Here are 15 fun, active, hands-onalphabet letter identification activities forPre-K, Preschool, and Kindergarten.
You can findmany moreAlphabet Activities here.
Letter Basketball
This is one of my prekinders favorite letter identification activities every year. To prepare this game, I cut copy paper or newsprint paper in half, and write letters on several pieces. I make enough papers for each child, plus one or two extra. I make a line with masking tape on the floor and place the trash can about 4 feet away. As each child has a turn, I tell them which letter to find. They pick up the letter, crumble the paper into a ball, and stand on the tape to toss it into the trash can. If they miss, they get as many chances as needed to get the “ball” in the basket and can move closer if needed. We always cheer when they make it in the basket! This game could also be played with alphabet bean bags if you have them.
Candy Letter Match
Write pairs of letters on sticker dots and place them on the bottom of several Hershey’s Kisses. For my Pre-K kids, I usually put out about 5-10 pairs of letters at a time. Children take turns lifting two Kisses at a time. If the letters match, they keep those Kisses. If they do not match, they have to put them back. At the end of the game, all of the Kisses are put in the middle of the table, and children can choose about 3 pieces to eat. We use this game to practice matching uppercase to uppercase letters, lowercase to lowercase, or uppercase to lowercase, depending on what we are working on.
Alpha-Band
Label each rhythm instrument with a letter. An easy way to make instruments is to put rice inside a plastic Easter egg, and hot glue it closed. We sing the traditional Alphabet Song, or another alphabet song, such as Dr. Jean’s “The Alphabet’s in My Mouth” or “Who Let the Letters Out”, or Jack Hartmann’s “Animal Alphabet Cheer”. Children shake their letter shakers only when they hear their letter called out in the song.
Letter Hunt
Children choose any 10 letters from the letter manipulatives (use foam letters, magnetic letters, letter tiles or other letter manipulatives). Go through a stack of shuffled letter cards, calling out each letter to the children. As the letters are called out, children look to see if they have that letter, and if they do, the letter is put back in the letter basket. We see who is first to clear all of their letters. It’s very similar to a bingo game. In Pre-K, we play until everyone has cleared all of their letters because our goal is learning letters, not competition with the little ones.
*To teach letter sounds: Call out a word and have children identify the first letter of the word.
ABC Sorting Tray
I found this divided tray in a kitchen store. I labeled each section by writing a letter on a sticker dot and placing the matching foam letters in each section of the tray. I placed the letters in a bowl and children sorted and matched the letters into the sections of the tray. When I want to change out the letters in the tray, I just remove the sticker dots and add new ones. I usually try to use letters that are similar, so that children are challenged and use visual discrimination skills to find the differences in the letters. For example, I might use Q, O, D, C, and G since those letters are similar in shape, or I, T, J, or W, V, U.
ABC Sorting Box
Label a craft storage box with letter stickers. Children sort letter manipulatives into the sections of the box. These are magnetic letter tiles in the picture.
Letter Matching Uppercase to Uppercase
For this activity, each child chooses a colored letter box. Children work in pairs to match the letters that are the same. These letters came from a set of foam letters that are sadly no longer available from Lakeshore (bring them back, Lakeshore!) However, you could do the same activity by using handmade cards with the letters written in two different colors. You might also consider using paint chips (paint sample cards) in two different colors and making A-Z sets in the two different colors by writing on the cards with a black marker.
Letter Matching Uppercase to Lowercase
Children work in pairs to match the uppercase and lowercase foam or magnetic letters that are the same. You could also use purchased or handmade letter tiles.
Stamping Game
Write about ten letters on a piece of paper for each child. Put the same ten letters in a bowl or bag, and pass it around the table. Each child has a turn to pull a letter out of the bowl or bag, and announce the letter to the group. Children find the letter on their paper and stamp it out with a rubber stamp.
Other ways we play this game:
- I put every letter of the alphabet in the bowl or bag and children determine if the letter is on their paper or not.
- I place small objects in the bowl and children identify the beginning letter (e.g. B for ball).
Alphabet Bingo
Each child looks for the letter the teacher calls out on their bingo card. If they have it, they cover it. Play until a card is full.
Alphabet Soup
Children take turns scooping up a letter from a bowl with a spoon or soup ladle. The child identifies the letter, and walks around the room searching for the letter somewhere in the classroom.
*To teach letter sounds: Children search for an object in the room that begins with that letter.
Letter Clips
Children squeeze the clothespins and clip them to the sides of the box. I wrote letters on dot stickers and placed the dot stickers around the sides of the boxes. I wrote letters on the clothespins so the children would match the letters on the clothespins to the letters on the boxes. This is similar to activities where children clip clothespins to a paper plate or cardstock circle; however, in my experience, those were flimsy and awkward to use, which is why I like the box better. Any sturdy box could be used (shoe box, postal box). The boxes in this picture were stacking gift boxes that held chocolate covered nuts (a Christmas gift), and they worked out perfectly. (By the way, Sam’s Club has these chocolate covered nuts in the same stacking boxes every year, and they are awesome!)
