Silas is studying the letter “S” in his My Father’s World Kindergarten curriculum this week. Since I’m a big fan of hands-on learning, we’re having fun practicing making the letter in different forms.
Yesterday, we made “Salt Letters”. Otherwise known as: dumping salt on a baking sheet and drawing in it. 🙂
Silas thought it was the best! The salt feels interesting on your fingers and it’s fun to draw in. Kathrynne had to try it out, too!
They got so engaged in drawing in the salt that I ended up reading some of the read alouds while they were drawing names, letters, and pictures in salt.
Looking for more fun letter ideas? Check out my post on Pudding Finger Paint or Pancake Letters and Numbers.
How old is Silas now? I want to use My Father’s World for my daughter, too. She is 3.5 years, will be 4 in January. I wasn’t sure if I should wait one more year for kindergarten. What is your opinion on this curriculum?
Well, considering this is our third time to use it, I think that probably tells you what I think about it. 🙂 We really love it.
Silas turned 4 in May.
Thanks, Crystal! 🙂 I’m really excited about starting it.
We set up a box with cornmeal in it for my son to practice his letters and numbers. Once he was done with his letters and numbers he could run his cars through the “sand”. It helped him to concentrate on his school work with the reward he knew was waiting for him.
We use Abeka kindergarten with our 3rd child. Really enjoy it. I know my sister has used MFW in the past.
I had forgotten about salt art. Good idea! Toothpaste is fun too. Makes the house smell fresh. 🙂 I have used the color rice in the past and that is a great measuring and pouring activity as well. We used to store it in a huge tub.
I love how simple and fun it is to write in salt! My preschool uses the MFW alphabet cards with our letter practicing too. I have a picture of how we use them on this post: http://preschoolinspirations.com/2013/08/17/fun-ways-to-encourage-writing-in-young-children/.
I had fun checking out that post! Thanks so much for sharing!
We also love “finger paint in a bag” for this purpose. You fill a gallon-size ziploc with enough fingerpaint to “fill” the bag when it is laid down flat. Then, you can “draw” in the paint, with no-mess fingers. 🙂 Also, you simply put the bag away for next time so the paint is not wasted.
My son is also loving “hide-and-seek” rubbings this year. We put a few items– key, leaf, button, coin, and even thin foam tub letters– under a piece of butcher paper. We tape the butcher paper lightly to the table. Then, he uses a crayon “side” to discover items using crayon rubbing.
Thanks so much for sharing these great ideas!
I’ve been curious what you use to homeschool your children. We’re using MFW for my daughter this year, too. I hope you’ll share more of your homeschooling and what you use.
We’re using MFW Kindergarten for Silas and MFW Creation to the Greeks for the girls. LOVE it! Kathrynne is also doing Switched on Schoolhouse as a supplemental curriculum.
We did this the other day with flour on the counter. I was done making bread and there was a bit of flour on the counter still. I had my 5-year-old and 3-year-old write their names in the flour.
Love this!
We did MFW kindergarten last year and we did “salt letters” every week. I just put the salt in a square flat rubbermaid container and used it every week.
Great idea!
Shaving cream is fun too :)! But a little more pricey than salt… can clean off a school desk ( or other surfaces) while you are learning and playing.
Oh, I definitely need to try shaving cream with him! Great suggestion!
We are in our first year of homeschooling, also with MFW! Yesterday we made letters in shaving cream and both kids (ages 4 & 2) loved it so much they asked to do it again today. 🙂
I love it! Salt is quite inexpensive and therefore great for something like this. 🙂
Yes — one of my favorite parts of the salt idea. 🙂
I remember doing the same thing with my daughter, just with colored rice. I put a little bit of rice in a bowl with some rubbing alcohol and food coloring, let it soak a few minutes, then drained it and spread it on a paper towel to dry. We made red, blue, green and yellow. Then we mixed them (after they were dry) and used them for ‘writing’ letters and numbers, and also for drawing. Eventually, they became part of collages. 🙂
You can do the same thing with dry pasta to make beads for stringing and/or collage.
Thanks for these suggestions!