Letter L Activities for Preschool (And Free Preschool Lesson Plan: L is for Lemons and Limes!)
Lemon, lime, lemon, lime…today we learn all about the letter L! These creative Letter L activities for preschool are centered around the free preschool lesson plan L is for Lemons and Limes. This lesson continues our alphabet lesson plan series and is intended to help make your experience teaching preschool in your home easier, educational, and more fun.
The best part of doing preschool at home is the chance to teach my kids (and whatever buddies are with us) the things that really matter, laugh together, and shower them with love at this young and important age. My hope is that these lesson plans and activities help you in your efforts to do the same.
If you haven’t seen my quick tips for getting started with successful home preschool, check them out.
Use and share these plans to talk, sing, read, write, and play your way through the alphabet; these kinds of activities are the foundation of building strong readers. You can use our full lesson plans, or, of course, pick individual activities to do with the Littles in your life. I am also a budget-friendly Mama, so no worries there: our activities are always easy on the pocketbook. Now, let’s get to it!
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Visit the Preschool Lesson Plan Index to see what free plans are published or in the works!
Update: You can now get ALL of the Alphabet Lesson Plans, Checklists, and Printables, (plus Bonus Ideas and 75+ exclusive preschool printables!) all in one budget-friendly digital product…A to Z and Beyond! Preschool Curriculum.
INTRODUCTION
Gather on the floor for circle time and start with a welcome song. We have been singing, “Hello to All the Children of the World”. Each week we briefly spotlight one of the countries in the song. This week we learned a little bit about Russia (dobrey-dien!), starting with finding Russia on the World Map.
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Here are a few fun facts about Russia for kids. I shared a few facts that my Little would find interesting, such as Russia is the biggest country by land area, and Russia launched the first ever satellite into space (Sputnik).
We also listened to some Russian phrases, as I don’t know how to pronounce Russian at all! I really like this brief international focus each week as it keeps my kiddos aware of variety in traditions and languages.
WRITE: LETTER L Manipulatives
I introduced what the uppercase and lowercase Letter L look like, how they’re made with straight shapes. Then I gave my little some craft sticks. He used the sticks to make the letters.
Sing: Lalala Dance Song
I introduced the sound of the letter L. Then we sang along to the Lalala Dance Song. This is a movement song that’s easy to follow, with actions like “Hands up,” and “Jump high.” The chorus has the Lalala line with the sound of L.
Play: Follow the Leader
A great word that starts with L is leader. We took turns being the leader and following each other’s movements and actions around the room.
Talk: What is a good leader?
We had a brief discussion about how a leader is someone that other people follow. Do you know a leader? So what makes a good leader? Traits like kindness, friendliness, and compassion make a good leader.
Related: Raising Compassionate Children in a Conceited World
Sing: Alphabet Song with Sign Language
Language is another word that starts with L. I told a short story about my friend that is deaf and how another friend was able to help and serve him because she knew sign language. You could tell any story about learning another language or share why you think it would be helpful to know another language.
Another word that starts with L is letters. We can use sign language to say the letters of the alphabet.
This is a great version of the alphabet song with sign language. It goes slower so kids can follow along a bit easier.
Afterward, we figured out the sign language letters of our names.
Write: Draw a Lion
We used the simple drawing instructions below to draw a lion. Then we wrote uppercase and lowercase L’s on the back and practiced writing our names.
Read: Lion Lessons by Jon Agee
We read Lion Lessons by Jon Agee
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Play: Guess what’s in my sack?
I pulled out a sack that had two items in it and said we were going to play a guessing game. I gave clues one at a time until my Little could guess the first object in my sack. My clues were the following, but you can make up clues that are as easy or hard as you want.
- My object is an oval.
- This object is yellow.
- It smells good.
- It is a food.
- We squeeze it to go on top of our fish.
- It’s a lemon!
Then I gave clues for my second object…a lime.
Talk: Citrus Fruits
We talked about what was the same and different about the lemon and the lime. Then we discussed citrus fruits. Other citrus fruits include oranges, grapefruits, and citrons.
Here are some interesting facts for kids about citrus fruits.
