Alphabet activities for toddlers
50+ Alphabet Activities (all hands-on play)
Never miss a Busy Toddler Newsletter!
Busy Toddler » Play » Indoor Activities » 50+ Alphabet Activities for Kids
Author: Susie
Need a little ABC fun? Check out these awesome alphabet activities for kids of all ages.Are your wondering how to teach your child the ABCs? Curious how to do it and what the best approach is? You’ve come to the right post: my alphabet activities list is the perfect for helping your child with learning the alphabet the hands-on way.
RELATED: Wondering what learning looks like at my house? Check out Playing Preschool: my at-home activities program.
All children learn the alphabet and to read at different paces.It’s childhood, not a race to the top. There is no expectation that a toddler or preschooler should know any of their letters – in fact, 30 years ago children WENT to kindergarten to learn the ABCs.
You can read more about why you should stop worrying about your child and the ABCs in this blog post.
Instead of drilling the ABCs into them, expose kids to letters, make letters a part of everyday life, and allow it come by your child naturally.
This ABC post is full of hands on ways to introduce the alphabet to your child and let them naturally become familiar with these symbols in the same way they play with dinosaurs and construction vehicles (even before they know all the names of those objects).
Let’s make the alphabet something familiar and fun rather than something to worry about and dread.
RELATED: Looking for other hands-on fun activity ideas? Check out my favorite activities list!
I’ve compiled a list of 50+ fantastic hands on alphabet activities!
These activities are perfect and tailor made for kids – hands-on, dynamic, engaging learning activities.
To help you find what you are looking for, I’ve separated the list into 3 categories: sensory-based alphabet activities, easy indoor ABC ideas, and outdoor letter play.
20+ Sensory-Based Alphabet Activities
- Floating Letters – Busy Toddler
- Alphabet Construction Zone – Play, Teach, Repeat
- Letter Hunt – Busy Toddler
- Alphabet Discovery Bottle – The OT Toolbox
- Alphabet Post-It Match – Busy Toddler
- Sensory ABC Activity – Powerful Mothering
- ABC Jell-O – Busy Toddler
- Rainbow Rice Alphabet Puzzle Activity and Sensory Play for Kids – Little Bins for Little Hands
- Alphabet Soup – Busy Toddler
- Alphabet Sensory Bin – Stay at Home Educator
- Alphabet Sensory Ice Play – Something 2 Offer
- Magnetic Alphabet Sensory Bin – Busy Toddler
- DIY Learning Alphabet Sensory Bottle – The Jenny Revolution
- Letter Sounds Activity and Sensory Play – Little Bins for Little Hands
- Buried Letters Match-Up – Busy Toddler
- Letter Hunt Alphabet Sensory Bag – My Mundane and Miraculous Life
- ABC Play Dough Puzzle – Busy Toddler
- Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Alphabet Play – Natural Beach Living
- Water Bead Sensory Bin – Play dough to Popsicles
- Alphabet Sift – Busy Toddler
- Alphabet Post-It Wall – Busy Toddler
- Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Small World – Buggy and Buddy
- Alphabet Cookie Match Game – Busy Toddler
- Alphabet Connect Activity – Munchkins and Moms
- Alphabet Cave – Preschool Learning Cave – Cutting Tiny Bites
- Letter Board Alphabet Activity – Busy Toddler
- ABC Sort – Busy Toddler
- Geoboard Alphabet Matching – Munchkins and Moms
- ABC Match – Busy Toddler
- Alphabet Letters: Alphabet Act – The Natural Homeschool
- Secret Letters – Busy Toddler
- DIY Tactile Alphabet Cards – Playground Parkbench
- Magnetic Letters Connect the Dots – School Time Snippets
- Easy Alphabet Match-Up – Busy Toddler
- Under the Sea Bubble ABC Matching Sticker Activity – Play Dough & Popsicles
- Alphabet Basketball – School Time Snippets
- Easy Alphabet Painting – Busy Toddler
- Alphabet Car Wash – Learning 2 Walk
- Alphabet Flower Garden Activity – Buggy and Buddy
- Alphabet Fish Matching Game – Stir the Wonder
- Bear Counters Name Recognition – Munchkins and Moms
- Name Practice Activity Using Toy Cars – Buggy and Buddy
- Magnetic Letter Matching – Simple Fun for Kids
15 Outdoor Alphabet Activities
- Parachute Man Alphabet Activity – Munchkins and Moms
- Splash the Alphabet – Days with Grey
- ABC Sidewalk Chalk Game – Buggy and Buddy
- Garden ABC Letter Hunt – Fantastic Fun and Learning
- Fun Alphabet Ice Game – Days with Grey
- Alphabet Activities: Grab and Pull a Letter Load – Growing Book by Book
- Homemade Alphabet Stones – Something 2 Offer
- Letter Matching Roads – The Educators’ Spin On It
- Outdoor Alphabet Hunt – No Time for Flashcards
- Alphabet Scooping Game – Busy Toddler
- Alphabet Scavenger Hunt – And Next Comes L
- Water Spray Alphabet Hunt – Mom Inspired Life
- Stamping with Alphabet Sponges – And Next Comes L
- Alphabet Learning with Chalk & Rocks – And Next Comes L
- Summer Alphabet Relay Obstacle Course for Preschoolers – Mom Inspired Life
Never miss a Busy Toddler Newsletter!
