My plan
Fun Littles

Fun and easy kids activities

ABC Garden

Feb 26, 20134,980 views
Crafts
spring craft Save
Spring Craft : ABC Garden Save
spring craft letters garden set up Save
spring craft with learning letters Save
letter recognition for toddlers Save
spring craft with toddler learning materials Save

by TurkeyMom in Crafts

Ages2–4 yrs
Prep25 min
Activity30 min
Leveleasy
MessMedium
Works for1:1 · Small group

Toddlers paint cut-out letters A, B and C, glue colored gravel onto a Styrofoam plate, then 'plant' the letters, foam flowers and bugs on toothpicks to make a spring letter garden. Letter recognition gets reinforced while cutting, painting, taping and planting.

⚠️ Safety first

  • Toothpicks are sharp. The author used them only because she was doing the craft right alongside her child. If you don't want sharp objects, attach play dough to the ends of the letters instead.
  • Aquarium gravel and foam pieces are small parts and a choking hazard. Supervise closely, especially with toddlers who still mouth things.
  • Adult handles the scissors and cuts out the letters.
  • Acrylic paint can stain clothes and isn't easy to wash out. Cover clothes and the table.
  • If you reuse gravel from a fish tank, rinse and dry it well before play.

Before the kids arrive

  • Roughly draw the letters A, B and C on a Styrofoam plate and on card stock, in a variety of sizes (uppercase).
  • Cut the letters out. A preschool-age older sibling can help cut them out for a younger one.

Steps

  1. Paint the letters, using acrylic paint for the Styrofoam letters and kids paint for the paper letters.

  2. Set the letters out to dry, and come back to the activity later.

  3. Explore the colored gravel with your hands for some sensory play.

  4. Spread glue all over the garden plate.

  5. Pour the gravel onto the glue and press it down with your fingers.

  6. Set the plate out to dry.

  7. Adult: tape each letter to a toothpick, leaving only half of the toothpick below the letter.

  8. Tape the foam flowers and bugs to toothpicks the same way.

  9. 'Plant' the letters, flowers and bugs in the plate, naming each letter as it goes in.

Tips

  • We focused on only 3 letters at a time so we didn't overwhelm the child.from the author
  • Keep only half of the toothpick below the letter so the letters stand steady in the Styrofoam plate.from the author
  • Talk about what your kid is doing with the letters: 'Oh looks like you are using red color to paint the letter A.'from the author
  • Letter recognition gets reinforced at least 4 times: while cutting out the letters (optional), painting them, taping them to the toothpicks and 'planting' them.from the author
  • Let an older preschooler help set up the younger one's activity, for example by cutting out the letters. It's great for sibling bonding. (It didn't happen with mine though!)from the author
  • With an older toddler, do the cutting together with the child.from the author

Make it your own

  • For an older toddler, mix uppercase and lowercase letters and match them.
  • Focus on the color of each letter as a bonus.
  • Sort the colored gravel by color as a fine motor exercise before gluing it down.
  • Use green or brown gravel for a more garden-like ground.

The story behind it

By TurkeyMom · February 2013
letter recognition for toddlers
As a quick prep, I roughly drew the letters A, B and C on a Styrofoam plate and cardstock and cut them out. My toddler was more than happy to paint them.
1 / 8

ABC Garden: the original post

This spring craft doubles up as a wonderful tool for toddlers to engage in some hands-on letter recognition.

  • Styrofoam Plate
  • Card stock paper
  • Acrylic Paint
  • Aquarium gravel/dirt/tissue paper
  • Foam bugs and flowers
  • Tooth Picks
  • Glue and Tape

We this spring craft in 2 phases. As a quick prep, I roughly drew the 3 letters A,B,C on a Styrofoam plate and on cardstock paper and cut them out. I used a variety of sizes but stuck to uppercase. If working with a older toddler, a mix of upper case and lower case matching can also be incorporated. With an older toddler, I would also do the cutting together with the child. Recently I have started to encourage my pre schooler to be involved in my activity set-up for her sister. It is a great way to develop sibling bonding while the older one helps set up the younger one’s activities. In this case, a preschooler can easily help cut out the letters. { It didn’t happen with mine though. I’m just saying it is definitely a possibility} Once we had the letters cut out, my toddler was more than happy to paint the letters. We used acrylic for styrofoam letters and kids paint for paper letters.

letter recognition for toddlers We set out the letters to dry and came back to the activity at a later time.

toddler letters learning activity with spring crafts Next was to prep the garden plate. Here you can use real dirt or tissue paper as ground cover. My kid has been wanting to play with the colored gravel from our fish tank and I thought this was good chance for her to explore it.

spring craft with toddler learning materials

After an impromptu sensory play with colored gravel, we geared up to prep the ground. My toddler applied glue all over the plate and stuck the colored gravel by pouring and by actually pressing down ( Fine motor play alert!) We just used the color we had (blue/green. You can go for a more appropriate color.

letters spring craft with paper plate We set out the plate to dry.Next step was to attach the letters to tooth picks. Since I’m involved in the craft with the child, I was comfortable with toothpicks for this craft. If you don’t want to use sharp objects, you can attach play dough to the ends and stand it up. I secured the letters to the toothpick using tape by making sure only half of the toothpick was below the letter. This way the letters can be steady on the styrofoam plate. Here are our letters for the garden.

spring craft with learning letters We also prepared our flowers and bugs to go into our ABC garden in the same manner. With all these little guys, my toddler had a grand time “planting” the letters to the plate ( fine motor alert)

spring craft letters garden set up In this spring craft, we reinforced letter recognition at least 4 times 1. Optional ( while cutting out the letters) 2. While painting the letters 3. While taping the letters to the tooth picks 4. While “planting” the letters to the plate As a bonus you could focus on the color of the letter too.

spring craft As with many crafts, this again was a great way to develop those fine motor skills.All through this spring craft, it is very simple to talk about what my kid was doing with the letters while saying “ Oh looks like you are using red color to paint the letter A” We focused on only 3 letters at a time in order to not overwhelm the child.

Spring Craft : ABC Garden Thanks for stopping by our little space here. We encourage you to stick around and take a look at couple of our popular posts.

What readers say

💬 2 comments

Tried it?

Reviewed before it appears. No links, and please no children's names.

Read all 2 comments

  1. Varya @ littleartists · Mar 2013

    You always have some awesome activities!

  2. Rashmi · Feb 2013

    Hey loved your site..Excellent way to teach letters to toddler..I am mom of 3.7 yr old girl..Would love to try this garden with her !!

Similar activities

25 Butterfly Crafts and Art Activities

25 ideas2–8 yrs

Easy Toddler Christmas Wreath

35 min2–5 yrs

Jack-O-Lantern Silhouette Sun Catchers

35 min2–7 yrs

Simple Hanging Ghost Craft

20 min3–6 yrs
🛒 Materials