Fun way to learn alphabet
26 Easy, Fun Alphabet Activities That Give Kids the Practice They Need
Alphabet activities make learning your ABCs more fun. There are so many ways to practice your ABCs, you might be able to do one alphabet activity a day for a year without repeating. We’ve gathered over 25 super fun alphabet activities so kids can play and learn every day.
1. Write letters on dried beans
Large dried white beans are inexpensive to purchase and easy to write on. Grab a sharpie and write all the upper and lower case letters on them. Then put each set in a pile (or baggie) and ask your kids to match them.
2. Letter sort with sticky notes
Write individual letters on sticky notes and then place them all over your house or just on every stair in a staircase. This practice game has a lot of variations—all tied to sorting. Ask kids to sort by:
- lowercase
- uppercase
- letters in their name
- straight lines (H)
- curved lines (c)
- both curved and straight lines (B)
- consonants
- vowels
For even more practice: have them sort their finds into ABC order, match lowercase letters to uppercase letters, and then, find a way to sort them that’s new.
3. Write letters in shaving cream
Squirt shaving cream on a table and let your kids write letters in the cream. Smoothe it out to erase and start again. Bonus: their hands and your table will be cleaner than ever!
Source: Rose and Rex
4. Bend letters with pipe cleaners
Pipe cleaners have always been a trusted source of good fine motor practice as well as a fun craft resource. Now use them to have kids create uppercase and lower case letters.
Learn more: make and takes
5. Make sensory ABC bags
This one is great because you can change up what you put in here and even move to sight words. You’ll need a gallon bag with a ziplock top. Add letters written on pieces of paper, magnetic letters, scrabble tiles, or anything else you can think of with letters. Then fill the bag with rice or oatmeal and seal it. Kids dig through the rice through the bag to find the letters. When they find them, they write down the letter they find until they locate all 26 letters of the alphabet.
For more sensory ideas: Little Bins Little Hands
6. Find invisible letters with watercolors
This is a classic. Using a white crayon, draw letters on a piece of white paper. Give your kids watercolor, let them paint the paper, and watch the letters appear.
Learn more: Gift of Curiosity
7. Play musical alphabet
Set up letters in a big circle on the floor. You can use magnetic letters or just write them on index cards. Put music on and have your child walk around the circle to the music. When the music goes off, your child tells you the closest letter. Expand on it: ask your child to name three things (colors, animals, etc) that start with that letter.
8. Sponge the alphabet
Cut sponges into letters and use them for sponge painting letters or playing in the tub.
Learn more: Learning 4 Kids
9. Put together name puzzles
Write the upper and lower case letters in a name and then cut them apart in a simple zigzag.
Mix up the letters and ask a child to match them up and put them in the right order.
10. Make letters from nature
Find the alphabet right outside. Choose natural objects that already look like letters, or arrange them to look like them.
To learn more: Right Brained Mom
11. Eat your ABCs
We know from Alphabet Soup that eating your ABCs is plain old fun. So think of all the ways you can practice the alphabet at mealtime. Pancakes can be made into letters, jello can be cut into letters, and noodles can be used to make letters (just to name a few).
Learn more: Parent Map
12. Go on an alphabet scavenger hunt
The fun part about this for grown-ups is that there is no prep. Tell kids to go find objects that start with each letter of the alphabet. To make this game take longer, designate spots for them to bring each item back—one at a time. Every item must be approved before they can move on to the next. This allows for fewer meltdowns at the end when an item is deemed inaccurate.
13. Make your own ABC book
Personalizing the ABCs helps kids process and retain their learning. One of our favorite alphabet activities starts by creating a book out of 26 pieces of paper and staples or hole punches and a ribbon. Have kids write an uppercase and lowercase letter on each page. Finally, have them draw or cut out pictures of things that start with each letter. Voila!
Learn more: Teach Mama
14. Create ABC popup books
Use the following tutorial video to learn how to make different kinds of pop up pages. Then, create a page per week for 26 weeks for each letter. At the end, use a glue stick to glue them all together to make an ABC popup book!
15. Stamp letters in playdough
Roll out playdough and push letter stamps right into the dough. This is both tactile and great for practicing ABCs.