Subscribe to my free newsletter and I’ll send you “35 Easy Toddler Activities to Break Up the Day!”
Reader Interactions
16+ Playful Toddler Alphabet Activities
You are here: Home / Literacy / 16+ Playful Toddler Alphabet Activities
by Sheryl Cooper
Inside: There are so many fun toddler alphabet activities that are simple, playful, and fun.
Each of these 16 activities expose toddlers to letters through play and hands-on exploration. No flash cards necessary!
You have started hearing your toddler sing the ABC song. Now you’re wondering about other toddler alphabet activities. How can you add them to your day?
Through play and exploration!
With art and play dough!
In the sandbox, in the pretend play area, in the sensory bin!
In other words, toddler alphabet activities should involve play, exploration, and FUN. And that is what this collection is all about.
CLICK HERE for more alphabet activities!
Note: Some of these alphabet activities might need to be simplified a bit. Start with exploration, and then add on as your toddler transitions to a preschooler and shows more interest in letters. As your child gets older, check out our preschool literacy activities at the end of this post.
The collection:
Fill a bin with foam letters for ABC letter play.
Explore your name’s letters in a discovery bottle.
Sort letters using a DIY letter box.
Press foam letters into play dough.
Drive cars on letter roads. (Free printables from Gift of Curiosity.)
Play with trucks and alphabet rocks. (Mom Inspired Life)
Serve alphabet pancakes for breakfast. (Education.com)
Make a playful alphabet garden. (Free printables from Totschooling.)
Push cars through alphabet tunnels. (Toddler Approved)
Plant an alphabet flower garden. (Buggy and Buddy)
Set up your pretend kitchen with some ABC cookie baking. (Fantastic Fun and Learning)
Paint over wax letters. (Learn with Play at Home)
Display a tactile alphabet poster. (My Mundane and Miraculous Life)
Remove letters from ice. (Little Bins for Little Hands)
Scoop letters out of water. (Busy Toddler)
Use DIY letter stamps on paper. (Make, Take and Teach)
Create alphabet snowmen during the winter.
Use the water table to make alphabet soup.
Add letters to a kinetic sand construction bin.
More toddler literacy activities:Teaching the Alphabet to Toddlers and Preschoolers Through Play
How to Put Together Literacy Activities Using Foam Letters
Fine motor stamping sheets for use with dot markers, such as Do-A-Dot.
Includes lowercase letters, uppercase letters, and numerals 0-9.
- Dot Stamping Uppercase Letters (26 pages)
- Dot Stamping Lowercase Letters (26 pages)
- Dot Stamping Numerals 0-9 (10 pages)
62 Pages total
FREE CIRCLE TIME PLANNER!
Get your FREE circle time planner as a gift when you subscribe to my free weekly newsletters.
Here is my Privacy Policy
Filed Under: Literacy, Toddler Literacy, Toddlers Tagged With: literacy, toddlers
About Sheryl Cooper
Sheryl Cooper is the founder of Teaching 2 and 3 Year Olds, a website full of activities for toddlers and preschoolers.
