10 Letter Recognition Activities

What is letter recognition?

How do I teach my child the alphabet is one of the most commonly asked questions.  Letter recognition is the foundation of early literacy. It can recognize a letter in four forms; uppercase print, lowercase print, uppercase cursive, and lowercase cursive. 

It makes sense the curiosity of how to teach the letters to your child is such a hot topic! Learning the alphabet unlocks so many new doors. 

Here, we will take a closer look at what alphabet recognition is and how you can help your child learn the letters. – All through hands-on play, of course!

RELATED: Want to learn through play? You will love our activity cards! 

Letter recognition is also the ability to identify letter names, recognize what a letter looks like, letter sounds, and how notes come together to make blended sounds. 

The alphabet does not need to be taught in a specific order; however, many believe it should be acquainted with the most common letters. For example, T, L, and M will be taught before X and Q.

I like to begin with the letters in my child’s name. 

Why is Letter Recognition Important?

By Kindergarten, children learning under the Common Core will be asked to recognize and name all upper- and lowercase letters of the alphabet.

Let’s remember that we have plenty of time to build solid foundations of what letters look like, what they are called, and what sound they make. 

In preschool, we want to respect this time and introduce letters with lots of room for learning through play and exploration. Exploring the letter names, what a letter looks like, letter sounds, and letter relationships take time to develop! 

RELATED: We use this magnetic wall a lot to take a close look at letters. 

Typical stages of letter recognition:

• Understands letters have names.
• Can identify 10 letters, including their own name.
• Begins to recognize their name in print.
• Begins to identify lowercase and uppercase letters.
• Develops a more in-depth understanding that letters stand for sounds.
• Masters all letter sounds and can identify letter names. 

RELATED: Alphabet toys make a great addition to toys toddlers and preschoolers use every day! 

Find these alphabet activity cards in PDF here!

How you teach letter recognition:

1. Start with the letters in your child’s name. These letters will have meaning, and your child will be invested in wanting to remember them. Begin with these 15+ Name Activities.
2. Show how the letter is formed. Is it a straight line? Curve? Do you recognize a point in your letter? 
3. Read ABC books. Here is a great list of ABC books from Happily Ever Elephants.
4. Write your child’s name on a poster and hang it in thier room. 
5. Play with magnetic letters. 
6. Sing songs about the alphabet.
7. Match letter sounds with pictures.
8. Play games with letter cards. 
9. Make ABC books. Have your child stamp, and you write the words.
10. Decorate posters with the letters of the alphabet. Hang them at eye-level. 
11. Share and begin to recognize the names of family and friends. 
12. Talk about how the letter sounds. H, hat, /huh/.
13. After much practice with fine motor skills, begin to write the letters. 

Here are our favorite ten activities to introduce, improve, and practice letter recognition. 

My First Quick and Easy Letter Recognition Activities 

Rock Letters Alphabet Activity 

Alphabet Sort; Straights and Curves

Letter Poke and Find

ABC Bean Sensory Bin

Letter Recognition Drive and Park 

Find your Name

Splash the Alphabet

Write with Magnets

Alphabet Ice Match

Kindergarten Word Families

Which letter recognition activity will you introduce first?

Up next – Come learn the stages of writing!