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On the Go Active Alphabet Activities and Busy Bag Fun
Learning the alphabet can be a fun, active play game with this set of alphabet activity cards that is easy to make. Many studies have shown that kids understand new concepts best when they are physically experienced. Moving cements learning, and also has a host of other benefits, including increased attention span, and better overall health.
If your kids are fans of Bo on the Go on Kids' CBC, you will know how easy it is to get them moving when the energetic blue haired host, Bo, asks them to swim like a shark or hop like a kangaroo. These cards work the same way, providing a fun movement activity for each letter of the alphabet:
We printed the list of alphabet activities out on computer paper, and then cut out each letter activity and glued it onto scrapbook paper printed with an alphabet theme:
Here is the list of activities:
a: put your arms in the air and snap them like an alligator
b: bounce up and down like a ball
c: crawl across the floor like crab
d: pretend you are digging like a dog
e: act like an elephant
f: flap your wings and fly like a falcon
g: gallop like a gazelle
h: hop like a hare (that’s like a rabbit)
i: ice skate across the floor
j: jiggle like a bowl of jello
k: karate kick your legs up high (just don’t kick other kids!)
l: lean to the left and right
m: march to music, or make music while you march
n: nod your head nine times
o: go over an obstacle (crawl over piles of pillows, or hop over a line)
p: pounce like a panther
q: quickly move as quietly as you can
r: roll round the room
s: slither and slide on your stomach like a snake
t: tiptoe and turn around on your toes
u: up, up, up! See how high you can reach
v: vroom! Pretend you’re driving a van at various speeds
w: wiggle like a worm
x: x marks the exact spot – make an x with your arms and legs
y: yawn and stretch
z: zip! zip up a zipper from your toes to your nose
You can use the cards in a number of ways. Here are just a few:
- Place the cards facedown, pick a card, and do the activity on the card
- Place the cards facedown, pick a card, and point to someone else who should do the activity
- Pick a card, do the activity, and have others try and guess what letter of the alphabet you are doing
- Sort the cards into alphabetical order
- Choose a simple word such as "cat", and find the card for each of the letters in the word. Do each of the activities in sequence so that you are spelling the word through movement (e.g. CAT = crawl like a crab, snap your arms like an alligator, and then tiptoe and turn around on your toes). Try spelling each other's names through movement too
- Use the activity on the card as part of your letter of the day, or letter of the week activities
The back of the cards provide a shape and colour sorting busy bag activity. We cut out circles, squares, and triangles from purple, green, and yellow paper, and glued one shape onto the back of each card. Younger kids can help with gluing, and preschoolers can practice cutting as well:
This pretties up the back of the cards and turns them into a perfect quiet time or on the go activity for your toddler or preschooler..
We started by sorting the cards into shapes:
Next, we worked on colours:
We practiced a bit of pattern making and pattern identification too. So far, we have worked on a basic a-b-a-b shape pattern:
We tried the same a-b-a-b pattern with colours too:
Patterns are a great early math activity, and you can progress to increasingly more complex patterns. See what your little one can come up with.
With this "Bo on the Go" inspired active alphabet and shapes and colours busybag set, you will have everything you need to get your child physically active, teach the alphabet, work on early math, and have a lot of fun too!
What you need:
First, cut out a band from the black construction paper - make sure it's wide enough to go around your child's wrist.
Then, cut out three strips of paper - yellow, green, and red for the bands on Bo's power band.
Line up the strips along the band and glue in place. This is a great time to talk about 
Cut the paper into strips about an inch and a half wide.
To assemble the lei, string pipe cleaner through each folded piece and string together. We used two pipe cleaners for the colours (4 colours on each) and two pipe cleaners to complete the lei and make the 'necklace'.
Enjoy more rainbow crafts from 