She has been teaching this age group for over 20 years and loves to share her passion with teachers, parents, grandparents, and anyone with young children in their lives.
ABC online for kids. We learn the Russian alphabet.
| Speaking alphabet - for children Home Teaching letters | ||
| Read simple syllables Linking a letter to a syllable. Reading words and sentences by syllables Teaching numbers | ||
First words
Hello dear parents.
Your child is growing up, and you have set yourself the task to teach him the knowledge of letters and teach him to read words . Most likely you already have both alphabet and cubes with letters from which you can add words. You may have already had unsuccessful attempts teach your baby the alphabet . The child, on the other hand, either confused the letters, or generally refused activities that were uninteresting to him. Especially for your children, this speaking alphabet was created, which will definitely interest the child and it will be easy and natural for him to learn letters with the help of familiar images.
Your children probably already know the computer well and will be happy to learn Russian letters of the alphabet on their own in a playful way with the pronunciation of letters and words by the cartoon heroine "Masha and the Bear" . You just need to click on any letter of the alphabet and your child will plunge into the world of letters and words . To reinforce knowledge, an easy-to-remember rhyme is specially selected, which Masha pronounces with expression and a short cartoon about a letter. The talking alphabet for kids was created with the support of a child psychologist and is designed to memorize letters, numbers and associated associations.
We are glad to inform you that we have abandoned Flash and switched to modern HTML5. Thus, the online alphabet is now fully functional on all modern devices, cross-platform and cross-browser. Just have your child click on the pictures and listen to Masha explain the meaning of .
Learn letters from a tablet, iPad, laptop, computer...
And one more thing. If you opened the site from a tablet or iPad and the mobile version loaded, turn your device to landscape position and refresh the page. The full version of the site will load.
Huge request to share the site in social networks. By doing this, you will help us a lot!
Don't forget to turn on the sound!
Note to parents
:
Why learn letters before school
Why do you absolutely need to teach your child at least the alphabet, if the first grade program includes learning from scratch?
Probably works parental instinct.
- You are sure that your classmates will already be able to read, and you do not want to see your child among the lagging behind. Maybe you yourself read before school and it was easier for you to comprehend science with some knowledge received from your parents.
- Perhaps you want to distinguish your baby from the "gray crowd" of the same age, and proudly demonstrate the child's knowledge to friends and acquaintances.
- Perhaps the baby himself showed interest in learning letters and he has enough perseverance to devote 10 - 15 minutes a day to learning (Very good, if so!)
From four to five years, depending on the characteristics, the baby can already analyze objects and their purpose. He is interested in properties and possibly "strange drawings" written on them. If your baby asks, pointing to the words, what is it? Everything! Your child has "grown up" and you can gently, not intrusively start learning attempts.
But if the child still cannot concentrate on the task, refuses to repeat, is restless and gets tired quickly, then it is better to wait a while.
And another important point! Is it possible to harm the baby with activities? Yes, if the parent does not take into account the individual abilities of the child and overloads his intellect with too much information.
Instead of memorizing, a "porridge" is formed in the child's head, which the child's brain cannot process. Therefore, you do not need to overload the baby.
ABC for children 5 years old learning the alphabet. Letters
Little tomboys are not so easy to get to learn something, and the alphabet is no exception. But still, you need to start learning letters as early as possible, and free online games "Letters for Kids" were created specifically to facilitate this process. Bright and exciting applications will help little ones to master the first reading skills in an easy and interesting way for them. Colored pictures stimulate visual perception and thus improve memory. Not to mention that in many games, training will take place in the company of your favorite cartoon characters. It's one thing when parents explain the letters, and quite another - for example, SpongeBob. In the second case, the child will obviously be very enthusiastic about the idea of learning!
In addition, in addition to the Russian alphabet, your baby will have the opportunity to start learning a foreign language from an early age.
Some flash games "Letters for Kids" on our site are dedicated to the English language, which will definitely come in handy for your child in the future. In general, the sooner you begin to instill in your child the basics of literacy, the better! Together with Letters for Kids games it is much easier. Therefore, do not limit the time spent by the child at the computer, it is better to make sure that he spends it playing the right games!
The optimal age for learning the alphabet is 5-6 years. By this time, the baby will no longer distort the spoken sounds, will quickly perceive information and remember it. Cognitive interest, aimed at studying the world around us and actively manifesting just at this period of a child's development, will be of great help in mastering letters.