Learn more: I can teach my child
16. Make tactile letter cards
There’s lots of research (and experience) to support the value of using all the senses to learn.
Making these tactile alphabet cards will be fun and have lasting benefits.
Learn more: All About Learning
17. Trace letters in spices
This one combines touch, smell, and sight. It gives you an opportunity to talk about what we uses spices for as well. Put the bottle in front of a child and have them write the spice name in the spice to make things a bit more challenging.
Source: Frog in a Pocket
18. Study a letter of the week
Many PreK and Kindergarten classes do a letter of the week, and for good reason. Teachers all share that instant recognition of letters and practice writing them is so important for learning to read. Doing alphabet activities for one letter each week reinforces knowledge and recollection.
For weekly activities: Preschool Mom
19. Do the yoga alphabet
Show kids this video and take the time to learn each yoga pose. Connecting the mind and the body is great for learning.
20. Sing songs about the alphabet
Everyone loves to sing the alphabet song, but did you know there are lots of other songs to sing that can help you remember the alphabet? Try out this Sesame Street favorite:
21. Draw pictures from letters
Using letters as a starting point, teach kids how to draw. If this is too difficult at first, just write a letter and then draw a picture around the letter.
Learn more: Felt Magnet
22. Highlight letters on a page
Print a page of text or grab your favorite magazine and a highlighter. Ask kids to highlight as many of one letter as they can find. This is also great for sight word recognition.
Here’s a freebie from The Inspired Apple to get you started.
23. Do-A-Dot letter tracing
These dot markers make tracing letters more fun and help kids with directionality and remembering how to write and recognize letters.
Free Dot tracing sheets: DTLK’s Educational Activities for Kids
24.
Play letter slapMake 2 sets of index cards with all the letters on them (52 cards in all). Shuffle the cards together and deal them so each kid holds 26 cards. Together each player takes their top card and turns it upright. The player with the letter closest to A wins the hand and takes the card. If two of the same letter are played, the players slap the card. The one on the bottom of the slip wins the hand. The game ends when one player holds all the cards.
25. Match plastic Easter egg letters
Surely you have some plastic Easter eggs hanging around your attic. Use a Sharpie or letter stickers to put an uppercase letter on one half and a lowercase letter on the other. Then separate the two and throw them all in a basket. Kids pull them out and match them up. Tip: Add difficulty by not coordinating the colors.
Learn more: Crystal and Co.
26. Create loose part letters
What are loose parts? Loose parts are exactly what they sound like—a collection of loose materials or objects.
These can be small pebbles, bottle caps, random LEGO bricks, seeds, keys, anything. Draw big letters on a piece of paper and have kids line up loose parts to make the letter.
Recognizing letters is a fundamental part of learning how to read. Without it, children struggle to learn letter sounds and identify words. Beginning readers who know their alphabet have a much easier time learning to read. Making alphabet practice a part of every day in fun ways helps create a lifelong love for letters and words.
What games and activities do you like to use for practicing the alphabet?
Plus, our favorite activities using alphabet beads and the best alphabet books.
Top 10 Ways to Remember the ABCs
All this week some of the members of the Kid Blogger Network are sharing resources to keep kids learning while school is out. We’re chiming in with tons of fun ways to teach the alphabet. Whether your child has been busy learning the ABCs all year or you’re just looking for some fun ways to expose your child to the alphabet, this collection of ABC activities should give you tons of ideas for helping kids remember the ABCs.
Many of the fun ways to teach the ABCs include a summer twist, but they could be used any time of the year. In this massive collection you’ll find both alphabet activities for toddlers and great abc activities for preschool.
**This list is updated with new activities regularly.**
Top 10 Ways to Help Kids Remember the ABCs
Go on an Alphabet Hunt to Learn Your ABCs- Anytime, Anywhere ABC Hunt-Hide Alphabet Post-It Notes or flashcards and let kids find them all. We love doing this at home and in hotel rooms on vacation.
- ABC Water Balloon Hunt – Label water balloons with the letters of the alphabet. See if kids can find them all without breaking them.
- Car Ride Letter Hunt – Find the letters of the alphabet on road signs and license plates. Use a checklist or go in ABC order for more of a challenge.
