#1011. "W" Letter Ideas

Reading/Writing, level: Elementary
Posted Tue Apr 20 13:27:31 PDT 1999 by Early Childhood Mailring ().
Concepts Taught: "W" letter activities

W letter ideas

Letter W

I do a cute windsock activity with the preschoolers during "W" week (we
study weather then too.

81/2x11 colored or white construction paper
markers or crayons or paint (your choice)
colorful crepe paper streamers

have the children decorate their wind sock anyway they choose.

have children glue on streamers to the back of the bottom of their picture.

roll the construction paper until the ends meet and staple then together
(overlapping slightly).

paper punch three holes in the top of the "tube" and add three strings that
are tied at the top.

They look really cute hanging from my tree in our entry hall to the
preschool!

Deb
PS/IA
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*whistle, wagon, walk, wallpaper, worms, waffles, watermelon seeds, weddings,
wheels, wire, water
*read Whistle for Wille by Ezra Jack Keats (as far as I know, I don't have
this book)
*have students tell how they had to practice to learn how to do something
(like whistle)
*count wheels (can use wheel pasta ... I do have this)
*play dough to make Ww
*watermelon seeds for counting (don't have these)
*Wiggle Worm painting ~ hook gummy worms onto paper clips and pull them
through paint. have students wiggle them on their paper making tracks
*give students a pic of a window frame and let them draw what they would see
looking out their window
*eat waffles (no toaster at school)
*make a list of W words
*Paint with Water ~ using paint brushes, allow students to paint the letter W
with water on the sidewalks
*use gummy worms as counters
*read Willie's Not the Hugging Kind
*weddings ~ Pinky and Rex Get Married
Cindy/SPED K-2
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
W: WATER
SHOW:
Pour some drops of red food coloring in a glass of water. What happens to
the
red color? Is it still bright red? What happens if you stir it?
IDEAS:
The red color gradually spreads throughout the water. The red is evenly
distributed; it is said to be in solution in the water.

Sandy
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Watermelons
http://www.watermelon.org/

Watermelon Song
(tune: Are You Sleeping?)

Watermelon, watermelon
See how it drips, see how it drips
Up and down my elbow, up and down my elbow
Spit out the pits (POOEY!), spit out the pits (POOEY!)

make watermelons (rounded 1/2 or triangular slice) out of construction
paper...black (stamp pad)finger printed pits.

janet/spedK/nj
holland@edmail.com
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Activity W
Make a wishing well. Use any kind of empty food canister that does not have
sharp edges. Wrap it with construction paper and write several upper and
lower case "W's" around its sides. Tape two pencils or craft sticks standing
up inside the canister for roof supports. Cut a square piece of paper, fold
it in half, and glue it to the roof supports. This wishing well makes a
good bank for spare change.

W: Wheels on the bus is a favorite. Try it using a vehicle besides
a bus and see what wacky variations you can come up with!

Water Paint
Go outside on a warm summer day with a bucket of water and paint brushes. Let
the children paint on the sidewalk with the clear water. The picture will
stay for a while, but slowly dry away so they can start all over with another
creation.

Wallpaper Pictures
Let the children cut out shapes and pictures from wall paper books. Have them
glue their designs to construction paper.

Worms
Have the children pretend to be wiggly, crawly worms. Have them slide across
the floor.

* Observing Worms
Set an earthworm on top of some soil and have the children observe it. How
does it move? What color is it? What does its skin look like? What does it
feel like? What does the worm do? Explain that the earthworms hatch from
eggs that are inside a cocoon. An earthworm's face has just one feature: a
mouth, with which it eats soil and decayind plants. Near the opening of the
worm's tunnel, little piles of digested food, called castings, can be seen.


Worms Help Us
Tell the children that one important job a worm does is to mix up and loosen
the soil. This makes it easier for seeds to sprout and grow. Show the
children a bucket of firmly packed dirt. Explain that this is what our dirt
would look like if we didn't have worms. Would it be easy or hard for the
seed to grow in this dirt? (It would be hard.) Now, let your children
pretend that thier fingers are worms. How could they loosen the soil? Let
the children take turns wiggling their fingers to loosen the dirt in the
bucket. While they work, have them sing the following song.

Sung to: "Mary Had a Little Lamb"

The worms are mixing up the soil,
Up the soil, up the soil.
The worms are mixing up the soil
So we can plant our seeds.

The soil is loose and all mixed up,
All mixed up, all mixed up.
The soil is loose and all mixed up,
The seeds are growing well.

Earthworm Walk
Take the children out to find earthworms. A great time to go is after a
rainfall when many worms come out of their tunnels and crawl around on the
dirt's surface. You may want to bring several magnifying glasses and use
them to look at some of the worms up close.

Earthworm Movement
Help your children notice how worms move. They scrunch their muscles up and
the stretch them out long. Then let the children practice moving like worms.
Since worms sleep during the day, and come out at night, turn out the lights
and ask your "worms" to move all around. When you turn on the lights, have
the worms pretend to sleep. Turn out the lights again so your worms can do
their important work.

