ABC's: Who Said Screen Time Isn't Okay...Sometimes?

My 2- and 3-years-old have been loving learning the ABC's. They have successfully mastered the song, but they are starting to recognize the letters and they are figuring out the sounds. I haven't pushed any of this on them, because I firmly believe children naturally will want to learn things like this on their own when they are ready. So, when my daughter asked to do letters and watch her ABC show I said okay. This is how it all went.

Today was grocery shopping day, and as any fellow mom knows, it is not exactly the most exciting day of the week with two toddlers. After going to two stores, mom needed a special coffee treat on the way, but I was still not excited to occupy the kids while trying to put the groceries away. I agreed with the kids to watch a show while I put groceries away and made lunch. The kids wanted to watch "the ABC show" as it is called at our house. LeapFrog has a few options that have educational value and my children have fallen in love with them. This particular video is an introduction of the letters and their sounds. The only thing I wish I could change about this video is that they do not introduce both long and short vowels, but that is okay too. Here is the link to the LeapFrog* video we have been loving for ABCs. There are plenty of LeapFrog videos with different topics and they are all favorites in our house.

As my children were watching they asked for our new magnetic letters (linked here Magnetic Letters*) so they could match the letters on the screen and make a line. My son, was a typical 2-year-old and didn't last long, but my daughter was totally into the idea. She watched as the video talked about the letter and the sound, then would proceed to find her letters to match the video and add them to the line.

We really like these new letters. There is one set of uppercase and a double set of  lowercase letters so spelling is easier. They are in bright colors and they are the perfect size for toddler hands. The back is a full magnet the full shape and size of the letter so they work great on the fridge. They also come with a double set of numbers 0-9 and math signs. We don't plan to use the math signs for a little while, but they will definitely come in handy.

My daughter came up with this idea all on her own. I went along with it. This comes to show you don't have to plan every little detail. Your children can help or they can just play!

*affiliate