- Grocery Store Letter Hunt – Find the letters of the alphabet on foods and signs in the grocery store.
Use a checklist or go in ABC order for more of a challenge.
Get your kids up and moving with this fun Bug Spray Summer Alphabet Game
Use ice to learn the alphabet using this fun Ice Letter Hunt
Create your own outdoor alphabet scavenger hunt with this DIY ABC Paper Plate Checklist and Neighborhood Walk
Go for a letter scavenger hunt with this Alphabet Letters in Objects activity.
Learn the alphabet in this fun Glow in the Dark Letter Hunt activity.
Use photos to create this fun Alphabet Photo Scavenger Hunt.
Get outside and moving with this Garden ABC Letter Hunt!
Dive into the pantry (or the kitchen pretend play center at school) and search for the alphabet in this printable Pantry ABC Scavenger Hunt.
Or use this full set of I Spy ABC Games — There are tons of options to try and ways to use them!
For even more ways to get kids moving while learning the alphabet visit our gross motor alphabet activities collection.
This fun Alphabet Bug Spray activity will teach your kids all about bugs and the alphabet!
Get your kids outside to do some of these simple Sidewalk Chalk Letter Activities.
If your kids love sticky wall activities, they will love this Alphabet Sticky Wall.
Get your kids up and moving with this fun Outdoor Alphabet Track.
If your kids love firefighters, they will love this fun hands-on ABC Fireman Spray activity.
Learning letters can be fun with this Amazing Alphabet Maze.
This simple Race Track ABC Game will give your kids hours of fun educational play time!
Window Write and Wipe – Use window markers to write letters on the window. Call out a letter and have kids wipe it away with a damp cloth.
Learning ABCs in the Tub or Kiddie Pool- Put Them Up, Take Them Down-Toddlers especially love to put letters on the wall one-by-one.
Use this time to name the letters as kids play. - Puppet Play-Use a bath mitt, old glove, or sock puppet to swim through the water and eat up the letters. (My kids LOVE this!)
- Fish for Letters (Growing a Jeweled Rose)
- Magnetic Alphabet Bath (Bath Activities for Kids)
- Alphabet Goo Bath (Bath Activities for Kids)
- Alphabet Soup Bath (Bath Activities for Kids)
- DIY Bath Tub Drawing Board (Parent Teach Play)
- Fishing for the Alphabet Matching Game (The Imagination Tree)
See More ABC Water Play Ideas Here
Learn the ABCs Through Your Sensory Play ActivitiesThis printable Ocean Theme ABC Sensory Bin is the perfect alphabet activity to play during the summer!
Kids are never too young to learn the alphabet when there is this fun Alphabet Sensory Play activity for them!
This simple ABC Rice Bin is part literacy and sensory fun!
These Icy Fizzing Letters make working with alphabet letters so much fun!
Create a beautiful and natural resource for learning the alphabet with these Alphabet Shells.
Make frozen letters into a fun way to learn the alphabet with this Alphabet Ice Block Play.
This Alphabet Sorting with Natural Materials is such a fun way for your little ones to learn the alphabet.
Your little ones are going to love this fun ABC Ping Pong Ball Sensory Tub activity.
This fun Hide-and-Seek Alphabet Play is a great way for your kids to learn the alphabet.
If you are looking for a great beginner sensory bin for your toddlers, this Alphabet Soup First Sensory Bin is a great option.
This Eye Spy Alphabet Squish Bag is so simple to make and a great activity for your kids to play with.
If your kids love water beads, they will love this fun and creative Alphabet Goo.
There are so many skills your child can learn and expand on with this Play Dough and Magnetic Letters activity.
Have some Smashin’ Ice Fun and break letters out of ice blocks!
This Alphabet Squish is the perfect alphabet and tactile activity for little ones.
This multi-sensory Alphabet Cups on the Light Box experience is a fun and unique way to teach kids the alphabet.
Use these Flower ABC Mats for Play Dough and Loose Parts to teach your kids the alphabet in a fun and flowery way!
Practice letter formation by using these Watermelon ABC Mats.
