Wikki Stix are wonderful hands-on tools for the beginning of the school year (or ANYTIME)!
WIKKI STIX© Graphic Alphabet
Materials needed: White paper, assorted Wikki Stix©, and safety scissors.
Have your students use the Wikki Stix© to create a letter of the alphabet. The students can use the Wikki Stix© to try and create a picture that starts with the letter they created. For example, first a student creates the letter K; next to the K, the student then creates a picture of a “K” word, such as Kite. The children can work individually, with partners, or in a small group.
Here are some suggestions:
A: Apple
B: Balloon
C: Caterpillar
D: Donut
E: Egg
F: Flower
G: Grapes
H: House
I: Ice Cream
J: Jelly Beans
K: Kite
L: Lemon
M: Moon
N: Necklace
O: Oranges
P: Pear
Q: Queen
R: Rainbow S: Sunglasses
T: Tree
U: Umbrella
V: Vase
W: Watermelon
X: Xylophone
Y: Yo-yo
Z: Zebra
WIKKI STIX© Flower Bouquets – Make a bouquet with your children then add a card that reads: I KNOW YOU’LL BLOSSOM in Preschool this Year!!
Materials needed: Wikki Stix© (7-8 per child), coffee filters (3-4 per child), washable tempera paint, paint cups, smocks or an old t-shirt (to protect clothing), drying plates or trays.
Have the children fold the coffee filter in half, and then in half again (should resemble a cone shape). The children may need assistance folding (or the filters can be pre-folded prior to the activity). Wrap a Wikki Stix© around the bottom of the coffee filter to resemble the stem of a flower. Make three different cups of watered-down tempera paint (approx. 1 tablespoon of paint to ½ c. water). Have the children hold the flowers by the Wikki Stix© stem and gently dip into the paint cups. Place the dipped flowers onto a drying tray and let dry overnight. When the flowers are dry. Twist the Wikki Stix© stems together to form a flower bouquet. The children may also use extra Wikki Stix© to wrap around the flowers (it makes a sturdier stem and looks better, too!)
WIKKI STIX© “Mirror” Game
Make a pretend mirror out of several Wikki Stix© formed into a large circle. Look through the Wikki Stix© mirror at the children and say, “When looking in my mirror, I spied one thing!” Describe to the children what you are looking at and ask them to guess what you see. Pass the Wikki Stix© mirror around and let other children take turn describing something they see for the rest of the group. Let the children practice descriptive words for everyday items in the classroom or at home!
Extension Idea: Have the children each make a Wikki Stix© mirror. Have them walk around the classroom “looking” for things that are the same/different, bigger/smaller, certain colors/shapes, more or less than, etc.
[…] Creating a Graphic Alphabet – create items that BEGIN with a letter of the alphabet! Suggestions for items that correspond to each letter. […]