Alphabet activities toddlers

50+ Alphabet Activities (all hands-on play)

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Author: Susie    Published: 10/25/2016    Updated: 05/21/2020

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.

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!

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.

• 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

• 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

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50 Easy Alphabet Activities for Preschoolers

by happytoddlerplaytime

INSIDE: 50+ Hands-on and simple to set up alphabet activities for preschoolers and kindergartners. Fun and easy ways to learn, practice and play with the alphabet at home or in the classroom!

Hands-On Letter Activities

Teaching my preschoolers letters, shapes, numbers, and colours has always been one of my favourite things to do. They are key to them fully interacting with their environment and are foundational to all other learning. Most importantly creating simple, fun, engaging ways to practice these fundamental skills is my area of expertise!

If you are looking for ways to help give your preschooler or kindergartner a great start at school you have come to the right place. All of these activities are play-based – they involve elements of play that will help engage and stimulate. Additionally, these activities are also hands-on meaning NO WORKSHEETS.

I am no knocking on worksheets, I do believe they have a place in learning. However, hands-on learning activities allow your child to actually do and experience something. They involve their senses, their minds and their bodies!

So are you ready!? OK! Let’s get started!

Easy Alphabet Activities for Preschoolers

1. Alphabet Matching Activity is a super simple and fun alphabet matching activity you can set up for your preschooler while you make dinner.
2. Go on a Dinosaur Letter Hunt.
3. Find and unwrap Moon Rock Letters.
4. Fill the Alphabet Toddler Activity is an unique way to practice letters using bottles.
5. Alphabet Drop Fine Motor Toddler Activity is a great way to use all those paper towel rolls.
6. Car Letter Match is perfect way to practice letters for your car fanatic!
7. Clothespin Letter Dig combines clothespin and magnetic wands.
8. Use a paper towel tube in ABC Tube – easy letter matching activity – Busy Toddler
9. Bring a bit of the outdoors indoors in Rock Letters Alphabet Activity from Days With Grey.
10. Melt out Icy Letters in this Literacy Sensory Bin.
11. Letter Presents turns your letters in little presents to open and match.
12. ABC Paint Match is a great painting alphabet activity for preschoolers from Busy Toddler.

More Simple Letter Activities for Preschoolers

13. Giant Alphabet Puzzle uses a giant foam puzzle mat as an activity!
14. Toss & Find ABC is a fun gross motor alphabet activity for preschoolers.
15. Secret Letters Art & Literacy Activity is a colourful crayon resist activity from Busy Toddler.
16. Build with letters in ABC Stacks.
17. ABC Box Stamping is a fun way to use letter stamps. For example, it is a hands-on way to practice upper and lowe case.
18. Create an ABC TP Tunnel using paper towel rolls.
19. DIY Alphabet Puzzle is a simple diy puzzle you can easily create.
20. Feed the Alphabet Monsters in this fun activity from Toddler Approved.
21. Rainbow Letter Blocks
22. Poke the Alphabet from Days With Grey is a creative hands-on alphabet activity for preschoolers.
23. Pom Pom Hide & Seek uses Pom Poms to hide letters for your preschoolers to find.
24. Strengthen fine motor skills as well as learn the alphabet with Spray The Flower Letters Activity.
25. Toddler Approved uses paper plates in Alphabet Paper Plate Puzzles to practice letters.
26. Take leaning outside with Squish the Bugs Alphabet Game.
27. Squeeze out a little alphabet fun in Sponge Letter Match.
28. Create this mess free painting Alphabet Sensory Bag for some alphabet practice.
29. Hide the Alphabet Toddler Activity is a simple way to practice letters in a rice sensory bin

Letter Sound Activities

30. Grab your puzzles and create a simple matching game with Puzzle Letter Match.
31. Create an Alphabet Zoo with letters and animals!
32. Get moving through colour with Fun Learning for Kids’ Rainbow Hop Letter Sounds Game.
33. Use a muffin to for this Letter Sounds Activity – Frugal Fun For Boys and Girls
34. Snowman Phonics Discovery Bags
35. Phonics Christmas Activity