See More ABC Sensory Play Ideas Here
Play with the ABCs in the Sand (Box, Bin, or Beach)- Write the letters. Let kids use their hands, twigs, small toy trucks, anything that will make an imprint.
- Hide letter manipulatives and gold coins in sand, and go on an Alphabet Treasure Hunt.
- Make and dig for Alphabet Fossils
- Bury and find some Alphabet Rocks (Thrive 360 Living)
- Read Eating the Alphabet
- Eat Through the ABCs-Each day for 26 days eat one (or more) food that starts with a letter of the alphabet. On “A Day,” eat apples. On “B Day,” eat bananas.
- Bake alphabet bread (Nurture Store)
- Use ABC cookie cutters to make your own alphabet foods. They are great for watermelon, cheese, thin breads, and well…cookies! Preschoolers will enjoy helping make snack and learning letters at the same time.
- Use foods to make letters. Try using carrots, celery sticks, small crackers, halved grapes, or pretzel sticks.
- Find some ABC food inspiration in this list of A to Z Party Food Alphabet Ideas (Learn with Play at Home)
You can find alphabet books for almost any topic that might interest your child. Have fun exploring some new ones together. Here are a few lists to give you some fresh ideas.
- 50 Fantastic Alphabet Books for Kids (No Time for Flashcards)
The list below includes some summer-inspired ABC books that would be great to read while school is out.
- Discovering Nature’s Alphabet
- Summer Stinks
- Into The A, B, Sea: An Ocean Alphabet Book
- The Ocean Alphabet Book
- A Swim Through the Sea
- S Is for S’mores: A Camping Alphabet
- H Is for Hook: A Fishing Alphabet
- The Butterfly Alphabet Book
- Alpha Bugs: A Pop-up Alphabet
- The Icky Bug Counting Book
We also have a list of our favorite fall ABC Books.
ABC Books are great to make with young kids. Help set up a book that your child can make and read over and over again. Some topics you might consider…
- ABC Yarn Book (Small Types)
- Personalized ABC Book (This Fine Day)
- ABCs of Summer
- ABCs of Our Family Vacation
- ABCs of Your Child’s Favorite Things
- ABCs of a special interest-dance, bugs, sea life-anything that your child is interested in.
Use this Floor Tape Letters idea from I Can Teach My Child for kids just beginning to form letters. Encourage others to construct the letters without a guide.
- Pipe cleaners (Make and Takes)
- Wiki Stix or Bendaroos
- Craft Sticks
- Q-tips
- Spaghetti noodles (try both dry and wet)
- Marshmallows and toothpicks
- Small toys (blocks, toy cars, Legos, dominoes)
- Items collected from nature (Rubber Boots and Elf Shoes)
These 12 Games to Play with ABC Sticky Notes are a fun way for your kids to learn the alphabet.
This ABC Slam! Game is toddler approved and perfect for your little ones.
This fun letter Alphabet Sound Machine game is perfect for early literacy.
Your kids will love pretending to be a mailman with this fun Alphabet Mail Pretend Play.
Help your kids learn the alphabet with this Hungry Bear Alphabet Game.
If your kids love playing with cars, they will love this fun Alphabet Parking Lot Letter Matching Game.
Your kids will have fun learning letters using this fun Alphabet Car Game
Practice letter recognition and learn letter sounds using this Roll and Say Summer ABC Game
Use colorful gems to match up uppercase and lowercase letters using this Alphabet Gems Letter Match
If your kids loved Don’t Spill the Beans, they will enjoy this fun Don’t Spill the Letters Game with an educational twist
If you are on a long car ride with kids, keep them learning with this fun Cardboard Tube and ABC Stickers Letter Matching
Your kids will love delivering letters using this fun Letter Delivery Game
This Magnetic Letter Sorting Ideas is a fun way to practice letter recognition in a fun and hands-on way.
From story retelling to alphabet and phonemic awareness, this Jack and the Beanstalk ABC Game has it all!
This fun Alphabet Balloon Touch combines gross motor development and letter recognition all in one fun game!