Memory Game
Place about three letter manipulatives on a tray, cover them with a cloth, and take one away. When the letters are uncovered, children guess which letter is missing. Children find the letter that is missing among their own set of letter manipulatives. If the children are very interested in writing, they can write the letter that is missing on a dry erase lap board. To increase the difficulty of this game, try using 4 or 5 letters. Another options is toplace three letters on the tray, cover them, and ask the children to recall all three letters that were on the tray.
Alphabet Path Games
I made these path games using stickers bought in a craft store (scrapbooking section), and I made individual mats with about 10 letters on them. Each child gets a mat, a game piece, and some plastic chips to cover the letters on their mat. They roll the dice and count out the spaces to move their game piece. If their game piece lands on a letter that is on the mat, they cover that letter with a chip. Play continues until they have covered every letter.
Other ways we use the path games:
- Children identify the letter they land on, then find that letter somewhere in the classroom.
- Children find an object in the classroom that begins with that letter’s sound.
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FAQs
How do I teach alphabet identification? ›
- Read! Books are a great way to help your children learn their letters. ...
- Touch and Learn. Many kids learn through touch and experience. ...
- Alphabet Art. Kids with a creative streak will enjoy these activities. ...
- Eat the Alphabet. ...
- Active Alphabet.
Letter Knowledge begins with Letter Recognition which is also known as Alphabet Recognition. What is this? Report Ad. Letter Recognition is the ability to recognize and name all of the lowercase and capital letters. Children who know the letters can also distinguish between them.
How will you facilitate alphabet knowledge activities in your class? ›- read alphabet books.
- point out letters and print in the environment.
- talk about letters and their sounds when you encounter them in every day activities.
- provide opportunities to play with letter shapes and sounds.
Phonemic awareness is oral and auditory, and the focus is on the sounds in words. Phonemic awareness is often confused with phonics, however, unlike phonics, phonemic awareness does not involve print or letter names.
When should a child be able to identify letters? ›From ages 3-4, most preschoolers become able to:
Make attempts to read and write. Identify familiar signs and labels. Participate in rhyming games. Identify some letters and make some letter-sound matches.
- 1) Sing alphabet songs. ...
- 2) Play letter matching games. ...
- 3) Open a new 'alphabet box' each week. ...
- 3) Use interdisciplinary learning with each letter, to strengthen letter associations. ...
- 4) If you use flashcards to teach the alphabet, use logical ones.
As children develop alphabet knowledge, they learn to recognize and name upper- and lowercase letters. They also discover that there are sounds associated with each letter. Children's early writing progresses from making marks and scribbling to drawing, and eventually to forming letters.
Which is the example of alphabetical classification? ›Basic order and examples
The standard order of the modern ISO basic Latin alphabet is: A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-I-J-K-L-M-N-O-P-Q-R-S-T-U-V-W-X-Y-Z.
Letter recognition is important because it enables beginning readers to figure out how printed text is associated with the spoken language. Having a mastery of letter names can make learning letter sounds easier for young readers. The sounds of many letter names are closely related to the sound the letter makes.
What is a letter recognition assessment? ›This assessment can be used to identify whether a student is having difficulty in recognising and naming letters and identifying the sounds letters make in words.
What are 4 routines that a teacher would use to teach alphabet? ›
- Strategy 1 – Repeat, Repeat, Repeat! ...
- Strategy 2 – Get Moving. ...
- Strategy 3 – Sing it Out. ...
- Strategy 4 – Make It Fun and Creative.
Recognition of letters is a foundational part of learning how to read. Without it, kids struggle to learn letter sounds and recognizing words. Children who cannot identify letters and name them with their sounds have difficulty learning how to read.
What is the difference between letter naming and letter recognition? ›-> Letter recognition – the ability to recognize the shape and size of the letter. -> Letter naming – recognizing that the shape of the letter is associated with a letter name. -> Letter sound knowledge – determining what sound corresponds to the shape or name of the letter.
Why can't My 4 year old remember letters? ›Young toddlers aren't developmentally ready for the abstract thinking required to understand that letters are symbols that represent sounds in our spoken language. It won't be until your child has developed some phonemic awareness that he or she will begin to understand that words are made up of speech sounds in a row.
Should a five year old know the alphabet? ›Typically, by the age of three, children should be able to recite the alphabet. However, every child is different. Some toddlers may learn in their twos, and others might not pick it up until the late threes. Children generally learn how to recite the alphabet through repetition.
How many letters should a 2 year old recognize? ›Most children begin recognizing some letters between the ages of 2 and 3 and can identify most letters between 4 and 5.
What are the objectives of teaching alphabets? ›The purpose of this lesson is to familiarize the students with the alphabet; reciting, identifying, and producing the sounds of the individual letters. While some children learn to read without possessing these skills, for most children these skills are prerequisites for reading readiness.
