DIY Shavuos Flower Manipulatives!!

Wow! Har Sinai was so beautiful… all covered with flowers when Bnei Yisrael received the Torah. For the Shavuos Unit, we use these colorful flower manipulatives. They are extremely inexpensive, super easy to make and endless activities to do.

In order to do it yourself, you need to run to your local dollar store and get a FLOWER shaped swimming noodle. You’ll see they come in various shapes, colors and sizes. I picked up some with the flower shape in assorted colors. When the children are not around, using a knife and cutting board, cut the noodle about one inch apart. With just one noodle, you get so many manipulatives! I have them scattered all around the house… too many!

Here are some activities that you can do with your Little Ones and I’m sure you can come up with so many more!

Classifying - Color Sorting

I placed color tape down on the table making four boxes. I laid a different color flower on each box. Then, I gave my Little One a container full of mix colorful flowers and ask her to sort them according to the color.

Counting

On a piece of paper, I wrote numbers 1-3. Then, right over each number we piled up the corresponding amount of flowers.

Completing a Pattern

I started a pattern using two different color flowers and ask my Little One to complete it. We are just starting with patterns, but if your child is more advance you can use more colors and/or alternations.  

We are going to be using the DIY Shavuos manipulatives to make some crafts too! Come back and visit us to see what we are busy making! Im sure you wouldn’t want to miss out.

Have a Good Shabbos,

Magnetic Aleph Bet Letter Activities

Magnetic Aleph Bet Letter Activities

One of Torah Toy's  top sellers is the Magnetic Aleph Bet Letters. The Aleph Bet manipulatives is parents and teachers "must have" because they are brightly colored, can pretty much be arrange on any metal surface and its a great way to teach the Hebrew letters. 

Basically, the Magmetic Aleph Bet Letters can be arrange in most metal surfaces such as a refrigeration, file cabinet or cookie sheet. They also come in clear plastic container - a fabulous way to keep all the pieces together.

We get lots of emails from parents and teachers asking us for different ideas and suggestions on how to use the Aleph Bet Magnets. Here are some great ideas:

Sing Along Aleph Bet Song

Name Recognition

Bingo

Color Sorting

Identifying Sight Words

First , round up all the materials needed:

Magnetic Aleph Bet Lettes

Large cookie sheet

Small cookie Sheet

Dry erase marker

Paper

We prefer using cookie sheets because as teachers, we able to work closely with the child. However, the refrigerator  is great for parents too! Parents are able to keep children busy while cooking or catching up on laundry. Some parents also have shared with us that they keep the Magnetic Aleph Bet Letters on the desk. Whenever their children come to their office for a quick visit, they remove the letters from the clear container and form words on the file cabinet.

Sing Along the Aleph Bet Song

Have your child arrange the Magnetic Aleph Bet Letters in order while singing the Aleph Bet song! For just beginners, its good to have around a chart to help them out whenever needed. It's always good to use a large cookie sheet.You want to make sure that all the letters fit on the sheet. 

Name Recognition

Using a dry erase marker, write the child's name in print. Have the child look for the Magnetic Aleph Bet Letters and place them on the small cookie sheet. This size of cookie sheet is perfect for the little hands. Its amazing to see how young children can start spelling their name!

Bingo

Bingo!! The children always ask to play this game. It's really fun! We have several small cookie sheets that we keep together on the side. The children are very used to playing this game and know exactly what they need. Each one pulls out a cookie sheet, they all fight to get out the Magnetic Aleph Bet Letters (of course!), and one is kind enough to bring the dry erase marker. The best way to play this game is to write the letters on the grid in which the child needs extra review and demonstrates greater difficulty in recognizing the letter. The kids take turns pulling out a letter. The child that has that letter, gets to place the letter on the cookie sheet.

Color Sorting

Using a large cookie sheet, have the children sort the Magnetic Aleph Bet Letters by color. This can be done in various ways, for instant ask the child find me all the yellow letters or you can just place a letter of each color in the first line and let the child complete the rest!

Identifying Sight Words

This in one of our favorite activities. Every month we work on a different set of sight words. The children get very excited when they get the new set of words because they know that they get to play this game. To prepare the game, have the list of sight words in front of you. Using the Magnetic Aleph Bet Letters, trace the words. Make sure to also have a picture next to it. Visual learners will gain tremendously from the pictures. Also, remember to box the words. Then, have the children find the letters and form the words.

And there is one more thing before you go... Torah Toy is giving a 10% discount to their friends. Use this coupon code ALEPH10 when you check out! But, hurry! offer ends 10/22/12

Well... Do you have any other ideas? We would love to here what other parents and teachers have to say. Feel free to post your idea on the comments.

DIY Aleph Bet Manipulatives!!!

DIY Aleph Bet Manipulatives!!

When it's time to learn the Aleph Bet, many children need more than just a Kriah book. Here are great manipulatives that can be done with items  that are laying around the house or easy to get a hold of. Some of these manipulatives can be used for letter recognition and others can be used for blending sounds. 

Manipulatives can be done using the following:

Color Plastic Eggs

Water or Soda Caps

Clothespins 

Lego or Mega Blocks

Aleph Bet Egg Manipulatives

Using a permanent maker, write the print letter on the top and the vowel on the bottom. Usually is best to prepare the eggs according to  the child's needs. Some teachers prefer to introduce two letters and two sounds at first. The student can practice by mixing and matching the eggs.  

Here is an example... First separate all the eggs.

Then, mix and match them!

Aleph Bet Bottle Caps Manipulatives

Bottle caps are good to hold on when the drink is finished. I'm always the one screaming from the back: "Don't trow the cap away" and for some reason I get a puzzled look in return... I managed to save up enough seltzer bottle caps. I prefer these caps than any others because they are solid white - making it easier for a child to read. Ok, now lets get to the making part. Very simple! Using a thick permanent marker, write a letter in each cap. Let it dry for a few minutes. Otherwise, they can easily smudge.  

There are many activities that these letters can be used. I mainly used the caps for letter recognition and like to work on the receptive and expressive language skills. I usually ask the students to identify the letter and then ask to point to a specific letter. If the get the answer correctly, they get to hold the caps. And, if they get the wrong answer, they could always try again! The students love when I send the caps home in a ziploc bag for extra review. And, I don't usually mind if some get lost on  the way. After all, it was not such a big investment ;)

Aleph Bet Clothespin Manipulatives

The clothespins manipulatives are very easy and fast to make. I used a thin permanent marker to write the print letters. I keep them handy. Whenever, a student needs to review, I pulled them our from my drawer. They can be used in so many different ways!

Aleph Bet Mega Blocks Manipulatives

These Mega Blocks Manipulatives can be used for more advance students. Usually the ones that are able to blend two-three syllable words. The letters and vowels can be written with a dry erase marker. This way, one can work on a specif sound that the student needs help with. Once mastered a goal, the letters can be erased, rewritten and rearranged to work on new goals! 

Have fun with all these Aleph Bet Manipulatives!