Your kids will have a ball playing this ABC Beach Ball game
Let your kids play with water balloons and learn the alphabet using this fun Water Balloon Target Practice
Teaching letter sounds doesn’t have to be boring with this Musical Alphabet Game
Make your own fun puppet theatre with this ABC Puppet Show
Add some learning to your child’s favorite train set with this Train Set Letter Play
Your kids will have fun learning letters and get some pretend play in too this summer with this ABC Ice Cream Gross Motor Game
If your kids loved the book School Bus, they will love this fun School Bus ABC Game
Make charades educational with this fun Alphabet Letter Charades game
This simple yet fun Alphabet Letter Monster game for preschoolers will be a hit with your little ones
This fun Runaway Letter game will help kids identify letters in a fun and creative way.
This Hot Cocoa Roll and Say Winter ABC Game is so quick to set up and a fun way to learn letter recognition.
You don’t need to prepare anything to play this fun flower themed No Prep Roll and Say Spring ABC Game.
Practice matching letters with this cool Watermelon ABC Matching Game.
In the winter use this Mitten ABC Matching Game to practice letter recognition.
The list below includes some great ABC games if you are looking to add some to your game collection.
This fun Eric Carle ABC Game is based on popular books from Eric Carle’s collection!
Practice key reading skills using this Super Why ABC Letter Preschool Game
Get your kids up and moving while they learn with this Dr. Seuss Super Stretchy ABCs
If your kids love the classic story Goodnight Moon, they will love this Goodnight Moon My World ABC Game
This fast paced Spot It! Alphabet game is perfect for anyone looking to practice letter recognition.
Practice letter names, sounds, and more using this cool Grandma’s Trunk Alphabet Game
This Melissa & Doug Undersea Alphabet Soup Game makes learning letter recognition and spelling way more fun!
Encourage learning and creativity using this Alphabet Squiggle Game
This fun Learning Resources Pop for Letters Game is perfect for learning sounds or letter recognition.
This Capital and Lowercase Letter Matching Game will teach early reading skills to your kids in a fun and interactive way!
If your kids love Go Fish, they will love this learning twist on a classic game with Alphabet Go Fish Letter Matching Card Game
Practice letter recognition while hunting for treasure with Alphabet Island Letter & Sounds Game
This Alphabet Slap Jack learning game will teach your kids about upper and lowercase letters and so much more!
And don’t forget about alphabet apps. There are some terrific ones for kids! See our full review of Avokiddo ABC Ride to learn more about this interactive app with 26 engaging scenes.
With so many terrific ideas out there for learning letters, there is no way I could include them all here. You can find even more great ideas in these collections from other members of the Kid Blogger Network.
50 Incredible Alphabet Activities for Preschoolers (Hands On As We Grow)
The A-Z of Learning Letters (Learn with Play at Home)
25 Alphabet Activities for Kids (No Time for Flashcards)
ABC letter mats can be a versatile tool to use in early childhood learning.
They can be laminated and used over and over again for letter formation and writing activities. They can also be used to create alphabet books, posters and more. Letter crafts and process art activities related to a letter you are learning can be a fun way for kids to make connections between a letter and something that starts with that beginning sound. In our Alphabet Letter Mats set you’ll find two full sets of alphabet mats to use and tons of ideas for using them. There are over 140 ideas for using the alphabet mats in meaningful ways to reinforce letter recognition and learning letter sounds.
This 181-page resource pack contains the following:
1) Suggestions for Using the Letter Mats-These ideas include ways to use the mats for small group and center activities and can be done for any letter of the alphabet.
2) Process Art Ideas for Each Letter of the Alphabet-60 ideas!
3) Collage and Texture Art Ideas for Each Letter of the Alphabet-54 ideas!
4) Complete sets of alphabet mats in two different font options.
I know this post was long, but I hope you find it useful. Thanks for reading along! Happy letter learning!
More Alphabet Activities
Try these excellent resources for more hands-on alphabet activities.
More About the School’s Out! Series
Visit This Reading Mama to learn more about School’s Out: A Top 10 Series and check out all the resources shared by over 20 mama bloggers from the KBN.