Introduction to the alphabet
The study of the alphabet should be regular and systematic, but the lessons should not tire the little student.
For this purpose, one can not only look at illustrations for fairy tales, guess what the story will be about, and think about the behavior of the characters.
Gradually developed reader interest will encourage the study of the alphabet and.
When your child is ready to learn, you can start learning letters. So that after getting acquainted with the letters the child does not lose interest in reading activities, it is important to take into account several points.
- Sounds or letters?
You need to choose one option: learn either letters or sounds.
It is important to understand that it is easier for children to distinguish sounds in a word ([b] is a drum, compared to “be” - “drum”), and in the process of learning to read it will be easier for them to combine 2 sounds than 2 letters (“be” and “a they will read "bea" instead of "ba").
If a kid grasps everything on the fly, then he will be curious to know that the letters are the icons with which the sounds made are encrypted, and their name is not always read like the called sound.
- Immediately or gradually?
Not required dump all the information on the child at once.
Acquaintance with letters should occur gradually.
You can spend not one, but several days on one letter, until it becomes recognizable. Only then can you move on to the next one.
- Where to start?
It is not always advisable to study letters in alphabetical order. It is better to start with vowels, and then proceed to get acquainted with consonants. The most difficult letters are left in the end (b, b).
- When are the classes?
Not worth it allocate strictly defined time for classes: it is difficult for a child to engage in one type of activity for more than 10-15 minutes, and if you do not consolidate what you have learned all the time, then everything will be forgotten very quickly.
It is better to introduce the process of learning the alphabet into the life of a student: in the morning they got acquainted with the letter, laid it out for breakfast from vegetables, during a walk they found words starting with this letter, and in the evening they painted or made a model from improvised material.
- Stick or carrot?
Definitely the second - any punishments eventually provoke the appearance of a negative attitude towards the activity that provoked them. And if the child is not interested in what he is doing, then all efforts will be in vain.
To motivate a student , increase self-confidence, you need to praise him as often as possible for any success. For the same purpose, you should not conduct various kinds of checks and exams: all children are different, and they learn the material in different ways.
Alphabet learning methods
Any activity should be conducted in a playful way using a variety of methods that will help you remember all the information given out (or at least most of it).
Learning will be easy and interesting if you use in the process:
- Entertaining tasks (puzzles “A letter is hidden”, “How many letters are on a line”, coloring pages, riddles, poems).
- Word games (“Select the first sound”, “What letter is hidden in the house, if the owners are known”, “Find as many words as possible for the desired letter”).
- Association method (an adult calls a letter, a child - a word beginning with this letter).
- Practice methods (making an alphabet from plasticine, salt dough, natural material, fabric, etc.).
- Magnetic letters or cubes , from which it will be possible to add even whole words.
- Educational cartoons and videos.
- Computer games .
Letters learned in an unusual situation are quickly remembered . For example, joint baking of cookies - letters, drawing letters on the snow or sand during a walk, edible letters (from peas or corn on the surface of a salad, from cream on the top of the cake).
It will also be interesting and exciting to find the letters hidden around (a cloud in the form of "o", tree trunks - "k", pillars - "l").
If you use all the methods of memorization, then the process of learning the alphabet will be easy and fast.
Practically all parents understand that the time will come when they will have to learn the letters of the Russian alphabet together with their child. And they have a lot of questions. For example, at what age will learning be most successful? Or how to make classes interesting for children? And, in general, how to study it?
Children learn best through play
Learning the alphabet can be started at any age. Some parents start learning the alphabet , when the little man was not even a year old. And many do not think about it before school. Of course, these are extremes. In the first case it is still early, in the second it is already too late. The optimal age for learning letters is 4.5–5 years. During this period, children develop the ability to analyze, interest in the environment greatly expands, and the ability to absorb information increases.
It is at this time that the child may have a desire to learn to read.
Methods that help learning
There are a lot of different methods, methods and exercises that make it easy for children to learn the letters of the Russian alphabet. These can be special coloring books, and computer games, and cutting out letters, sculpting them from plasticine, and even baking.
