EATING THE ALPHABET

BY LOIS EHLERT
 TIPS FOR THE READER

In this kit, you will find a wonderful children’s book and practical resources you can
use to help a child develop important lifelong skills. Use these tips to engage the child
in talking about the story, further developing vocabulary, comprehension and a love
of reading. Finally, use the provided materials and Activity Instructions to extend and
practice new skills.

EATING THE ALPHABET BY LOIS EHLERT

While teaching upper- and lowercase letters to preschoolers, Ehlert introduces fruits
and vegetables from around the world. A glossary at the end provides interesting facts
about each food.

Themes covered: letters, fruits and vegetables, colors, textures

Skills developed: alphabetical knowledge, counting, vocabulary, classification,

matching, gross motor skills

Verbal Prompts
Before reading…
i Show the children 3-4 fruits and vegetables and ask if they can name them.
i Ask: What is your favorite fruit? Favorite vegetable?

While reading…
i Periodically, count the types of fruits and vegetables that start with the same
letter. You can also count the number of individual fruits or vegetables (e.g.,
How many potatoes are there? Count with me.)
i Ask children to come up and point to the items that are a particular color. For
example, on the “A” page, ask them who sees a red fruit. Pick a child to come
up and point to the apple.

After reading…
i As you are cooking or making snacks, let children hold different fruits and
vegetables. Ask questions about the color, how they feel (soft, hard, fuzzy,
etc.), how they smell.
i Ask about how the food tastes, e.g., Who has ever eaten a lemon?
What did it taste like?

Eating the Alphabet by Lois Ehlert

 PROP/PUZZLE/GAME 1
PREPARATION INSTRUCTIONS

JUMPING JACK ALPHABET

Help children build physical fitness and learn about letters
and sounds with Alphabet Jumping Jacks!

Supplies You’ll Need Kit Assembly Instructions

q One white piece of poster 1. Using the yard stick and marker, copy the sample
board (28”x22”) alphabet grid onto the poster board.

q Marker 2. Grid should be 26” wide by 20” long. Each block is 6.5”
wide and 5” long.
q Yard stick
3. Include the book and Tips for the Reader in the kit.
q Fruits and vegetables from
the “after reading” activity
found in Tips for the
Reader

q Plastic bag(s) or other

container

Eating the Alphabet by Lois Ehlert

 PROP/PUZZLE/GAME 1
TEMPLATE

Xx
Rr
Ff

Ll

Ww
Qq
Kk
Ee
Dd

Pp

Vv

Zz
Jj

Oo

Uu
Cc

Yy
Ii
Hh

Nn
Bb

Tt
Mm
Gg
Aa

Ss

Eating the Alphabet by Lois Ehlert

 PROP/PUZZLE/GAME 1
ACTIVITY INSTRUCTIONS

JUMPING JACK ALPHABET

Help children build physical fitness and learn about letters
and sounds with Alphabet Jumping Jacks!

Follow These Steps

1. Give each child a fruit or vegetable.

2. Get in a circle with the children.

3. Place the poster board with alphabet grid in the center of the circle.

4. Lead the children in doing three jumping jacks, counting from one to
three as they jump.

5. Ask which children have a fruit or vegetable that starts with the letter
“A.” Help them if they don’t know. Ask them to place it the Aa box on
the alphabet grid.

6. Repeat with 3-5 jumping jacks and move through the alphabet until
all the foods are on the grid. There won’t be a fruit or vegetable for
every letter.

Note: To do this activity with one child, you may prefer to write each
letter of the alphabet on a separate notecard. Spread out the notecards
on a table or the floor. Let the child pick a fruit or vegetable from a basket
and place it on the appropriate notecard. Talk with the child about other
words that start with that letter. You may even want to play “I Spy” and
say “I spy something else that starts with the letter C. Can you find It?”
Congratulate them for finding anything that starts with the letter C.

Cookie’s Week by Cindy Ward

 PROP/PUZZLE/GAME 2
PREPARATION INSTRUCTIONS

LETTER HUNT
Help children learn to recognize letters and their sounds with this Letter Hunt game!

Supplies You’ll Need Kit Assembly Instructions

q Alphabet template 1. Determine how many small groups you’ll have
(about 3 children per group).
q Plastic tubs/bins
2. Make 2 copies of the template for each small group.
q Enough packing peanuts
to partially fill each tub 3. On half of the copies, cut out the letters and put
in each group’s kit.
q Set of plastic alphabet
letters 4. Include the book and Tips for the Reader in the kit.

q Scissors

q Plastic bag(s) or other

container

Eating the Alphabet by Lois Ehlert

 PROP/PUZZLE/GAME 2
TEMPLATE

A B C D E
F G H I J
K L M N O
P Q R S T
U V W X Y
Z
Eating the Alphabet by Lois Ehlert
 PROP/PUZZLE/GAME 2
ACTIVITY INSTRUCTIONS

LETTER HUNT
Help children learn to recognize letters and their sounds with this Letter Hunt game!

