Art Activities
Animal Masks
Many ABC books feature animals. Look at several of them, giving children time to discuss and notice how each illustrator draws animals differently. Depending on the age of the children you are working with and the supplies you have available, have children create their own animal masks, ranging from simple construction paper creations to paper mache. Let the children be as creative as they want, some may want to make their mask similar to a picture seen in one of the books while others may decide to invent a new animal of their own!
Cartoons
Share Highlights for Children's The Timertoes ABC Alphabet Book for inspiration on cartooning. Discuss how simple differences in facial expressions can change the emotion of a drawing. Have younger children fill in circles with faces corresponding to different feelings and let older children create their own cartoons.
Letter Decorations
Books like Mordicai Gerstein's The Absolutely Awful Alphabet have fun turning letters into different characters and creatures. Let children try this by cutting out bubble letters in poster board or using wooden letters to decorate. Use whatever supplies you have available- magazines to cut out pictures, pipe cleaners to add antennae, googly eyes to add to the fun, etc.
Alphabet Collages
Allow children to cut through old magazines to make collages of items beginning with a letter of their choice. Display a variety of ABC books for ideas.