Let Kids Practice ABCs With Magnets And A Cookie Sheet

There are two things that are universally loved by toddlers: Playing with stuff they’ve pulled from your kitchen cabinets, and magnets. Which is why, if you’ve got some letter magnets and a cookie sheet (plus a Sharpie marker), you’ve got a new activity to keep your little kid busy for at least several minutes.

Susie Allison, at Busy Toddler on Instagram, brings us this idea: Write each letter in Sharpie on the cookie sheet as close to the same size as your magnet letters as possible. Then, hand them a bowl full of letters and let them get down to the business of matching them up.

Bonus points if you sit with them and talk about each letter while they do it; but if you’re working from home right now or just need a mental break, ignoring them while they work is also totally acceptable.

View this post on Instagram

????ABC MATCH???? No cookie sheets were harmed in the making of this activity ???? Yes, it’s sharpie on a cookie sheet but don’t worry – IT COMES OFF ???????? I took my cookie sheet and wrote the ABCs on it in sharpie ????Side note, enjoy my disgusting cookie sheet and also, judgy wudgy was a bear and probably had a nasty cookie sheet too ???? I set our ABC magnets (no fancy brand just search Amazon) in a bowl for Kate to match to the cookie sheet (because most cookie sheets are magnetic ????) This is, has, and always will be a fan favorite over here ???????? At the end, remove the sharpie using HAND SANITIZER and a scrubby sponge – obviously, test this first before blindly following the lady on IG ???????? A QUICK ABC SOAP BOX NOTE: remember, kids learn the ABCs on a broad spectrum from age two to kindergarten ???? Please be ok with where your child falls in that big range ❤️ At the end of the day, memorizing a set of symbols is NOT the most important skill in early childhood – in fact, it’s a very low level skill to just memorize something ???? Instead, celebrate the immeasurable skills your child is learning each day – high level skills like reasoning, problem solving, and empathy ???????? These are so much more important to learn in the early years ???????? If you’d like to read more about kids learning the ABCs and allllll my thoughts ???? the link is in my profile to my full blog post “Stop Worrying About Your Toddler and the ABCs” ❤️

A post shared by Susie Allison | Busy Toddler (@busytoddler) on

Allison suggests removing the Sharpie with hand sanitiser, which is such a pre-pandemic suggestion to make. When I originally bookmarked this in February, I intended to test out the sanitiser component. But given the fact that all the sanitiser in my community was sold out before I went in search of some in early March, you better believe I’m rationing the one tiny, sample-sized bottle I have for my family of three.

Plus, I’m not sure I’d want to risk taking some of the non-stick coating off with all that scrubbing anyway. So my suggestion: Turn the cookie sheet over and write the letters on the bottom. The bottom is just as magnetic and you can scrub it off with abandon—or leave it there for them to do another day.

Comments


Leave a Reply