Seasonal Alphabet Activities for Preschoolers

33. Snowball Letter Unwrap
34. Snow Letters
35. Arctic Letters Sensory Bin
36. Feed the Leprechaun Rainbow Cookies Game
37. Sticky Hearts Letter Match
38. Fine Motor Valentine’s Day Letter Match
39. Heart Letter Match Sensory Bin
40. Feed the Heart Monster
41. Post It Present Match Activity
42. Christmas Stocking Puzzle Hunt
43. Feed the Reindeer Literacy Game
44. Christmas Lights Letter Trace: Play Dough Invitation
45. Turkey Clothespin Letters: Fine Motor Activity
46. Alphabet Turkey Activity
47. Leaf Letters: No-Prep Fall Activity
48. Leaf Letter Stamp
49. Magnetic Letter Leaf Match
50. DIY Pumpkin Letter Puzzles
51. Mini Pumpkin Letter Match

SO, WILL YOU TRY ANY OF THESE ALPHABET ACTIVITIES WITH YOUR PRESCHOOLERS? PIN IT FOR LATER!

Activities, Age, Kindergartner, Learning, Letters, Preschooler, Quick & Easy, Toddlerabc, alphabet, kindergarten, learning letters, letter, letter recognition, preschooler activityhappytoddlerplaytime

How to teach a child the alphabet.

How to teach a child the alphabet as early as possible? How to get a child interested in learning? What teaching aids are better: primers, alphabet, cards with letters, games? What if the child does not want to learn letters? And many other questions about teaching a child the letters of the Russian alphabet were told by the teacher of the children's development center. Parents are looking for newfangled methods, trying to figure out how to teach their child letters successfully and quickly, however, this does not always lead to the expected effect. In order for the process of teaching children the alphabet to go smoothly, you need to take into account the following points related to their psychology and physiology - the age at which it is better to start learning and the characteristics of children's thinking. When is it better to start learning the alphabet The physiology of young children is such that it is difficult for them to concentrate on one lesson for more than 10-15 minutes. Therefore, at the age of 1-2 years, it makes no sense to engage in a targeted study of the alphabet, in the form in which it is necessary for further learning to read. Moreover, by trying to force the baby to remember the letters by force, you risk causing him a negative reaction to the process of learning the alphabet, thereby turning him away from further studies. Remember that it is impossible to force children to learn the alphabet, it is desirable to interest them in this, then they will react favorably to the classes. nine0003

It is also important to understand that there are no clear age limits within which a child should start learning the alphabet. For some children, this will go away “with a bang” already at the age of 2 years, for others, even at 3 years old, memorizing the alphabet will be difficult. You can start learning letters if the child:
1) easily concentrates during developmental activities;
2) has a good visual memory;
3) loves to have books read to him, likes to look at them on his own. Start learning letters with your child, for starters, exclusively in a playful way. Benefits in the study of the alphabet Of course, the main assistants in this difficult but interesting business will be the primer and the alphabet. nine0003

Exploring how these manuals differ.
1) A primer is a textbook that not only depicts letters, but also outlines methods for teaching reading, but also contains recommendations for parents on how to better learn the alphabet and conduct classes.
2) ABC is a series of manuals representing the letters of the alphabet in any variant. These can be cubes with images of letters, cards, lotto, stickers, various kinds of puzzles, sets of letters on magnets.
3) Standing apart in this series are poetic alphabets - when a letter, its sound or image is played out in poetic form. The most pleasant for the perception of young children are the poetic collections of S.Ya. Marshak and A. A. Usachev. Methods There are several popular methods on how to learn the letters of the Russian alphabet correctly, each of them has its own advantages and disadvantages. Let's look at them in more detail. The method of memorizing letters by images The essence of the method: One of the popular methods that many parents prefer is teaching the alphabet as follows: the child is invited to learn and remember a letter, fixing its perception with an image of an object that begins with this letter. Example: "A" in most cases suggests a watermelon drawn next to it, "D" - a house, "P" - a fish, and so on. This is not entirely correct, and here's why. Cons: Parents often complain that as a result, the child remembers not the pronunciation of a single letter, but the entire visual chain - that is, his “A” is a watermelon. And at
Further, when asked to show “A”, the child points to a watermelon, and when you ask him what letter it is, he answers - “watermelon”. Tip: Therefore, professional educators recommend using such alphabets or cards, only at the initial stage - at the age of 2-3 years, in order to interest children in learning the alphabet itself.

