Apple Jumping Ramp: Falling into early literacy

Back before the chaos of summer reading, I wrote about how I added numbers to the ramp in our children's room to create a Counting Ramp. Now that I have a little more time on my hands, I've decided to update our ramp for the season.

Apples were the natural choice for fall:

The same basic principle applied: Print out my pieces and stick them on the ramp with contact paper and booktape. I used Paint to create my apples in red, yellow and green. Feel free to use these templates as you wish!

I also updated my sign with new early literacy information:

This ramp has many of the same benefits of our original ramp, in that it gives children and parents a fun way to practice learning colors and numbers. Kids are able to use their large motor skills to explore these concepts, which is very important for kinesthetic learners.

This version of our ramp also has a side benefit of promoting discussion with children about apples, and seasonal changes in general. Just today one of my toddlers was thrilled to see the apples, and her mom started talking with her about how last week they bought apples at the grocery store. It is this kind of discussion that introduces new vocabulary and promotes a child's literacy development!

As we enter the new school year I'll continue to utilize different surfaces to promote early literacy as much as possible. I look forward to updating you all about how it goes!