The original way to memorize letters
You can try this technique: first you need to memorize 10 vowels, they come in pairs and rhyme, so it will be easy to learn them: A-Z, U-Yu, O-E, E-E, Y-I. And then move on to consonants, which can also be divided into pairs, for example, deaf - voiced. There is also a method of studying sounds, not letters.
One of the most effective ways is singing. You just need to learn the song with the alphabet and constantly sing it. And this option is also popular: learning the letters of the Russian alphabet for children aged 5 years not with letters, but immediately with words.
Learning and memorization work best when visual memory is involved. Therefore, it will be very effective to cut out large letters and place them in a zone of constant visibility so that the child can get used to them and remember them. It is good that they are red, as this color attracts attention. In general, all tools, cards, materials used in training should be very bright, colorful, beautiful and attractive in appearance.
It has been proven that children remember the alphabet faster and easier if the letters are depicted as an animal. Or when a picture is drawn next to the letter. And then the letters will be associated in children with a certain image. For example, A with a watermelon or a stork, B with a drum, etc.
If you simultaneously teach your child to write the letters being studied, the effect will increase many times over.
Only no exams and forced imposition! All this should be interesting to the baby. Let the information flow slowly so that the child does not get confused and does not refuse to learn.
It's just wonderful if the baby begins to be interested in letters on his own. And if not, then you need to awaken this curiosity in him. And temporarily postpone classes if, nevertheless, interest does not arise.
Want to know the most effective way to teach your child letters and learn the alphabet in the shortest possible time? With our recommendations, it will not be difficult for you to teach your child the alphabet at 3-6 years old. In just a month of short lessons, you can learn vowels and consonants with your child and start reading.
www.fullhdoboi.ru
Why teach your child the alphabet
Before you introduce your child to the letters of the Russian alphabet, answer yourself the question WHY you want to do it right now. Is your child 5 or 6 years old and you want to prepare him for school? He is 2 years old and you want to show off the successes of a little genius to your friends and relatives? The kid is 3 years old and you want to "invest in him the maximum" in all ways available to you, so as not to miss the optimal moment for all-round development? What?
Of course, you can teach your child the alphabet at any age.
You can show letter cards from the cradle, but... Let's put parental ambitions aside and focus on the object - the child. Why does he need to know letters? Right to read! Are you sure that right now he is READY to learn the basics of reading? Read what conditions are necessary in order to teach a child to read in our articles and only after that make the right decision:
Any knowledge should be put into practice. You must clearly understand that the study of letters and the alphabet is teaching the child to read. Otherwise, there is no point, there are a lot of other effective ways to develop memory, thinking, speech. It is not necessary for this to learn letters with a one and a half year old malupas, who is not yet able to pronounce them correctly. If you start learning the alphabet too early, there is a high chance that the child will simply forget the letters by the time he is ready to learn to read. Or the second, more "terrible" moment. Having learned “be”, “ve”, “de”, the child will not be able to read, because other rules work when reading.
To merge syllables and turn them into words, you need to pronounce sounds completely different. Relearning is always harder. Be careful with the choice of talking toys and books: they do not always pronounce the letters correctly!
happymama.ru
The knowledge of the alphabet alone will not give the baby anything. He will simply memorize it like a song or a rhyme, but this will not teach him to read. Therefore, leave the study of the alphabet for children 5-6 years old, who will need it at school, and with toddlers, just learn the letters without adhering to the alphabetical sequence.
- The alphabet is not just all the letters, it's the letters in a CERTAIN sequence.
- The alphabet is the base of any language.
- The alphabet is the key to all dictionaries, reference books, encyclopedias and other documents where order and systematization are important.
- Knowing the alphabet saves time.
Learning letters: where to start
In what order to learn letters? Do I need to learn the alphabet? Start with vowels or consonants?
Let's be clear, so:
1.
No need to learn letters in alphabetical order.
2. Do not learn letters mixed up: either vowels or consonants.
3. Be the first to learn with your child the 10 letters for vowel sounds.
The most important thing at this age is to pay attention to CORRECT SPEECH. If necessary, contact a speech therapist to help put the right sounds, because success in school education directly depends on this.
A common problem at this age is sound R . You can work with your child on your own by doing it regularly.