5 Ways to Learn the Alphabet Quickly and Easily with a 3-6 Year Old Child – Somersault
Before learning the alphabet with a child, it is important to understand what you are not going to do. Namely, learning to read. This is a more complex skill, so it is worth putting it off until the time when the child gets acquainted with all the letters and will confidently recognize them and write on their own. Until then, put off the alphabet and reading by syllables.
In this article, we have put together the basic principles to quickly learn the Russian alphabet with a 3-6 year old child in a playful way.
For all games with letters, you can use plasticine, paints and any improvised means or magnetic letters - they will easily attract the attention of the child.
Contents:
- Learn the Alphabet Easily: Basic Principles
- 5 ways to learn the alphabet with your child
- From alphabet to reading
How to Learn the Alphabet Easily: Basic Principles
Each child can find an easy way to learn the alphabet that suits him or her, but there are basic principles that are important for all children. If you do not follow them, study will turn into drill and the child is unlikely to ever love to read. Here are a few such principles on how to properly learn the alphabet for a child.
- Learn sounds first, not letters . At the first stage of learning, it does not matter how the letters in the alphabet are called correctly.
Now only sounds are important for the child - "d", and not the letter "De". The names of the letters will only confuse the child, who first needs to learn to recognize the shape of the letters and their sound. - Not learning the alphabet in the correct sequence . Until a child goes to school, it is of no use to him to know how the letters are arranged in the alphabet. This information will only distract him from what is really important: how the letters look and sound. The sequence of the alphabet can be learned later or even at school, where this knowledge will be tested by the teacher.
- Do not turn learning into a lesson . Learning from call to call is difficult even for children at school, let alone a baby. Therefore, all learning should take place in a playful way and not for long: 5-7 minutes a day to get acquainted with the letters will be enough. Gradually, this time can be increased, especially if the child likes the proposed games with letters.
- Use material objects . At the age of 3-6 years, the child learns the world by touch and taste. It is difficult for him to work with abstract letters spoken aloud. Therefore, it is better to stock up on plasticine and paints and create letters that are more understandable to the child and can be touched. Such a game for children will allow the child to learn the letters of the alphabet and he will recognize them in different forms regardless of what they are made of.
- First vowels, then consonants . Vowel sounds are easier to pronounce, so it's worth starting with them.
The main thing is not to force anyone. If you see that the child is inquisitive, enjoys exploring the world and is ready to learn, you can move on to learning letters and the alphabet. So the child will be happy to learn the alphabet in a playful way and gradually learn to read. So that the game is not abstract, you can use the magnetic letters TUMBLING.
5 ways to learn the alphabet with your child
1. Use an interesting topic to study
Use your child's interest to spur his motivation to learn. For example, if your kid is crazy about cars, let them be the topic in which you learn the alphabet. Use any words related to cars:
"A" - bus
"B" - trunk
"C" - driver, etc.
You can show cars and their parts, draw or sculpt from plasticine. It is important that the child's focus shifts from learning to doing what they love. Additionally, the method will help expand vocabulary and knowledge about the world.
2. Cross out a letter of the alphabet in the list
Fill in a small square with arbitrary letters. The task is to cross out only the letter that you are studying. This will help the child focus on one letter and not get distracted by the ones he doesn't remember or don't know.
3. Pulling the letters of the alphabet out of the pouch
The soft-touch magnetic letters are perfect for this method.
Put the letters in a bag and give the child the task, without looking, to pull out only the letter that you thought of. Let there not be too many letters in the bag, otherwise the child will get confused. 6-7 pieces will be enough. To start, use letters that are very different in shape, such as "O" and "M". Gradually, the complexity can be increased and searched among similar letters, for example, "K" and "X". Don't forget to praise and encourage your child. You can alternate the learning process with desktops.
4. Recognize letters of the alphabet by ear
You pronounce a word, and if it contains a hidden letter, the child claps his hands.
With this game for kids, you can learn individual letters or the entire alphabet. For example, you name a word, and the child inserts its first letter into the insert frame. To stimulate your child's interest, you can use only words from his favorite topic, for example, the names of animals.
5. Guess words starting with the first letter
You choose one letter and think of a word that starts with that letter.
For example, the letter "Z":
- What is this animal with big ears and loves carrots?
- Hare!
