Sift 'n' Spell

A rainy afternoon meant we couldn't go scooting for numbers so I set up this activity for Kiddo at the table. He loves to spell (at Thanksgiving dinner I cracked up when he clarified a misunderstanding, "No Grandma, food, F-O-O-D!") so I hid some letters in a container full of rice and gave him a slotted spoon and some visual cues as to what words he should find.

He sifted the rice with the spoon to find the letters.He spelled all the words without any help from me!
He loved this so much that when he was done he pushed the letters back in the rice and repeated the activity.

You could easily adjust this according to child's skill level: for beginning readers write out the words so they can match letters to the written word, for younger children simply match letters to a written alphabet. And you don't need these ridiculous plastic letters -- just write letters on small squares of card stock.

NEW: See aly in va's comment below for a great toddler variation for this activity!