Bakhtina's interesting method Recently, the method of E. Bakhtina, a teacher and author of the primer of the same name, has become very popular in teaching children the alphabet and reading. The essence of the technique: E. Bakhtina suggests learning the alphabet in the following way: to assign to each letter its specific image, the association that the baby will have when he sees it. So, for example, “A” may be associated in a child with the sound that small children make when they still can’t speak. E. Bakhtina suggests taking advantage of the fact that the outlines of many letters can be supported by an analogy with images of objects already familiar to the baby. Example: A hippopotamus with a big belly, very similar to the image "B", "U" is very reminiscent of a snail carrying a house on its back, and "E" and "Yo" differ from each other in that "E" has "eyes" closed and they are not visible, but for "Yo" they are open. nine0005 Disadvantages: It must be said that the study of letters using this method requires a sufficiently developed associative thinking, and this is not necessarily characteristic of every child. Pros: E. Bakhtina is popular, since the process of learning the alphabet is set out in it clearly and consistently, which allows it to be used not only by professional teachers, but also by parents on their own.

Basic recommendations for learning letters according to the classical method In order to better understand how to teach a child letters, you can use the following recommendations:
1) Make cards with the image of all the letters of the alphabet, it is desirable that the cards show nothing more than the letter itself, while it should be bright and colorful, on a light background. Attach cards as you study over the child's work table, or on the wall of his playroom, thus training his visual memory.
2) It will be easier to learn the simplest vowels "A", "O", "U", "I" at the initial stage, so start learning with them. Pronounce them correctly, as if "singing". In the future, this will greatly help when you teach the child to compose syllables. nine0005 3) It is necessary to teach the child not to pronounce the name of the letter - “EM”, “ES”, “ZHE”, but its pronunciation, the sound “MMMM”, “SS”, “LJ”.
4) Start studying consonants with "B", "P", "M", "N", "T", "G", "K". Pinching consonants "H", "Shch", "Shch" are best learned last, especially if their pronunciation causes difficulties for the baby.
5) Don't rush! If your child has trouble remembering certain letters, take a break. Come back to them after a while.
6) We study letters not only when you study at home, but also on the street, while walking. Invite the young student to recognize already familiar letters on signs, in store names. Learning letters with pleasure Classes for teaching young children something should be done with pleasure, in a friendly and relaxed atmosphere. Try to diversify the study of the alphabet by reading poetic alphabets, guessing riddles, memorizing rhymes and tongue twisters. Do not rush to teach the baby to write, for a start it is necessary that he successfully memorize all the letters, be able to call them quickly and without difficulty, and only after that you can begin to teach the child to write letters. For a full and effective teaching of writing, you will need special aids - copybooks with letters. nine0003

Kindergarten No. 33 of the Admiralteisky district of St. Petersburg. Speech therapy alphabet for parents of children of preschool age Teach your baby in front of a mirror to open and close his mouth, lift his tongue up, make it wide and narrow, and hold it in the correct position.

Rapid speech is not acceptable in a conversation with a child. Speak clearly, clearly, naming objects correctly, using both "childish" and "adult" words (This is a car - b.b. But a dog - aw-aw!). Don't let your baby talk too fast.

Always tell your child what you see . Remember that if everything around you is familiar and familiar, then the baby needs to be introduced to everything that surrounds us. Explain to him that the tree is growing, the flower is blooming, why there is a bee on it. It depends on you whether your baby will be developed.

The main components of a beautiful speech: correctness, clarity, intelligibility, moderate tempo and loudness, vocabulary richness and intonational expressiveness. This is how your speech should be.

Breathing exercises are important in the development of speech. To develop the air jet needed to pronounce many sounds, teach your child to blow in a thin stream on light toys, balls, boats on the water (you can’t inflate your cheeks!).

If the child is 3 years old , he must be able to speak in phrases. The absence of phrasal speech indicates a delay in speech development, and the absence of words at 3 years of age indicates gross violations of general development.

Gestures complement our speech. But if baby uses gestures instead of speech, do not try to understand him without words. Pretend you don't know what he wants. Encourage him to ask. The longer you understand the "sign" speech of the child, the longer he will be silent. nine0003

"Golden middle" to the norm. Take a look at the baby. Is he different from his peers? Do not overload it with information, do not speed up its development. Until the child has mastered his native language, it is too early to learn a foreign language (it is not for nothing that children in bilingual families very often have a general underdevelopment of speech!).