How do you teach alphabets to preschoolers in a fun way? ›How to Teach Alphabets to Preschoolers (9 Easy and Fun Ways)
What are word recognition strategies? ›Effective word-recognition strategies permit children to quickly and automatically translate the letters or spelling patterns of written words into speech sounds so that they can identify words and gain rapid access to their meanings (Vandervelden & Siegel, 1997).
What is the best sequence to teach the alphabet? ›First, start with s, a, t, p, i, n. This combination of letters is perfect for introducing letter names and sounds and then actually APPLYING what you are teaching. These letters also make up the most frequent words that are found in emerging readers.
Which letters should be taught first? ›
As soon as the learner acquires one letter sound correspondence, introduce a new one. Letters that occur frequently in simple words (e.g., a, m, t) are taught first. Letters that look similar and have similar sounds (b and d) are separated in the instructional sequence to avoid confusion.
Should 3.5 year old know letters? ›By age 2: Kids start recognizing some letters and can sing or say aloud the “ABC” song. By age 3: Kids may recognize about half the letters in the alphabet and start to connect letters to their sounds. (Like s makes the /s/ sound.) By age 4: Kids often know all the letters of the alphabet and their correct order.
How do you teach the alphabet to struggling students? ›- Play the alphabet sound game. ...
- Go on a letter sound scavenger hunt! ...
- Find good apps that help children practice their letter sounds, like Reading Eggs, ABCmouse, or Hooked on Phonics.
- Sing songs that start with the letter sound you are working on.
6 Ways to Teach Alphabet Letters & Sounds - YouTube
How do you introduce the alphabet M? ›Introduction of Letter 'M' | Learn the Alphabet | DPS Ruby Park, Kolkata
What is an appropriate way to differentiate alphabet knowledge instruction? ›Try to choose an alphabet song or chant that helps children distinguish the names of each letter. Try to choose an alphabet song or chant that breaks the chant between L, M, N, O, and P rather than running these letter names together.
Why can't My 4 year old remember letters? ›Young toddlers aren't developmentally ready for the abstract thinking required to understand that letters are symbols that represent sounds in our spoken language. It won't be until your child has developed some phonemic awareness that he or she will begin to understand that words are made up of speech sounds in a row.
What is word recognition instruction? ›Effective word-recognition strategies permit children to quickly and automatically translate the letters or spelling patterns of written words into speech sounds so that they can identify words and gain rapid access to their meanings (Vandervelden & Siegel, 1997).
What Order Should letters be taught for handwriting? ›Although children may learn the letters of their names first, we recommend that children learn capital letters first because they are developmentally easier to recognize and write than lowercase letters.
What skills does alphabet knowledge develop? ›As children develop alphabet knowledge, they learn to recognize and name upper- and lowercase letters. They also discover that there are sounds associated with each letter. Children's early writing progresses from making marks and scribbling to drawing, and eventually to forming letters.
Should my 5 year old know his letters? ›
A: Most children learn to recognize letters between ages 3 and 4. Typically, children will recognize the letters in their name first. By age 5, most kindergarteners begin to make sound-letter associations, such as knowing that “book” starts with the letter B.
How do I test my 4 year old for dyslexia? ›- Difficulty learning nursery rhymes or remembering the letters of the alphabet.
- Having trouble recognizing letters, read write.
- Difficulty reading or slow rate of reading.
- failure to understand what they read.
- Misspelling easy words that most children in their age group can spell.
Learning disabilities are usually not diagnosed until students have been in school for about three years, but there are often early signs of disabilities that parents may notice.
What are the 4 word identification strategies? ›Readers employ a variety of strategies to accomplish this. Ehri (2004, 2005) identified four of them: decoding, analogizing, predicting, and recogniz- ing whole words by sight. Each of these will be described briefly.
What is the difference between word identification and word recognition? ›Word identification or word attack skills is the ability to sound out words, whereas word recognition is connecting a word's pronunciation with its meaning. Prior to being able to recognize a word, one must be able to identify it, which requires phonics knowledge.
What is word recognition skill? ›Word recognition is the act of seeing a word and recognizing its pronunciation immediately and without any conscious effort. If reading words requires conscious, effortful decoding, little attention is left for comprehension of a text to occur.
Which letters should be taught first? ›As soon as the learner acquires one letter sound correspondence, introduce a new one. Letters that occur frequently in simple words (e.g., a, m, t) are taught first. Letters that look similar and have similar sounds (b and d) are separated in the instructional sequence to avoid confusion.
Should you teach letter names or sounds first? ›Teach the most common letter names first, the less common letter names last (q, z, x.). Every syllable of every word must have a vowel sound and there are many alternative spellings of vowel sounds, so it is very important that students have a sound knowledge of these.
Why is it important to start letters at the top? ›Uppercase letters all start at the top line and go to the bottom line. This makes it easier for kids to know where their pencil marks start. There is no middle line to worry about with most upper case letters.