A simple but fun art project to go along with your watermelon day is to give
each child 1/2 of a paper plate. I used small torn pieces of construction
paper- green and red. Have them glue green paper around the crinkled edge of
the paper plate then fill the center in with the red. After eating your
watermelon save some seeds to glue onto your paper plate melon. These are
cute and look very realistic.


Wheaty Wonders
•1 C. White Flour
•1 C. Whole Wheat Flour
•4 Tsp. Baking Powder
•1 Tsp. Salt
•1/3 C. Oil
•3/4 C. Milk
Have the children help measure and mix the ingredients. Divide into 20 parts
and have the children kneed the dough for about a minute. Have them press the
dough flat to about 1/4 inch thick. Place butter in an electric skillet
heated to 350 degrees. Place the dough patties into the skillet and fry on
each side for about 4 minutes, until brown. Server with butter, peanut
butter, honey or jelly.

WHALE WATER SCOOP

MATERIALS
Clean plastic gallon milk jug
Permanent marker
Scissors

Turn the gallon jug onto its side so that the handle is at the top. With
the marker, draw a mouth shape on the base of the jug and extending partway

up the sides, as shown. Cut along the lines with scissors, creating a
widemouthed scoop (a parent's job). Using the marker, outline the edge of
the mouth and add eyes and a blowhole.

* For "w" how about watermelon slices made from paper. Use two circles one
light green (cut it larger) and one red. Glue the red onto the green and then
have the children glue watermelon seeds to it!! They really look like a
watermelon slice!


look at wallpaper

Eat a watermelon.

talk about the weather

Weave: weave strips of paper together

wood: use wooden popcicle sticks to make the letter w and glue on paper

worms: dig up earth worms and examine them!

"W"--those pasta "wheels", or wire, or wrappers (like from some kind of
food)

For the letter W, how about glueing on Watermelon seeds.

W- let the kids eat a piece of watermelon; have them save the seeds on a
paper towel and then show them how to rinse them off. glue on the "W"

W- cut out a "W" from wallpaper samples; or, use wallpaper sample
1x1inch pre-cut squares to fill up the W-shape.

W- use an uppercase "W" in white construction paper as the teeth of a
walrus!

W- glue on frosted mini-wheats (cereal) onto the "W". I suggest that
particular wheat cereal because the kids will love to eat this as a
healthy snack!

W- use white cutouts of the letter for this project. place as many
little jars of colored water (use food coloring) as you can out for the
children. provide cotton swabs or cotton balls and tell the children to
make their letter "w" all Wet (and beautiful!)

W- give the kids chenille things (I still call them "pipe cleaners") and
googly eyes, and lots of other imaginative doodads. tell them to make a
pet/monster/whatever that has Whiskers using the "W" anyway they want. I had
a bunch of fake fur samples in different colors- ask your cloth store for
remnants.

W- make a wheelbarrow from a laundry scoop and two black
buttons/circles. add some dirt and and a gummy worm!

W- use the "w" cutout from green or yellow construction paper as the
Worm body. let the kids go crazy with fingerpaint, doodads, etc. you
could even hide the worm in green grass (fringed green art paper)!

W is for wishes...make a wishing well and let the children toss coins (we
use poker chips for coins at our school) into the well and make a
wish....have an adult write down the children's wishes and secretly send
those home. Parents might have a fun time fulfilling wishes of their
children. (I would love it, I know.)

W is for water...spray water on W after they have been sprinkled with
powdered tempra or chalk dust.

--On a warm day go outside and paint with water
---Wallpaper pictures
---Pretend to be worms
---Make a wishing well Use any kind of empty canister that does not have
sharp edges wrap with paper write several upper and lower case w's on it Tape
2 pencils or craft sticks for roof suport Cut a sq. piece of paper fold in
half and glue to supports . you could put in pictures of things that start
with w
---Glue walnut shells on a large W
---Wind
---Wheels
----Spiders web

Another idea for W is wood. I usually do this project a couple times a
year.
Gather as much "odds and ends" wood as you can find. Make colored glue by

mixing a little tempera paint (powder paint works too) with white glue.
Cover your work table with plenty of newspaper. Give each child a carboard

base to work on.
Let the children make WOOD SCULPTURES. Use paint brushes with the colored

glue. Let the children glue wood pieces together. The neat thing about
this, is that the children don't have to paint the sculptures because the
glue already has color in it and the children can see where they have put
glue.

The glue will keep for a couple of days if it is covered.
Glue will wash out of paint brushes with hot water.
Use many different colored glues at once.

*Wheelbarrel Planter

Need:

Laundry detergent scoop

2 plastic milk jug lids

6" length of ribbon

potting soil

flower seeds (seeds)

craft glue

water

Glue a milk jug lid to each side of the scoop to form the "wheels". Allow
the glue to dry. Tie the ribbon to the handle of the scoop. Fill the scoop
with potting soil, and plant the seeds. Sprinkle the soil with a few drops of
water. You can have the child make these planters as gifts. Enjoy!


