Alphabet Art - E

Stardust received this brilliant book over Christmas, Alphabet Art, by Judy Press. It has so many cool crafts ideas for preschoolers!

After looking through it, I went out to Art Friend one weekend and bought a whole load of tempera paints and coloured construction paper. It was so exciting!

We've been going through the book systematically and learning a new letter each week. Stardust just loves the change in activity and looks forward to 'do-ink craffs' at his little table.

Some of the activities take a little bit of planning on my part to make sure that I have all the necessary materials.

For example, Stardust was learning the letter 'E' this week. Over the weekend, I saved the eggshells from our breakfast and made sure they were clean and dry. I also outlined the uppercase and lowercase letters using black marker on a paper plate and cut off the rim so that I could tape it flat to the tabletop.

I put the eggshells into a ziplock bag and gave Stardust a wooden mallet to use. He was rather bemused at first, but after I showed him what to do, he quickly got into the spirit of things and unleashed his destructive powers.

There was a very satisfying crrrrr-ackkking and crrrrrr-unching sound as he smashed the eggshells into a gazillion tiny pieces, cackling evilly to himself.

I applied dribbly glue liberally over the surface of each letter, and Stardust very carefully sprinkled the eggshells over the glue, tapping them gingerly into place with the tips of his fingers.

Tadahhhh!

The best part of all this is that Stardust very clearly remembers this activity and will repeat 'Eh, eggshells!' whenever he sees the letter 'E' printed anywhere.