Alphabet Adventures- A Month of Fun, Food, and Wagon Rides Inspired by the Letter W

by - Wednesday, September 19, 2018

Ever since my son turned three, we have chosen a Letter of the Month to help us stay creative about our adventures. We do all sorts of activities, listen to music, eat food, pick colors, all around the letter we pick. I thought it might be fun, but it has turned out to be my best parenting idea ever. Here's why:

1. It keeps our daily focus on what we DO not what we HAVE. I am trying to raise minimalist kids by putting my energy into experiences, not things, because toys are just going to be a burden of waste for them as adults. 

2. It reinforces letters and sounds without banging them over the head. We are playing with words in a game-like way, that I hope will help with literacy when it's more developmentally appropriate.

3.  It keeps me from getting bored. Stay at home parenting can be an exercise in stamina when you do the same monotonous tasks every single day. It is way too easy to get complacent, let your boredom take over, spend hours on screen time, etc. I feel like this motivates me to stay creative.

4. It's really fun. Can I sell anything as exciting if it starts with the letter of the month? Do we make chores and errands into adventures? Oh hell yes. We have a great time!







W Foods



Watermelon. This fruit is THE treat in our house. We ate it so much that we had to institute a "no watermelon after dinner" rule, because it was causing problems. 


Waffles. Delicious and fun. No one has ever complained because they got brinner. They love being "Baker Aker" from Daniel Tiger and helping me make the batter. Also, i put a tiny bit of brown sugar in, and they like getting it on their fingers. If I did it again, I would maybe try dessert waffles with different toppings. 


Wrapping. The bubs made their first ever spring rolls, and this is them learning how to wrap them tightly. I think they were "Southwestern" spring rolls, but you could put any filling you wanted in and bake. It was such a simple and fun meal to make with kids. 

Adventures Inspired by W



Wagon Rides. We climbed into the wagon and rode around as much as I could pull it off. We got our Radio Flyer wagon from Buy Nothing (have you joined one yet? It's a game-changer for parents- 98% of our toys are from there). If you already have a wagon, make this the month you go on some real walks with it. If you don't, ask around and borrow one!


Warhol. We headed to our local art museum to look at a Warhol and a visiting, very fancy, Basquiat. I like taking my kids to art museums, and I find the key is to only see a few objects and then head to the kids' space. Most museums have something (SAM has a great, but mostly hidden one). For the record, my child did not like this painting or the look of that Elvis guy.


Wet Walks in the Woods. I recently read How to Raise a Wild Child. I loved it, and I highly recommend it for parents anywhere, but the big spoiler alert is that our kids need to spend more time outside (surprise!). And that there are outdoor spaces that are well-tamed by man, but we need to be sure to get our kids in wild spaces too. My general goal is one hour outdoors a day, but we try to go play in puddles in big parks too. It rains a LOT in Seattle in the Spring, but we went out and played in the rain and cold every week anyway, and we had a blast. If you would like to try getting outside more, but you aren't sure what the heck to do out there,


Weeding. Yes, we weed together, and they weirdly love it, especially my older son. For W month, we put all of our weeds out on the steps so we could compare their roots. It felt really satisfying and fun, and I love sharing this simple work with them.



World. For Earth Day, we took our kids to beach clean ups on the coast of Washington (more W!) with some of their friends. I hope it becomes a tradition, because we had so much fun and modeled for our kids how important it is to take care of the environment. Since we were already East, we drove up to the Olympics to look at the snow. We talked about water in different forms, but also just tried to focus on how beautifully made our world is and how important it is that we take care of it.



Water. We went to the aquarium to look at all sorts of things that live in the water. Ours has a big dome, so you are just surrounded by water, and the kids had a great time just breathing in the setting.

Making Things with W


Watercolor. As you can see, this month was all about water, so of course we rocked some watercolors! I tend to use the ones out of the tube, because I love how they look, but there are so many amazing watercolor materials and forms out there, and they really highlight the beauty and spontaneity of kids' artwork!

W Books



What? Why? Where? Who? When? Not technically a "W" book, but we have been reading a lot of Ada Twist, Scientist. I love talking about all of her questions words- why, where, when, and what? I know 3 year olds love asking questions, and I am trying to frame it as really great! Plus, these books are the bomb.

Other Ideas for W Month


Some of these I used, but mostly these are ones I wish I could do again. Hopefully they can help you feel inspired!

White Stripes, Wall-E, Wind (wish I had taken advantage of the april weather and borrowed a neighbor's kite), Walrus, Wing, Window, Wand, Wizard (come on, this should be a Harry Potter month!), Witch, West, Wok, Whale, and White


Can you go a whole month without buying any new toys? So many things to do instead of buy. Check out the Green Family Page for more ideas for experience-based parenting!

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1 comments

  1. Mmmmmmmm. Watermelon is my FAVORITE! Looks like y'all had a fun time with the letter W.

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