A is for Alligator Craft: Apples and Acrylic Paint

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My three year old daughter came over to me the other day and sang the entire alphabet. This might not sound that surprising, but it shocked me. I haven’t actually been working with her on learning the alphabet song. We have done one alphabet activity and she has several toys that sing the song. Somehow she learned enough from that to teach herself the entire song. She was so excited that I knew I needed to encourage her letter curiosity. One of the ways I decided to do that was this A is for alligator craft.

I didn’t want to make just a normal A is for alligator craft. I wanted to fit in several more A’s. So, I decided that it would be fun to not only fit in an animal starting with A, but also some craft supplies. My daughter enjoyed painting with pipe cleaners a few months ago and I have been meaning to try apple stamping with her. So, apples with acrylic paint seemed like a fun choice. My daughter enjoyed this craft so much that I plan to do the rest of the alphabet with her in a similar way.

How to Make an A is for Alligator Craft With Craft Supplies Starting With A

Materials:

Prep:

Since my daughter hasn’t learned how to write letters yet, I wanted to give her a template to paint in. So, before I got her involved, I drew a big A on a piece of construction paper. I made sure it was wider than the apple we were going to use.

Picture of a large uppercase A on a piece of construction paper

Then, I cut up the apple. First, I cut it in half and saved one half for painting the body with. Then, I took the other half and cut a triangle and circle piece out. Lastly, I squirted some paint out on a paper plate.

Picture of an apple half and two long apple pieces the shape of a circle and a triangle

How to Make the A Using Apple Stamping:

Now it was time to get my three year old involved. I quickly realized that the apple half was awkward for her to hold on to. So, I pressed one of my corn holders into the top for her to grip.

Then, I showed her how to rub the apple in the paint and stamp it on the inside of the A. She immediately started stamping and loved it. Once she finished stamping in a lot of the A, she decided she was done. Instead of waiting for it to dry naturally before adding the white details, we used a hairdryer to dry it quicker.

Picture of a preschooler pressing half an apple into green paint

Picture of a preschooler using an apple to stamp green paint onto a large letter A

How to Make the A Into an Alligator:

Next, I moved the corn holder to the circle shaped apple piece and squirted some white paint onto a new plate. I showed my daughter where the eyes should go and then let her stamp two circles on. Her eyes ended up floating in space above the alligator’s body.

Then, I switched the corn holder one last time and put it in the triangle shaped apple piece. I again showed my daughter where to put the teeth. She had a blast stamping several teeth on both sides of the mouth. Some aren’t going the right direction, but you can still tell what they are.

Picture of a preschooler pressing a triangle shaped apple into white paint

Picture of a preschooler using an apple to stamp white triangles onto the edges of an A to look like alligator teeth

With no pupils, it was really hard to tell what the white circles my daughter stamped were supposed to be. So, my daughter glued apple seeds to the middle of the eyes. The apples seeds helped a lot and I thought it was a fun way to fit more apple into the craft.

Picture of a preschooler placing apple seeds onto the eyes of an A is for alligator craft

Picture of an A is for alligator craft. A large letter A on a piece of construction is filled with apple shaped green paint with white teeth and eyes painted on as well.

Conclusion of Our A is for Alligator Craft

My daughter always loves painting, so she thought this different spin on painting was really fun. The apples pieces with the corn holders made the perfect stamps for her. We also had a yummy snack of oddly shaped apple scraps (that went nowhere near the paint) after we finished. If your kids enjoyed stamping with apples, Happy Hooligans has lots of other unique ideas for objects to stamp with.

My daughter’s A is for alligator craft is a bit of abstract art. But, you can still tell it is the letter A and an alligator. It once again sparked her curiosity and we have continued to talk about things that start with A. I plan to hang it on her art clothesline, so she can continue to see it and ask questions. What other fruits or vegetables do you think would be fun to paint with?

Make sure to check out our other alphabet crafts as we make them. And go to the bottom to subscribe to my weekly newsletter, so you don’t miss any.