Word Recognition Place Mat

I should have posted this at least a week ago. Really. It’s just been sitting here. But, life has been busy  crazy  rushed normal and I haven’t gotten to it.  Oh well.  I also thought that I would get to another Valentine’s Day craft, but now that its less than a week away and we still have to get all of the twenty valentines for preschool signed and I want to make cookie pops to give to friends, I just don’t think that it’s happening.  Never the less, here is the place mat.

Clara and I went to Dollar Tree to get some more craft supplies the other day.  I gave her her own dollar to buy one thing.  This was the hardest decision that she has EVER made.  She ended up with a box of Tinkerbell valentine chocolates.  But, while we were in the crafty/school supply aisle, I found manuscript tablets and talked Clara into wanting to learn to write something.

We got home and sat down with her markers.  She tried diligently to write her name.  It sort of worked.  She needs lots more practice.  Then she wanted me to write names of everyone she could think of.  So, I did, spelling them aloud as I went. Once we had two pages of names, I decided we better do something with them.

So, we cut them out and I found some clear contact paper (also from Dollar Tree) and laid that out with the sticky side exposed.

Clara stuck all of the names down (face down) as I re-read them all to her. Then I found some flowers that I had cut out of magazines a couple of years ago to make collages with and we stuck those all over until the whole contact paper was covered. Then we covered the other side so both sides were enclosed in plastic. Voila!  Place mat!

Clara loves to eat on her place mat and asks me what all of the names are as she eats. We talk about the letters. Sleeping Beauty and Little Mermaid (the ones with the most letters) seem to hold the most interest. I’m sure that it has nothing to do with them being princesses.