Today I’m welcoming a friend on to the blog to share her E is for Elephant plastic egg craft to help children learn the short E sound. Over to Meeghan..
If you have ever been to my blog, Mrs. Karle’s Sight and Sound Reading, you would know that I teach children to read through youtube videos and free worksheets. So, when I do crafts or recipes, I usually try to sneak in some sort of learning. I try to make it so that the children do not even know they are learning. Today I have an activity to teach the short e sound.
With Easter around the corner, many of you may have a few extra plastic eggs that need to be ‘recycled’ into something new. If you do not celebrate Easter or have plastic eggs, I am guessing you can either easily find a plastic egg from someone else, or for very cheap after Easter.
Before teaching, I would say that we are listening for the short vowel e sound. The e says ‘eh”…… and then, I would ask what sound an elephant makes…the elephant says “ehhhhh” (you can move your arm like the trunk of an elephant. )
Then when I made the eggs with my children, all we did was add some sticky googly eyes to the eggs. Then we cut out elephant ears and a trunk from felt and glued it to the egg. The children had a hard time being patient waiting for the glue to try. It did work, eventually, but, you have to be patient to wait for it to dry. I would have liked to have tried double sided tape to see if that worked better. I am guessing it might be a better choice. The kids really LOVED the project, though, and the elephants were adorable.
After we made our elephants, we went thought of names for the elephants -they had to start with the short or long e phonics vowel sounds. We named our elephants Ellen, Elanore, Ethan, Eva, Elaa, Edward, Eden and Emily.
Then, after making our elephants, we put them to bed….(bed has a short e phonics vowel sound in it too!)
If you want to teach your child to read, stop on by and take our free reading readiness test! Teaching reading is easier than you think… and the kids will have more fun than they think too!
Meeghan (Karle) Mousaw teaches children to read on her blog, Mrs. Karle’s Sight and Sound Reading. She has a Bachelor in Business Administration from the University of Notre Dame and a Masters in Special Education from Assumption College. She is married and has five children. Aside from spending time with her family, she loves supporting my alma mater by attending the University of Notre Dame athletic events.
You can find Meeghan on Pinterest, Facebook, twitter and G+
Anna Marikar, mum of four and seasoned blogger, has spent over a decade sharing her parenting journey and passion for kid-friendly crafts and free printables.
Her easy-to-follow craft ideas and practical parenting advice have transformed In The Playroom into a cherished resource for parents.