Masterful Marbles

I recently picked up the latest issue of World Art Glass Quarterly magazine. It’s their anniversary issue and is full of some of the most incredible glass art I’ve seen in a long time. You’ve got the regular cast of masters… Dale Chihuly and Paul Stankard as well as The Lundberg Studios. Many artists are shown. The marbles of Mark Matthews really had me mesmerized. The detail and craftsmanship of these marbles is incredible. Sure he does twists with complex canes of filigrana, but his geometrics and his animal prints are breathtaking.

Check out his web site to see more of his work and get some of his history. The page of animal spines known as the Life and Death series, where he collaborates with blacksmith Joel Sanderson are incredible. The combination of the marbles and the metal work so well together.

I find his work compelling and inspiring. It makes me want to get on the torch and play. Maybe I’ll get a little marble out of it.

I did a post earlier this year with activities and ideas for teaching the alphabet, but a lot or learning letters and recognizing them just has to do with seeing them and working with them a lot.

That means coloring, tracing, identifying things that start with different letters and more.

One way to reinforce the letters is through little activity books like these cute printable alphabet books from Life Over Cs.

These are available for free when you subscribe to her newsletter, and I’d say that’s well worth it if you have a little one (or a group of little ones!) working on the alphabet and letter recognition.

Each mini book includes a collection of things that start with that letter to color, color and read with words that start with the letter, tracing the letter, finding the letter in a grid and other coloring pages with objects that start with that letter.

These little books are super useful reinforcing the different letters and giving kids different activities related to the letters.

If you do a letter of the day or letter of the week you can use a new book for each one, and then keep the copies in your reading center or in a basket where kids can look at them again.

And of course you can add in all the other letter activities you like, go on a scavenger hunt for items that start with that letter, read alphabet books, practice writing letters in rice or with pompoms or playdough or whatever sensory activities you like.

You can grab the free printables when you enter you email address at Life Over Cs, and check out her other great alphabet resources and activities while you are over there.

Do you have favorite activities for teaching letters to kids? I’d love to hear about them!

[Photo: Life Over Cs]

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