This game form is again suitable for learning individual letters or the entire alphabet. If you learn only one letter, the child gets used to quickly recognizing it in different words. And if you give words with different letters, the child as a whole learns to understand with which letter they begin. With the study of the account and the English language will also help TUMBLING.
From the alphabet to reading
When a child learns the Russian alphabet, confidently recognizes all the letters in different words and can draw or mold them on his own, it is worth moving on to reading. Because you need to learn the alphabet just so that the child can read. If knowledge is not used, it will hang as an extra burden, and by the time school will be forgotten. Therefore, you should not learn the alphabet too early: at 3-4 years old, a child is simply not interested in reading books in order to learn something new.
He is more interested when his mother reads. Conversely, by the age of six, the child will be glad to have his own books to read them himself.
How to learn the alphabet with a child. Learning letters together
Letters are all around us. Signs, announcements, books and magazines - all this the child sees from a very young age. But it doesn’t immediately become clear that these “squiggles” are not just incomprehensible meaningless icons, but a way to convey information in the form of text. Therefore, with the study of the alphabet, a completely new world opens up for the baby, in which letters are folded into syllables, and syllables into words that can be read and later written. In our article, we will tell you when to start learning the alphabet, how to make the process interesting for a child, and what methods are best for children of different ages.
Why learn the alphabet?
It seems that the answer to this question is quite obvious - that the child could read.
However, it's worth digging a little deeper. Often, parents do not fully realize what caused their desire for the child to quickly master the letters. If the kid is already 5-6 years old, and the first grade is just around the corner, then the desire to learn the basics so that further study is easier, understandable and logical. Or maybe your child is only three years old, but you want him to show off his knowledge at a family evening? Or do all the acquaintances vying with each other say that their children have not only learned the alphabet, but also read freely? Give yourself an honest answer to these questions, and consider whether it is necessary to postpone training until a more appropriate moment.
The most important thing is whether your child is ready. Curiosity, interest in new things, the ability to memorize previously unknown information are all signs that you can start learning the alphabet. But you should always remember that there is no point in teaching against the child’s desire, all classes should be held in an unobtrusive playful way.
Questions “how to read?”, “What kind of letter?” Are pouring in on you, the baby is interested in not only pictures in books, but also captions to them, or are you going to school soon? Well, then feel free to start your acquaintance with the alphabet.
Basic tips for learning the alphabet with a child
The alphabet is not just a certain sequence of letters. This is the foundation from which the child's learning to read begins. Therefore, it is important to understand that simply learning the alphabet as a rhyme or a counting rhyme is possible, but practically useless if there is no practical application of the information received. If you do not start trying to teach your child to read immediately, but after a long break, there is a high probability that your baby will simply forget the letters by this point, and you will have to start all over again.
There are a few general rules to follow when you start learning the alphabet with children:
1.
Learn the sounds, not the letters It's easy for us adults to figure out what the name of the letter is and what sound it is means may not match. For a small child, on the contrary, such a concept may be too complicated. Do not confuse the baby, he will eventually learn that the letters are called “be”, “el” or even “and short”, better demonstrate what sounds are indicated by the corresponding signs - “b”, “l”, “y”, give examples of words with these sounds. In this way, the child, with less effort, will be able to understand how syllables are read, and later whole words.
2. Do not learn the alphabet in order
Memorizing a clear sequence is, of course, useful for the development of a child's memory, but it does not make it obvious to him what he actually learned and why. If, however, the alphabet is disassembled gradually, according to a clear and logical system, without overloading the child's perception excessively, there will be much more benefit, since knowledge will not be superficial, but based on a deeper understanding of the structure of the language.
3. Do not mix vowels and consonants
Learning letters mixed up is no less a mistake than memorizing the alphabet strictly in order. Vowels and consonants must be studied separately, otherwise the child will be completely confused. Always remember that things that seem clear and simple to us, small children learn for the first time, so even the main sign by which sounds are divided (vowel-consonant) is not immediately comprehended. The situation when the studied letters do not have any common feature is confusing and slows down the assimilation of the material.
