A is for Alligator: This friendly alligator is a simple craft that is bound encourage fun discussions while moving beyond the simple didactic lesson that “A” stands for Alligator…
When it comes to “The Letter of the Week”, I personally am not a fan. I think the crafts are a wonderful way to introduce a letter, but do not believe in focusing an entire week to it. In my opinion it is more effective to have fun with one craft, but still continue to focus on ALL the letters throughout that week. If you choose to stick to one letter throughout the entire week, there isn’t really a specific order to follow. Just make sure you choose one that your child is relating to at the moment so that your child is more prone to be engaged in the activities and retain the information.
Items Needed for Upper Case A Craft:
- Construction Paper
- Scissors
- Sharpie Marker
- Glue Stick
Suggested Book: Alligator Alphabet by. Stella Blackstone
How to Create Your A is for Alligator:
You can start this craft off by introducing to children the concept that A is for Alligator, but as children go through the craft try to focus more on discussion than the phonics. That said, getting kids to remember that “A is for Alligator, ah ah” is a great place to start.
You can work on this (maybe with some large arm chomping motions) while you draw out an outline of a V for your kids.
Once this is done let your kids take over and have them cut out the drawn shape. Also have them cut out a rectangle for the middle of the A. While your children are cutting out their alligators, this is a great opportunity to open up discussions with questions such as, “What do you know about alligators?” or “Why do you think they have such sharp teeth?”
Use the discussions to introduce new terms such as predator or prey.
Once the alligators body is cut out have kids draw out two circles for the eyes and a row of triangles for the teeth and again have them cut out their shapes.
Then glue together your letter A, add teeth to the back side, and glue the eyes on the front.
Tie up discussions while choosing a bright piece of construction paper to mount your alligator on. Glue down and hang up for display!
A is for Alligator Finger Plays and Songs:
The Alligator:
The Alligator snaps his jaws (lay arms flat together)
Snap, snap, snap (open and close arms)
The Alligator smacks his tail (hands on thighs)
Smack, smack, smack (smack lips)
The Alligator crawls away (slither hands away from body)
Tap, tap, tap (stomp feet)
Albert the Alligator:
Albert Alligator had a very big mouth (chomp hands like an alligator)
Teeth pointing north and teeth pointing south! (point up and down)
He liked to lay all day in the sun (lay back)
And he’d snap at the bullfrogs just for fun! (chomp hands)
One frog, two frogs, three frogs, four.
He got so full he could eat no more! (shake head no)