Often children are told to not play with their food but with this fun activity it is time to play WITH food. (And along the way get some motor activity and literacy going!)
We have some free Alphabet Letter Mats that you can use with your child (or in the classroom) to get some food alphabet learning started. There also is a set of Number/Punctuation mats that you can use to make a full set of numbers.
- White 8.5 x 11 inch paper that you can print onto
- Food to make letters with (Any food that is easy to handle which can include grapes, crackers, carrots, dried beans, or anything else that is edible!)
- Optional: Plastic sleeve protector (or laminate for durability)
- Print off the Alphabet Letter Mats onto white paper.
- Take each letter printout, and slip it into a plastic sleeve protector. You now have easy to use letter mats!
- You can work together to make the entire alphabet, or spell out a child’s name in food.
- With each letter, have the child put food onto the mat. You can talk about what words start with the letter or make the sound of the letter after you make it. You can keep each letter, or remove the food to “erase it.”
This pack is perfect for kids who need some alphabet review or you can take it one at a time, printing off just the letters that you want. In the classroom, you can have children take turns, each making a different letter and making a full alphabet together.
Participate in Food Font
If you want to participate in Food Font and submit your alphabet, you can take a picture of each letter. Find a place that is not in direct sunlight to make the letters, so your pictures do not have shadows from a bright source. Some good locations are in the shade, near a window, or a room with lots of lighting.
Set your camera to the high quality JPEG setting. Take a picture of each letter from a bird’s eye view (directly above the letter.) Have the paper fill the photo frame when you take the picture. (Here is an example photo to view.)
When done, submit the images to the Food Font project. We will edit the images, and they can become part of the Food Font alphabet gallery!
- A set of Alphabet Letter Mats that you can use to make food alphabets!
- a set of Number/Punctuation mats that you can use to make a full set of numbers
Class Activity Ideas
If you are a teacher, there are many ways to do this activity in a reading, science, writing, social studies, English or health class.
- Create an alphabet out of beans, a vegetable, or other food and discuss where the food comes from and the nutritional value
- Create an alphabet out of vegetables grown in the school garden.
- Create two alphabets. One out of “healthy food” and one out of “unhealthy food.”
- Create an alphabet out of school lunch food.
- Create an alphabet of food grown or made in the local area and discuss what local food is and its impact.