How do you review alphabet letters with your toddlers and preschoolers? Let’s start with simple goals, like teaching your kids the ABCs. Alphabet activities for kids are fun, play-based, hands-on learning activities for your little one to learn the letter names and sounds of the ABCs. Alphabet games are anything but boring!
Why is learning the alphabet important?
Learning the ABCs is both fundamental and important to your child’s development. The foundations of learning the alphabet eventually help to develop letter recognition and prepare your child for reading, writing, and phonemic awareness.
If phonemic awareness (recognizing letter sounds) is something you are unfamiliar with, read this parent’s guide about phonemic awareness. It is easy to read and shares five reading readiness goals that require no prep work!
Inside this post, I have collected all of our favorite easy and fun alphabet activities to share with you that you can do with your child right from your kitchen table or backyard when you are up for heading outside.
Craving a calmer morning?
Breakfast Invitations are simple learning games that begin the day with play.
What letters should I teach first?
As a former educator, I begin with the letters in your child’s name. Once you master these letters, you will move on to the most commonly used letters. For example, you will be taught T, L, and M before X and Q.
As we discuss each letter, we will also mention the letter’s name and the sounds it makes. We will pay attention to the design of the letter symbol, looking for curved and straight lines. I wrote up everything you need to know about letter recognition so you have a simple guide to refer to.
PRO TIP: We are not looking for mastery. Remember, learning takes time. Revisit the letters and chat about sounds and rhyming words in daily conversations.
RELATED: If you are looking for additional fun ideas and tools to add to your home, our Alphabet Activity Cards and this list of Alphabet Toys for Kids are both fantastic ways to engage your kids with learning their ABC’s.
17 easy and fun alphabet activities
Let’s face it: parenting is tough and can lead to burnout. But these sensory play ideas, fine motor skills building, and outdoor games offer many easy and fun ways to introduce your kids to the alphabet! Below are some of our favorite ways to teach the ABCs to your kids at home.
1. ABC Sensory Bean Bin
There’s nothing easier than dumping a bag of dried beans into a bin and hiding letters (lowercase and uppercase) for your preschooler to search, dig, sort, match, and organize. This sensory bin is one of my favorite alphabet activities.
2. Alphabet Ice – Preschool Sensory Play
It wasn’t until I was a parent that I realized it is a good idea to freeze plastic toys. Why? Freezing alphabet letters in muffin tins invites your kids to spray them down using their fine motor skills to help melt the ice (so fun!) and offers a sensory bin that can take up an afternoon.
3. Alphabet Relay
This is a fantastic game to get your child running and moving outside (hello, gross motor learning) as they race to find the letters you call out (as you sip your iced coffee) in this fun alphabet relay game.
4. Alphabet Sensory Bottle
An easy way to create a fun sensory bottle with your preschooler that is not only peaceful to look at but will love to shake, roll, and take on the go. Call out a letter and invite your child on a letter hunt inside the bottle.
5. Alphabet Sorting Activity
A hands-on activity that will teach your child the shapes, lines and curves of the alphabet as they sort and organize all of the letters. This is a great activity for homeschooling preschool or in small groups in a preschool classroom.
6. Alphabet Tunnel Play
This play-based alphabet activity is perfect for your vehicle-loving toddler! Make cute letter tunnels for your child to drive their favorite cars and trucks through.
7. Alphabet Uppercase Lego Cards
Strengthen your child’s fine motor skills and Lego building while learning the alphabet with these uppercase Lego cards. This activity is good for Kindergarten students to review letter names and sounds. Inside you will find 26 printable alphabet activities.
8. Fine Motor Letter Grab
Small objects can be tricky to grab, but inviting your child into this activity allows them to try. Improve your child’s pencil grip by letting them use tongs to increase their fine motor skills and ABC recognition.
9. Fingerprint Letters
There’s nothing more fun for a toddler than fingerpainting! In this (less messy) version of fingerpainting, your preschooler will create fun ink fingerprint art that correlates to each letter of the alphabet. Don’t want to paint? Try creating these simple pictures using dot stickers.
PRO TIP: Create an image for fox for the letter Xx. It is not best practice to use a xylophone to represent the letter sound.
10. Fun Alphabet Ice Activity
Another fantastic ice activity that combines alphabet letter-shaped ice cubes and matching skills that will surely cool your kids off on a hot summer day! This fun activity includes a little science as each letter melts in the sun.
