Toddler Activites for the Letter R

For our study of the letter "R," we talked about the color red, the shape of a rectangle, and made the sound of "rain" by rubbing our hands together, snapping our fingers, patting our legs, and jumping (for thunder). There's a fun video on Youtube here if you want to try it out! We found a book about rattlesnakes and learned some interesting facts about those interesting creatures. We decided to make some rattlers of our own for our activity and here's what we came up with:



Materials:
construction paper
stapler
cotton balls
crayons
dried beans or rice

Step One:
Fold your paper in half lengthwise and draw your snake's shape on one side.


Step Two:
Have your preschooler help you cut out your snake, giving you two snake pieces.


Step Three:
Staple your two snake pieces together as your preschooler places the cotton balls in between them.






Step Four:
(I don't have pictures of this step because my 2 year old was DONE at this point).
Fold another smaller piece of paper in half and cut out a rattle shape. We drew the "buttons" onto the rattler (they really are called buttons because of the sound they make when they hit one another as the rattler shakes). Fill your rattler with dried beans or rice as you staple it closed. Attach the rattler to the snake with another staple.


You could host a RACE between your snakes when you're done!
A great classic story to share for this letter is Little Red Riding Hood.
I always look up the Sesame Street songs on You Tube as well.