

Red Light/Green Light

This classic game is always a hit. Choose one child to be the light on the far side of the room. The light then turns around and says “Green light!” The other children, lined up on the opposite side of the room, try and move as far as they can toward the light. When the light says “Red light!” and turns around, everyone needs to freeze in place. Any children caught moving when the light is “red” get sent back to the beginning. Whoever reaches the light first becomes the next light.

Songs

Left/Right Hokey Pokey

Do the Hokey Pokey. Concentrate on left and right motions.

Mary had a Little Lamb

Mary had a little lamb,
Little lamb, Little lamb,
Mary had a little lamb,
Its fleece was white as snow.
And everywhere that Mary went
Mary went Mary went
And everywhere that Mary went
The lamb was sure to go.
It followed her to school one day,
School one day, School one day,
It followed her to school one day,
Which was against the rule.
It made the children laugh and play
laugh and play laugh and play
It made the children laugh and play
To see a lamb at school.

Strut Song

Sung to “Shortenin’ Bread”
This way, That away, (point one way)
This way, That away, (point the other way)
This way, That away, (point one way)
All day long. (clap, clap, clap)
There goes another one, (point one way)
Just like the other one, (point the other way)
There goes another one, (point one way)
All day long. (clap, clap, clap)
Strut Miss Lucy (Move arms in a strut like fashion)
Strut Miss Lucy (Move arms in a strut like fashion)
Strut Miss Lucy (Move arms in a strut like fashion)
All day long. (clap, clap, clap)
(use deep voice)
Strut Mr. Leroy (Move arms in a strut like fashion)
Strut Mr. Leroy (Move arms in a strut like fashion)
Strut Mr. Leroy (Move arms in a strut like fashion)
All day long. (clap, clap, clap)
Strut (child’s name),
Strut (child’s name),
Strut (child’s name),
All day long. (clap, clap, clap)

Little Bo Peep

Little Bo Peep has lost her sheep
And can’t tell where to find them
Leave them alone,
And they’ll come home
Wagging their tails behind them

Snacks

“L” Pretzels

Make your own pretzels and shape them like the letter “L”.

“L” rolls

Shape roll or biscuits into letter shapes before baking.

“L” Cookies

Use your favorite sugar cookie recipe to make the dough. Use a letter-shaped cookie cutter, bake. When cool decorate as desired.

Lake Placemats

Have the children use their lake as a placemat

Fish in the Lake Snack

Use blue jello, and grapes to represent fish. Make in clear plastic small cups, so the children can see the fish in their own cup. Since grapes are a choking hazard, it is recommended that this snack not be served to children under the age of three, or to children who do not fully understand the concept of chewing.