Using the Alphabet Drawers in Different Ways

I wanted to share some ways that we've been using our alphabet drawers (or, "teeny tiny objects," according to Maddie).

These drawers are very popular with Miss Maddie. She'll request to do them and we usually spend about 30-40 minutes working with them. It's always fun when Nana sends us home with some new miniatures, too!

So, here's how we're using them...

We almost always start by looking at single letter sounds.

This is valuable for so many reasons, from vocabulary development (talking about synonyms, like how it could be called a bucket or a pail) to phonemic awareness (we always emphasize the sound each object starts with).

She also likes when we dump two drawers into one pile.

Using two felt mats (which stay stored in the box), she has to sort the objects, based on initial sound.

She always works so hard and insists that everything be in a straight line!

By the way, ignore the jammies and crazy hair... It was a relaxed morning!

I have found that the drawers are not an independent activity, at least not yet (which is fine with me, since I like to have this time with her).

For example, she was sorting F and B objects and picked up this fish.

She told me it was Swimmy. She also said:

"Ssssssswimmy starts with an S. Let's put it in the S drawer."

Alrighty. :)

While she was cleaning up the F and B sort, I set up this activity using four letters and four corresponding objects.

Her task was to match the object with the correct letter.

I was surprised how easily she completed this. Next time, I think I'll try adding in a few extra objects and letters.

And finally, when we're all done, she cleans up the objects, rolls the felt mats (with help!) and stores each in the correct drawer.

Recently, she's been asking a lot about words and which words make which sounds and what specific words say. We're just following her lead, but it excites me that she seems to really enjoy words and reading (so far, at least!). :)

I'm liking that the alphabet drawers seem to be a great way to get hands-on with letters and sounds!