Rock letters are a great way to get preschoolers excited about the alphabet!
Do you, too, find rocks that have been left in pant pockets and washed through the spin cycle? This rock letters alphabet activity will put the straggling (now clean) stones to use!
This alphabet recognition activity is easy to make and fun to play. – love when this happens! And yes, I also have these smooth river rocks listed below if your rock collection could use an upgrade.
RELATED: Simple supplies keep learning fun and easy. You can find our favorite supplies here all in one list.
My three-year-old will begin learning the letters of the alphabet a few at a time.
I know that my toddler has time to master the alphabet letters and sounds, so I don’t need to toss all 26 in front of him at once. He can learn in small doses along the way.
Here, we start with the beginning letter of each child’s name. This introduction helps him make a personal connection with the letters introduced.
Toddler activities need to be short and sweet to introduce the concept and allow some (actually a lot) of freedom for exploration.
Here is how I teach the alphabet activity:
- I introduce one letter one at a time saying something like, “This is a W. W makes this sound /w/. I hear that sound when I say, /W/ William.” I make the sound a few times as I introduce the letter.
- When I make the sound, I ask my toddler to watch my mouth and ask him to repeat the sound back to me.
- Next, I ask my three-year-old to find the same letter on the paper.
- Once he matches the letter, I say something like, “That is correct! You have a W on your rock, and this is a W on the paper. Will begins with W.” – and I will say the sound /w/ to associate with the letter name.
Alphabet activities are the best when they are quick to introduce and hands-on to practice just like this!
Here’s what you need to play this alphabet activity
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smooth river rocks – or you can collect your own
white chalk marker for letters
Original Set of Breakfast Invitation Cards (optional)
We’ve played Rock Letters to help introduce the letters of my children’s name for years!
You can see the same activity, plus 20 others, on the Original Set of Breakfast Invitations right here. These are simple learning games that help children move right into independent play.
RELATED: Want a few more tools for learning letters? We love these toys to help with alphabet recognition!
Once your toddler masters the letters shown here, you can then play Find Your Name. The idea is similar and is a fun way to boost name recognition!
Grab the rocks! It is time to practice our letters!
