My young kids love playing with ABC pancakes. Now don’t worry–I’m not letting them get all sticky with syrup and butter by playing with real pancakes.
Nope.
They’re using pancakes I whipped up on the computer. I made a basic template by copying and pasting a circle over and over again in Word.
When I printed it, I made sure to print enough copies that I ended up with 26 circles. I actually got 30 copies since there were six pancakes on each side, but they had fun writing their names on the extras.
How to Make ABC Pancakes
Once you print the pancake templates, let your kid cut them out. They don’t have to be perfect (the real pancakes I make rarely are either), and it’s a great way to practice fine motor skills.
Then, give your child a marker. He’s going to write a mommy letter on one side of each pancake, A-Z. On the back of each pancake, write the same baby letter. So one pancake will have A on one side, and a on the other. Another will have Y on one side, and y on the other.
Once the pancakes are lettered, have your child color them. My kids decided to use brown so they looked like actual pancakes, but there’s no reason your child has to. Let them use their imagination if desired! Just be sure you can actually read the letters when they’re finished.
When the pancakes are ready, have your kids pick up the scraps. Now they’re ready to play! You’ll need the pancakes they just prepared, and a spatula.
Scramble the cards, and lay them out on the table. Here are three different games to play, that’ll help with letter identification:
ABC Order Stack
Have your child use the spatula to lift up the letter A and place it in a nearby spot. Next, they need to lift the letter B and stack it on top of the A. Continue until there’s a stack of 26 pancakes in ABC order.
Flip Over
Pancakes need to flip! Have your little one say the name of a letter, and flip it over to reveal the mama or baby of the same letter. Kids need repetition to help them remember, so making it fun helps!
Order Up!
Let your child try her hand at being a short order chef. Go up to the table and “order” a stack of pancakes with three different letters. You might say:
I’d like a stack with Y, W, and B today please.
Let your child stack up your order and read the letters back to you.
Take turns being chef and customer. You can always use fewer or more pancakes, or specify mommy or baby letters to keep the game at an appropriate level!
For my reading kids who still want to play along, I ask them to cook me up words. I’d like some CAT pancakes or even some LAUNDRY pancakes. Any word that doesn’t have any letter repeats works with this set. You can also make another set with the letters they need to practice spelling words. It’s more fun than just writing them out!
Want some pancakes of your own?
Here’s the template I whipped up. It’s super simple, because if you’re looking for fancy you’re at the wrong blog.
If you print it out and play, I’d love to hear how it goes in the comments section below!
