The One with May Plans, Week 1

Hey guys! It's May!
This is the end of the alphabet, so we will do 2 letters this month plus 2 weeks of reviewing skills! It should be a super fun month! I'm really excited that I completed this school-year long challenge of lesson plans!

Here is the link to the calendar of monthly activities! Click, print, stick on the fridge, and do an activity of the week! 

Y Dot Art
Directions: print file. print file. Introduce the letter of the week: Y!  Allow child to decorate the uppercase and lowercase y. (You can use circle stickers, dot stampers, play dough pieces, or pom poms) You can read Dr Suess's ABC book and demonstrate which letter is big Y and which one is little y. Discuss that y makes the /y/ sound, like in yellow and yak and yesterday!

Rectangle Coloring Page
Directions: print file. Introduce the shape of the month: rectangle! Count the sides and the corners. Describe that a rectangle looks kind of like a square, but longer! Older kids can trace the letters in the word "rectangle". Encourage the children to decorate the rectangle as desired.

Butterfly Life Cycle Pasta Activity
Directions: Read your children "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" by Eric Carle. Discuss the 4 different phases of the butterfly life cycle: egg, caterpillar, chrysalis (cocoon in book), butterfly. Divide a paper plate into fourths and label each quadrant with the 4 phases. For this activity, you need a bean (or something else tiny like a grain of rice, quinoa, etc), a long noodle, a shell noodle, and a bow-tie pasta noodle. Go through the story again and show the child the 4 little pieces. Ask "Which one of these little pieces of food reminds you of an egg? Right! Let's put the bean in the egg part of the plate! Which one of these pasta pieces reminds of you of a long caterpillar?..." and so on! Talk through the 4 phases and glue down each piece into the corresponding part of the plate! This is a super cute visual, and the bow-tie pasta as a butterfly is so cute!

Y Snack-Yogurt Parfait
Directions: Discuss that yogurt starts with the letter y! Have fun making a parfait together. We used blueberries, granola, and vanilla yogurt. My kiddos made theirs all by themselves!!! (Ok, I was right there giving directions, but still!) This is a delicious and healthy snack that they have already asked to have again!

Yarn Yak Craft
Directions: print file. Cut up lots of pieces of yellow yarn (or any color!) invite your kiddo to decorate their yak with yellow yarn. My kids love using glue and these yaks are so ugly that it's hysterical!

Yellow Coloring Page
Directions: print file. Discuss that the color of the month is yellow. It starts with the letter y! Just like our yak with yarn! Encourage your child to color the yellow crayon (marker, paint, crayon, etc). Discuss the letter in the word yellow. "Y-e-l-l-o-w! Can you trace the letters in the word yellow?" Search for yellow things around the house today!

Y Letter Recognition
Directions: print file. Discuss that this is the letter Y. "There are some little y's hiding on that big Y! Can you find them all?" Encourage them to identify the letter Y's by marking them with a dot marker, sticker, or simply circling them. They should hopefully be able to find all the Y's by the end of the week!

#8 Playdough Mat
Directions: print file. Introduce the number 8 as the number of the month. Count the dots together. Show them the word "eight" and spell out the letters. Use play dough to fill in the dots. Roll out a big long snake in the play dough in order to make the number 8 at the top! This is a fun page for kids to explore the number in a very tactile way.

Here are the free printables:
Yy Dot Art
Rectangle Coloring Page
Yarn Yak Craft
Yellow Coloring Page
Y Letter Recognition
8 Counting Mat