11. Giant Alphabet Dot-to-Dot Maze
This is a fun way to get your child to practice alphabet organization and strengthen their pencil grip. Encourage your child to connect the letters in alphabetical order as they get in essential fine motor practice.
12. Memory Alphabet Game for Fall
This pumpkin ABC memory game is the perfect way to get your child into the fall festive spirit as they use pumpkins to reveal alphabet memory matching. Write uppercase letters to match the first initial in your children’s names.
13. Poke the Alphabet
Playful activities are the ones that stick. Use magnetic letters to improve fine motor skills, letter recognition, and sounds in this exciting alphabet game that offers a surprise element that kids just love! This is a fun activity to practice letter recognition skills.
14. Preschool Alphabet Bingo with a Twist
It’s never too early to start playing bingo! And this alphabet bingo game for preschoolers is the perfect way to get your child having fun and playing a game that strengthens their ABC learning. There are different ways to play Bingo, and this one allows your child to play with a partner or solo as you sip your hot coffee from the sidelines.
15. Rock Letters Alphabet Activity
Your preschooler will have fun matching these letter rocks with the alphabet. Since my toddler is just beginning to learn the letter names, I wrote the first initial of each name in our family in uppercase.
16. Splash the Alphabet
This outdoor ABC squirt game is always a hit on a hot summer day! Your kids will have a blast practicing alphabet recognition while strengthening their fine motor skills with squirt bottles.
17. Writing Letters with Race Cars
Draw big letters from the alphabet for your child to trace and race with their favorite cars and vehicles. This play-based activity is a great introduction to learning each letter’s lines, curves, and shapes for their pre-writing skills.
Best alphabet toys
Sprinkling alphabet toys into play is a great way for toddlers and preschoolers to ask questions, have conversations, and discover more about letters. These are the best open-ended toys for learning the alphabet.
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Letter Construction
Which alphabet toy is my favorite? This one. Here, children learn how letters are made up of lines and curves. This is a winner!
Lacing Letters
Okay, I said the toy above was my favorite, but this is a close favorite. Add these to ice or make CVC words with your kindergartener.
Silicone Alphabet Trays
Yikes! Another winner. These toys take me back to 2017 when I had two toddlers. We still use these trays and love them. Use them for free play or in this ice letter matching game.
When should you introduce the ABCs?
The ABCs are typically introduced anytime between the age of 2.5 to 5 years old. And you will be surprised when your kids begin to recognize the letters between ages 3 to 4 years old.
But, as we all know, each child is different. And learning, especially at such a young age, is only meant to be fun. Play-based and hands-on learning is the ultimate approach to getting your child interested, engaged, stimulated, and wanting to learn more as they continue to develop their learning skills.
As your toddler grows, their language and vocabulary will exponentially increase. Just PREPARE YOURSELF for all the questions and cute things that come from their mouths.
During this incredible period of growth, helping to familiarize your toddler and preschooler with the sounds and shapes of letters through games, activities, and sensory play will help set them up for success.
RELATED: As children age and enter Kindergarten, you will eventually want to introduce sight word and letter recognition activities.
Teaching your kids the alphabet is as easy as well…ABC.
There are lots of fun ways to get early learners excited about recognizing their ABC’s. Learning the alphabet is one of your child’s first opportunities to develop so many important educational skills that are critical for their development:
- Memorization
- Organization skills
- Practice
- Repetition
- Shape knowledge
Initially, young children are introduced to familiar letters once they start to recognize their names. There are so many fun name activities for toddlers and preschoolers to help them become acquainted with the letters in their names.
Don’t overwhelm yourself or your preschooler with too much. Make learning the alphabet fun! Practice the sounds, organize the shapes, and play simple games.
The alphabet is all around us.
Before setting up activities, try incorporating the alphabet into your everyday play and conversations. Once you feel like your toddler is ready for more, try some simple and engaging activities, games, and play ideas to get your little one interested in letters, sounds, shapes, and building their language for more chatter!
FAQ
There are so many fun ways to teach your kids the alphabet. Play-based and hands-on activities are the best way to interest your kids in letters. Try simple matching games, sensory letter-searching bins, and outdoor movement. Use these learning activities to play at home.
In the classroom, teachers focus on repetition, practice, singing, movement, name recognition, and other creative ways to involve young kids in learning the alphabet.
You can teach your kids the alphabet with everyday conversations, regular practice, games, sensory bins, hands-on activities, and lots of play-based learning!