Play: Lemon and Lime Patterns
I had prepared the Lemon and Lime Printable before, so we had little cards with a lemon or a lime on them. You can also have all the printables sent to your inbox in the FREE LESSON PLAN CHECKLIST.
Even the fake lemons and limes are pretty!
We made different patterns such as lemon, lime, lemon, lime and lemon, lemon, lime, lemon, lemon, lime.
Recognizing and making patterns is really good mathematical thinking for preschoolers.
Play: Lucky Lemons
Lucky Lemons is a fun little game we made up that incorporates some simple math.
Each player starts with ten pennies. The lemon and lime cards get flipped over, mixed up, and placed randomly in the middle of the table. If you want to make the game last a little longer, don’t use all the lime cards.
Take turns choosing a card. Lemons are lucky, so if you pick a lemon, you’re safe. If you pick a lime, you have to turn in one of your pennies. Discard the card you pick to a pile.
If you run out of cards, shuffle them up and put them back in the middle of the table.
Periodically, throw in some math with questions like, “You’ve lost four pennies so far. How many pennies do you have left?”
The last person with pennies wins!
Play: Chemical Reaction Science Experiment
I love doing science experiments with my preschoolers. They pretty much think science is magic. This simple experiment did not disappoint.
Cut one lemon in half. Place one half on a cookie sheet. Put drops of food coloring into the lemon, followed by some dishwashing soap. Next put teaspoons of baking soda over the lemon, and voila!
You can increase the reaction by squeezing more lemon juice on top from the second half of lemon.
What’s Going On in this Experiment
Talk about how a chemical reaction is occurring. The citric acid (lemon) is combining with the sodium bicarbonate (baking soda). The parts break down and then combine to create something different, carbon dioxide gas. The soap holds the gas in, which makes the bubbles foamy. And the food coloring just looks cool. 🙂
Guess whether the reactions would be the same or different if you did the experiment again with the lime. Repeat with the lime.
Read: Lemons are Not Red by Laura Vaccaro Seeger
This book, Lemons Are Not Red by Laura Vaccaro Seeger, has very simple text about colors, but the unique picture cut-outs will intrigue even older kids.
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Play: Process Art with Fruit Stamps
All this talk about color makes me want to paint!
Process art is art that gives kids choice as they create. Kids are not given an example to follow. It is more focused on the creative process than the end product. Process art has a lot of benefits for preschoolers, including encouraging creativity.
In this process art experience, provide lemons and limes cut in half rather than paint brushes, paints on a paper plate, and paper.
I love these paints
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The colors are vibrant, and clean-up goes well.
While we didn’t use them for this project, I always recommend this type of paint cup
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Let your Littles loose with their creativity. They will love this painting activity!
Sing: If All the Raindrops were Lemon Drops and Gumdrops
We sang If All the Raindrops were Lemon Drops and Gumdrops. Kids love the “ah ah ah ah” part. Singing in different ways is great for developing minds and musicians, so sing loud and soft, slow and fast.
Play: Kitchen Creations
Lemon bread is a favorite at our house. I usually only make it for Christmas, but we broke all the rules and made it as part of our preschool day. The big kids were thrilled to come home to that familiar smell!
Alternately, you could squeeze some of those lemons or limes and make lemonade or limeade.
Eat: Foods that start with the Letter L
It was time for us to have lunch, so we opted to skip the snack this time and go straight to Lunch after singing goodbye.
However, here are some ideas for you of foods that start with the Letter L: lemonade, limeade, lemon bars, key lime pie, licorice, lollipops, lettuce (lettuce wraps or salad), lima beans, lentils, or any food you can shape into an L (stick pretzels, carrots, etc.).
You could always just eat the lemons!
SING: GOODBYE SONG
We closed up by reviewing our letter of the day and a few other ideas.
Lastly, we sang our goodbye song and see you next week!
Our next preschool lesson will be Letter M is for Manners. It’s an important topic taught in a fun way!
Leave a comment to let me know what activities your Littles are enjoying, what types of posts you’d like to see, or any other questions or thoughts you have. I love hearing from you. Share pictures on social media using #lovinlifewithlittles. Thanks for visiting, and Happy Preschooling!
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