Follow These Steps

1. Put packing peanuts and a set of plastic alphabet letters in each tub. Mix them up.

2. Space out the tubs on tables or the floor.

3. Ask three children to sit around each tub. Give them a baggie with letters in it.

4. Ask each child to pick a letter out of the baggie, find that letter in the tub, and place
the letter on the alphabet page.

5. Ask the group what sound the letter makes.

6. Repeat until all the letters have been found. If the children get bored or restless,
stop the activity.

Eating the Alphabet by Lois Ehlert

 TAKE HOME ACTIVITY KIT 1
PREPARATION INSTRUCTIONS

MATCHING AND NAMING FRUITS

AND VEGETABLES (AGES 0-2)
Help children learn about fruits and vegetables with this matching activity!

Supplies You’ll Need Kit Assembly Instructions

q Templates of whole and 1. Make copies of each template on card stock
cut fruits and vegetables (20 copies for a classroom).

q One plastic bag per child 2. Cut out the squares with images of whole, uncut fruits
and vegetables. Leave the other template intact.

3. Place the uncut template and a set of cut out images

in each bag.

4. Include the book and Tips for the Reader in the kit.

Eating the Alphabet by Lois Ehlert

TAKE HOME ACTIVITY KIT 1
TEMPLATE

Eating the Alphabet by Lois Ehlert

TAKE HOME ACTIVITY KIT 1
TEMPLATE

Eating the Alphabet by Lois Ehlert

 TAKE HOME ACTIVITY KIT 1
ACTIVITY INSTRUCTIONS

MATCHING AND NAMING FRUITS

AND VEGETABLES (AGES 0-2)
Help children learn about fruits and vegetables with this matching activity!

Follow These Steps

Ask the child to match and name the cut and uncut fruits and vegetables.

KB NOTE:

The FOR THE READER that used to go here had copy changes to the “After
reading...” prompt. What should we do here? There’s only one version of
Tips per kit now.

Eating the Alphabet by Lois Ehlert

 TAKE HOME ACTIVITY KIT 2
PREPARATION INSTRUCTIONS

MATCHING UPPER AND LOWER

CASE LETTERS (AGES 3-5)
Help children learn lower and upper case letters with this matching activity!

Supplies You’ll Need Kit Assembly Instructions

q Template with upper and 1. Copy the template to send home with preschoolers.
lowercase letters
2. Include the book and Tips for the Reader in the kit.

Eating the Alphabet by Lois Ehlert

 TAKE HOME ACTIVITY KIT 2
TEMPLATE

UPPER lower UPPER lower

A c N o
B d O q
C a P n
D b Q p
E g R t
F h S u
G e T r
H f U s
I j V y
J l W z
K i X v
L m Y w
M k Z x
Eating the Alphabet by Lois Ehlert
 TAKE HOME ACTIVITY KIT 2
ACTIVITY INSTRUCTIONS

MATCHING UPPER AND LOWER

CASE LETTERS (AGES 3-5)
Help children learn lower and upper case letters with this matching activity!

Follow These Steps

Ask the child to draw a line that connects the upper case letter with the
corresponding lower case letter.

Eating the Alphabet by Lois Ehlert

 TAKE HOME ACTIVITY KIT 3
PREPARATION INSTRUCTIONS

LETTER CUBES (AGES 3-5)

Help children begin to identify vowels with this activity.

Supplies You’ll Need Kit Assembly Instructions

q Vowel letter board (printed 1. Select a vowel and write that vowel on all sides
on cardstock) of one template (e.g. A on 6 sides of one template),
repeat with the other vowels/template.
q Cube templates
2. Cut out template.
q Construction paper
or confetti 3. Fold along creases.

q Glue 4. Glue together to form a cube.

q Scissors 5. Shred pieces of construction paper to make large

confetti-like shapes (or use confetti) and place in
q Gallon-size plastic bags
gallon-size bag along with cubes. Use enough paper
q Plastic bag(s) or so that the cubes are only partially visible.
other container
6. Include the book and Tips for the Reader in the kit.

Eating the Alphabet by Lois Ehlert

 TAKE HOME ACTIVITY KIT 3
TEMPLATE

A E I
O U
Eating the Alphabet by Lois Ehlert
TAKE HOME ACTIVITY KIT 3
TEMPLATE

Eating the Alphabet by Lois Ehlert

 TAKE HOME ACTIVITY KIT 3
ACTIVITY INSTRUCTIONS

LETTER CUBES (AGES 3-5)

Help children begin to identify vowels with this activity.

Follow These Steps

1. Give child a bag with letters in it.

2. Ask child to pick a letter cube out of the bag, find that letter on the letter board,
and place the cube on the alphabet page.

3. Repeat until all the letters have been found.

Eating the Alphabet by Lois Ehlert