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Learning · The activity desk

Cocoa cup letter partners

Match lowercase letters to uppercase letters on pretend cocoa cups.

Let's play →

A little plan for play

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What you need

Paper and large child-appropriate crayons.

Age: 3–5 years; choose for the individual child.

Stay with the child throughout. Check the space and supplies, including anything within reach of younger siblings. Skip any activity that is unsuitable. Stop if a child puts non-food material in their mouth or becomes distressed. Use intact books, full sheets of paper, a large child-appropriate crayon and a clean, dry towel. Follow product labels; remove torn paper and keep broken crayons and caps away from children. Adult handles and stores supplies.

Set up: An adult draws two large cups labeled A and B, then draws two marshmallow shapes labeled a and b nearby.

Adult's role: Stay beside the child and name each letter while finding its partner together.

Let's make it happen

  1. Point to A on the first cup and find its lowercase partner a.
  2. Draw a line from the marshmallow shape to its matching cup.
  3. Match B and b, then decorate the cups with drawn patterns.

Make it simpler: Use one cup and one matching letter at first.

Clean up: Put away crayons and save or recycle the picture.

Keep the cocoa and marshmallows pretend; no hot liquids or small pieces are needed.

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