Let's make it
Instructions.
- 1
Prepare the letters: print the uppercase and lowercase pumpkin letter cards. We laminated ours, then cut them out, so they hold up to lots of play.
- 2
Set up the buckets: arrange your Halloween buckets on the floor, a table, or wherever works for your space, and place a pumpkin letter card in front of each one. Use the number of letters that's right for your child. We used 4.
- 3
Find the match: give your child a letter card and have them find the matching pumpkin. For example, match lowercase a to uppercase A.
- 4
Toss the eyeball! Once they find the correct letter, they get to toss an eyeball into that bucket.
- 5
Keep playing: switch out the letters or add more as your child becomes more confident.
Safety tip
- Best suited for ages 3+ with adult supervision and age-appropriate materials.
- Small plastic eyeballs can pose a choking hazard. Choose oversized pieces or soft balls, and avoid small objects with children who may put materials in their mouths.
- Keep the tossing area clear and remind children to aim only at the buckets.
- Adults should handle laminating and cutting the cards.
Why Add Movement to Letter Matching?
Sometimes a small change is all it takes to make an activity more engaging. Instead of simply sitting and matching cards, children get to move, aim, toss, and try again.
This activity offers opportunities to practice:
Letter recognition: Identifying and matching uppercase and lowercase letters.
Visual discrimination: Noticing differences and similarities between letter shapes.
Visual scanning: Adding more letters in front of each bucket increases the scanning challenge.
Hand-eye coordination: Aiming and tossing into a target.
Motor planning: Coordinating movements to complete the toss.
Attention and turn-taking: Following a simple sequence and participating in a game.
Make It Easier or Harder
For beginners: Start with two or three familiar letters. Match uppercase to uppercase before introducing lowercase letters.
For children ready for more: Match uppercase to lowercase, identify letter sounds, or add more bucket choices.
For extra movement: Spread the buckets farther apart and have children move to different positions before tossing.
Add writing: Change up the activity based on your child's abilities. After each toss, they can write the letter, write a word that starts with that letter, or make up a sentence with a word that starts with that letter.
Get the Printable
Our Live Play Grow printable includes one colorful set of uppercase and lowercase pumpkin letter cards.
A little letter matching, a little movement, and a whole lot of Halloween fun!
Field Notes
- We used plastic toy eyeballs from Dollar Tree.
- Laminating the cards before cutting makes them sturdier and easy to reuse.
- Adding movement can help some children stay engaged with learning activities that might otherwise feel repetitive.