When a child of preschool age lives in a family, he wants to show the world as soon as possible, tell what the alphabet is, learn the alphabet and numbers with them. But too early such classes will not bring any result, because no one has canceled the physiological characteristics of children and they must be reckoned with.
For example, from the age of 2, a child consciously learns the world through touch, taste and vision, but it is almost impossible to interest him in learning at this time, since the child's mind has not yet understood the meaning of numbers and letters.
Learning letters with a child most often starts from the age of 4, because he already begins to analyze his actions and gradually understand why he needs to learn. In addition, it will take little time - 10-15 minutes a day.
At 6-7, children improve their memory, thinking and perception, so they are probably ready to play at school. So if before your baby did not show any interest in learning, now is the time to teach him new activities.
Maria Monsessori is a famous Spanish teacher who founded her own school for toddlers and proposed one of the most famous methods that will help children learn the alphabet with the help of a game. It consists of 4 parts and is designed for children of all ages from 3 to 6 or even 7 years old.
Drawing on the sand - developing speech
Before a child can write letters correctly and quickly, he needs to develop the muscles of his hands and strengthen his fingers, which will soon have to hold the pen quite often.
So the first Montessori game is finger drawing in the sand. If there is no opportunity to go to the beach, then it is enough to pour a little semolina onto a baking sheet, on which the lesson will take place. Start drawing something simple, for example, a smiling emoticon, a sun or a Christmas tree, and let the kid repeat everything after you. When you move on to more complex drawings, then work with the child together: he drew the head, you - the body, and so on.
"Rough Letters"
The next exercise to help you learn the alphabet while playing is called "Rough Letters", which involves special letters. You can buy them online or watch a tutorial video on how to make them yourself for kids.
Next, show the child one letter and say how it is pronounced, then let the child repeat the sound he heard after you. At the end, be sure to give the opportunity to touch the card with the letter, while pronouncing its sound and showing the object that begins with the learned letter.
It is necessary to study three letters at a time and at the beginning of each lesson repeat what has already been learned. If the child has forgotten something from the past material, then feel free to add the forgotten “comrade” to the new triple from the alphabet.
All other developing ways of learning letters for kids can be found in the book by Marie-Helene Place "Learning Letters Using the Montessori Method".
Techniques and exercises for babies 4 to 6 years old
Letters from the mosaic
As mentioned above, 4 years is the best period for learning and memorization. At this time, you can already use the mosaic, from which the child will have to put together the letter named by the parent. In a mosaic, it is easier to teach how to write letters with horizontal lines, and to complicate the task, ask to make a letter of a certain color, small or large.
"ABC from plasticine"
The next variant of the game with a child already 5 and 6 years old is "ABC from plasticine".
On the board for modeling with a pencil, draw the outline of the letters and ask the child to fashion a certain letter from plasticine. When you get to learn them well, you can complicate the task by completing the task quickly. "ABC" is good for playing with a child because it helps to quickly memorize the alphabet and develop finger motor skills.
There are many more techniques that are suitable for small children. For some of them, you need to make an “inventory” with your own hands, in which videos from the Internet will undoubtedly help you.
Educational computer games for learning numbers
Children are very attracted to technology, including computers. And there is nothing wrong if girls and boys, starting from the age of 4, will learn and memorize numbers while playing on a laptop. After all, there are videos, methods that develop toys online that can correctly teach you how to memorize numbers. For example, an online program where a child has to paint a certain number in the color he likes and the more often he paints it, the faster he will remember.
If your child is already 5-6 years old, then more difficult simulators are chosen, such as "Find a pair - addition", "Find a pair - subtraction" and use them to learn calculation and addition. These toys are made in the form of closed squares, which the player opens, remembers what is written there (for example, 7+3=) and looks for the correct answer to it.
If you do not touch the computer, then simple exercises will help you remember the numbers. For example, while walking down the street, ask the child to memorize the number of a car standing in the yard or to find a specific number in it. Funny rhymes, songs and counting rhymes, which are easy to remember and tell about something interesting, have a good effect on memorization from a very young age.
As you can see, there are a lot of ways to teach a child to pronounce letters, memorize numbers: methods of popular teachers and psychologists (in addition to Montessori's work, the methods of Zaitsev and Polyakov are common), training videos, educational toys and exercises.
