Alphabet Adventures- A Month of Activities, Adventures, and Green Things Inspired by the Letter G
At our house, every month gets a letter that we use as inspiration for adventures, food, and making stuff. We start when the kids are three, so by the time they head to kindergarten, they associate learning and literacy with fun and adventure. Pre-quarantine it kept our focus on experiences instead of things. Now, it basically keeps me sane. That little bit of extra-ness helps us keep coming up with ideas, not getting stuck in the same old thing.
So for g month, we gardened (a lot) and went to visit a Japanese garden. We even drew pictures of gardens and painted our own garden rocks! We ate garlic and ginger, green pizza with goat cheese, and made their first gnocchi (which they hated- anyone have a good gnocchi recipe?). We got out in the great outdoors, celebrated the color green, and finally got to see Grandma! We learned about George Washington from Hamilton, talked a lot about germs, and made a cute little glow worm.
How do I come up with stuff? At the beginning of each month, we brainstorm a list together, and I get most of my ideas from that. I also think about what our already existing plans for the month are, and I basically try to come up with words that fit. That is usually enough to keep us busy, even in a pandemic!
G Foods
Green Food- We made all sorts of foods that were green including pesto pizza, cucumber snacks, and kale chips (our kids weirdly love kale chips). It was fun to see what we could talk them into.
Gnocchi- Gnocchi is the perfect food for little helpers. It is fun, and they can make the ridges with forks basically by themselves. Sweet potato gnocchi has been a big winner for us if you are looking for somewhere to start!
More G Foods to Try- Garlic, Ginger, Goat Cheese, Grapes, Guacomole, Gelato
Adventures Inspired by G
Gardening- Our month centered around the garden. We tilled, planted, and harvested (it was a busy month for the garden). Then we actually visited other gardens, like our neighborhood p patch and the Japanese garden. I tried to talk a lot about how different cultures cultivate green space in different ways. I'm not sure they got it all, but we had a shockingly amazing time at the Japanese garden.
Geese- It's like feeding the ducks, but they are way more mean. But geese at Green Lake was too many g's to deny.
Garbage- Our local transfer station has a spectacularly cool viewing deck for kids, which we visited a LOT our first G month. Watching the trucks is all sorts of fun, but I think talking about garbage vs recycling vs compost to minimize landfill trash can make a lasting impression on even the smallest of kids. Our kids know that plastic is a problem, and that we are always trying to minimize what we throw away. Even if you just have a great day watching the garbage truck go by, you can still start to bring up these issues with them.
Grandparents- We were so lucky to have Grandma and Nonno visit that month. If that isn't a possibility for you, maybe try to learn all about them or send them letters! It's easy to assume our kids know way more about our parents than they actually do.
Making Things Inspired by G
My favorite project this month was making garden rocks. We used these acrylic paint markers, so fun for kids, and we made all sorts of garden signs for our garden.
Andy Goldsworthy- Our inspiration artist this month was Andy Goldsworthy, so we did one of my favorite projects to get kids outside. It's zero waste, gives us lots of time outside, and keeps kids busy way longer than you might expect.
Garbage! You wouldn't think that garbage would make a great art inspiration, but it is a total winner. I save a lot of the unrecyclable packaging from our food (especially bottlecaps, bubble wrap, and anything with color). We learned about ocean garbage ( I like this video about it), looked at a
G Books
Sofia Valdez, Future Prez - This book is one of my absolute favorites works for lots of letters, but I particularly love it for talking about garbage, gardens, and Mt. Trashmore.
Giraffes Can't Dance- We love Gerald. Elephant of Elephant and Piggy is another excellent Gerald. Giraffe Problems is super cute as well.
Duck and Goose- I don't love them all, but if you have little ones, Duck and Goose are great for introducing emotion words, and I do love Goose Needs a Hug.
More Ideas for the Letter G
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