Letter X Playbook: eXplore
A free collection of picture book-based invitations for exploring the sound of letter X through sensory play, an easy craft, and a simple STEM challenge with loose parts.
The beginning of a new school year is a bit like standing at the head of a new hiking trail.
There’s excitement for what’s ahead, maybe a little anticipation for the unknowns, but there’s also so many new things to discover. That’s why we’re embracing eXplore for the letter X.
Rather than matching our X theme to a word that checked the box for letter recognition, I wanted to invite children into the spirit of exploration where there’s wonder, questions, and discovery.
I couldn’t think of a better mindset to carry into a new school year. And Explorers of the Wild by Cale Atkinson represents this mindset wonderfully!
This book has been on the shelves for 10 years, but I still find myself returning to it for its sense of adventure, friendship themes, and wonder of exploring the outdoors.
The story is told from dual perspectives, including a curious boy and an equally curious bear, and captures the excitement, nerves, and anticipation that come with venturing into the unknown. Both the boy and the bear set off on separate hikes, each embracing the wild with wonder and hope.
But when they cross paths, an initial moment of fear transforms into connection. And their solo adventures become a shared journey. They climb, explore, and awe at the beauty around them, and create memories they’ll carry long after the adventure ends.
Cale’s illustrations are evocative and playful, making this story a fun and engaging read-aloud any time of year, but I think you’ll find it especially fitting for the beginning of the school year. It reminds readers that the best adventures are often the ones we share, and friendship can be found in unexpected places.
STEM Challenge: Treasure Map Landforms
We took the spirit of adventure from Explorers of the Wild and the illustrations from The World Around Me by Charlotte Guillain and Oliver Averill to create an invitation that quickly became a favorite in our house.
With this invitation, my kids chose a treasure map and brought it to life with a variety of loose parts.
It’s an open-ended STEM invitation that led to yarn becoming trails, and spools stacked into mountains, and magnetic blocks into oozing lava. But what I especially loved was how this challenge fostered creativity and storytelling. Once the landscape was built, they sent explorers down the path, created obstacles, and invented stories around the treasures their explorers were trying to find.
It’s a world that transformed into a story, and demonstrated how some of the best learning happens in “the next” part…what children choose to do once the activity is complete.
Letter X Playbook
More of my book-based resources are being made free for everyone, and I’ve included book-inspired invitations for the letter X below.
If you’d like to go even further, the complete 35-page Letter X Playbook expands on those ideas with even more opportunities to explore the sound of letter X through early literacy, math, and fine motor practice.
The X for eXplore playbook is rooted in playful adventure and filled with invitations designed to encourage children to create, discover, and imagine. The activities are intentionally open-ended so they grow with children. You may find a 3 year old exploring textures, while older kiddos engaging in map design and engineering with more detail.
Inside you’ll find:
Counting and number sense activities
Patterning and sequencing invitations
Shape puzzles and visual discrimination activities
Letter sound practice for X (for words that begin with and include the letter X)
Explorer-themed STEM challenge
Scissor skills, craft, and creative art invitation
Book-based literacy activities that encourage storytelling and vocabulary development
Paid subscribers can download the complete Letter X Playbook at the bottom of this post.
Back to School Resources
The school year is right around the corner! Take a peek at some of the resources I’ve pulled together that may complement your home or classroom for a year of book-based discoveries.
Paid subscribers, you’ll find direct links to the Focus Board Playbook (updated to include numbers up to 20 with ten frames, 4 more shapes, and improved design) and Routine Playbook from these posts attached at the bottom of this post for easy access! I’m currently updating the routine playbook to include fall happenings and will let you know when that’s uploaded.
Coming Up Next
We have one more letter to go! We’re closing our alphabet journey with Q is for Question. Using X as a launchpad for exploring, Q will carry that theme to wonder and ask.
Then we’ll have one final celebration: The Alphabet Playdate. These invitations will be great for reviewing the alphabet before the start of the school year, or saving for the end of the school year for playful ways to revisit the letters. Either way, it will be a collection of free book-based activities that are simple, open-ended, and adaptable.
Keep an eye out for these posts soon.
Warmly,
Lindsay