*Ww
Art Activities
Water Paint
Go outside on a warm summer day with a bucket of water and
paint brushes. Let the children paint on the sidewalk with the clear
water. The picture will stay for a while, but slowly dry away so
they can start all over with another creation.
Wallpaper Pictures
Let the children cut out shapes and pictures from wall paper books.
Have them glue their designs to construction paper.
Movement and Games
Worms
Have the children pretend to be wiggly, crawly worms. Have them
slide across the floor.
Alphabet Appetizer
Wheaty Wonders

1 C. White Flour

1 C. Whole Wheat Flour

4 Tsp. Baking Powder

1 Tsp. Salt

1/3 C. Oil

3/4 C. Milk
Have the children help measure and mix the ingredients. Divide
into 20 parts and have the children kneed the dough for about a
minute. Have them press the dough flat to about 1/4 inch thick.
Place butter in an electric skillet heated to 350 degrees. Place the
dough patties into the skillet and fry on each side for about 4
minutes, until brown. Server with butter, peanut butter, honey or
jelly.
Wacky Wednesday

Have watermelon slices and count the seeds when finished

Make pussywillows (use Sugar Smack cereal for the pussywillow)

Paint with watercolors


Great time to talk about the weather

Kim ;D
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
W is for water. Have a center with bottles of water - clear, colored with
food color, beads added etc.. Have available: measuring cups, plastic, clear
cups, spoons , little bowls and other items; including paper towels!!
W is for wishing well. Draw a well and print 'wishing well' at the top.At the
bottom, print "I wish... Copy onto all colors of paper.Use an exacto to cut
the center out of each. Kids cut wells and glue a penny on after they dictate
their wish to you. Discuss the wishes at Circle Time. This is a great time to
address social issues and is good fro expressive communication, functioning
within a group etc.....
W is for Willaby Wallaby woo an elephant sat on you, willaby wallaby wee an
elephant sat on me! Willaby wallaby woo an elephant sat on Warron (Sharon)
next on Weena (Nina) Go through the whole class with this for an exercise in
phonemic awareness.
W is for witch. Make witches and tell the story Olivia the Witch (available
in the Everything Book) in felt. Look in your Halloween files or more on
witches!!
W is for wiggle worms - paint with Q tips. Make a game of apples with a
particular # of holes and the matching # of worms from 1 - 10 and laminate on
cards. Play memory matching and use again next September if you do a unit on
apples. There is a counting book with gummi worms available from Scholastic
clubs.
W is for whisper - play whispering games with "W" words.
W is for word wall. Make as many W words as you can and display on cards on
the wall.
W is for wand. Make little wands/cut sturdy stars and sprinkle with glitter
glue/add straws or sticks as handles.
W is for WACKY WEDNEDSDAY. Send a letter home for all to dress wacky on Wed.
At Circle read the book, wacky Wednesday for visual discrimination skills.
Make wacky hats .
W is for wagons. Kids make and assemble; print sight word. Read, "The Little
Red Box with wheels."
W is for whale. Cut one out and water color blue. Teach factual info on the
blue whale.
W is for watch. Make a pattern and copy all to various colors /kids cut and
wear the watches. Teach about time.
W is for worry doll (can be ordered form Oriental Trading Co.) Discuss
worries, fears, nightmares etc...
W is for walrus - cut and paint.
W is for watering can - cut from wallpaper.Laurie
For more ABC ideas visit PRESCHOOL SHARING at
http://www.angelfire.com/ma/kpre1
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
W activities could including wearing white on a special "white" day. You
could also read the book "The Wheels on the Bus"
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
*whistle, wagon, walk, wallpaper, worms, waffles, watermelon seeds, weddings,
wheels, wire, water
*Read Whistle for Willie by Ezra Jack Keats; allow each child to tell
something that they had to practice to learn how to do
*use playdough to make Ws
*glue wheel-shaped pasta onto large W shape
*use wheel-shaped pasta as counters
*eat waffles; graph favorite toppings
*eat mini cinnamon waffles. They're sweet enough that they don't need
toppings.
*allow student to write a W on their waffle with syrup
*use watermelon seeds as counters
*eat watermelon
*label watermelon cutouts with letters or numbers for sequencing
*give students an activity sheet with watermelons and numbers. The students
program the watermelons with the correct number of seeds according to the
number under the watermelon
*collect objects that begin with /w/ and those that do not and place them in
a wagon. As you remove them from the wagon, have students identify the
objects. Then allow students to take turns returning only those that begin
with /w/ back into the wagon.
*paint with worms ~ hook gummy worms onto paperclips. Have students drag
them through paint them wiggle them onto their paper making a design of their
choosing.
*use 4 gummy worms to form a W
*give students a picture of a window frame and have them draw what they would
see if they looked out their bedroom window (or any window)
*brainstorm a list of W words