4. Vowels first
There are only 10 vowels in the Russian alphabet, so the child will have to remember a little at first. In addition, vowels require only a long “singing” and slight changes in the articulation of the lips, neither the tongue nor the teeth need to be connected, so it will be easier for the baby to understand how the written sign correlates with the sound being pronounced. When all the vowels are firmly learned, it will be possible to add consonants.
5. Don't force learning
Of course, you really want your child to learn all the letters and start reading as soon as possible, but you still shouldn't rush. Learn one or two letters, repeat what you have learned more often, do not move on to a new one without waiting for the consolidation of what has already been studied. Start with very simple and clear things. Show the young student the letter "A", tell how it is pronounced, what it looks like, what words begin with it. Fold it together with the baby from sticks, draw or mold it from plasticine - tactile sensations will help the child better remember the image of the letter and associate it with sound. Apply theory to practice, for example, ask while walking to look for the letter "A" on signs, in advertisements, and so on. Only when the child has learned the letter and the corresponding sound, proceed to the next, all the same one at a time, methodically and slowly.
Age-appropriate alphabet learning
3-4 years old
If you think your child is ready to learn letters at 3 years old, then here are some tips and tricks to help you achieve great results.
First of all, in no case do not force or coerce the child into classes, they should take place exclusively at the request of the child, in a fun way, and end as soon as you see signs of fatigue and weakening of concentration. The optimal lesson time for a three-year-old is 5-7 minutes.
Do not set a goal to learn the entire alphabet in a short time, it is at best pointless, and in some cases it can even be harmful - up to a certain point the child's brain may simply not be ready for this or that knowledge. Do not try to outwit nature, at three years old your task is more to interest, captivate the child, show him the basics.
Do not overload your child with a lot of information - let your “lessons” take place no more than twice a week, and take the rest of the time to consolidate and repeat the studied material. At the same time, the regularity of classes is very important, conducting them from time to time is not the best idea, the child will get confused and forget what you went through with him.
Start with vowels. Move on to consonants only when you are sure that the child has firmly learned all 10 vowels and brought the skill to automatism. Vowels are best taught in pairs: A - Z, O - E, U - Yu, E - E, S - I. So it will be easier for the baby to remember. Later, this will also help with the assimilation of the principle of hardness-softness of consonants.
Use books with bright, large pictures. Closer to the age of four, the child will also be interested in blocks with letters, coloring books and stickers, posters with and without voice acting; but be careful with the posters - remember that we need to learn the sounds, not the names of the letters, so look for posters that pronounce exactly the sounds. Magnetic letters will also help - they can be placed on a magnetic board or simply on the refrigerator. You can learn rhymes and songs with the mention of the sounds that you are studying, play with letters cut out of paper.
Let the child represent the letter in different ways - by drawing, modeling with plasticine, folding with sticks or drawing lines in the sand or grits.
Such activities are also useful for fine motor skills, and this is a very important skill for the baby, which affects, among other things, the development of speech.
There are more consonants in the Russian language, so it will take a longer time to study them, and if you consider that most consonants have both hard and soft variants, the task becomes even more complicated. But with the right approach, there should not be any particular difficulties. If the child has already mastered all the vowels and understands the difference between, for example, “A” and “I”, then it will not be difficult for him with your help to figure out how “ma” and “me” differ. You can make a table where such pairs of syllables will be shown clearly. The main thing is to always clearly pronounce the sound yourself and achieve the same pronunciation in the child. Correct articulation is the key to both good diction and correct reading in the future.
5-6 years old
For all our passion for early development, many experts agree that the optimal age for learning the alphabet is 5-6 years old.
The child will soon go to school, which means that his brain is already quite ready to memorize all the letters and gradually learn to read. At this age, it is especially important that your preschooler speaks clearly and correctly, so pay maximum attention to his speech, whether all sounds are pronounced without problems, whether some of them need to be corrected independently or with the help of a speech therapist.
If at three years the emphasis is on the play component of classes, then by the age of 5-6 it can be slightly shifted towards the child's consciousness. Tell us about how great it will be to read books yourself, how knowledge of the alphabet will come in handy at school. Keep the elements of the game, use the same methods that are suitable for four-year-olds, but increase the lesson time, introduce more printed materials. You will need special recipes for preschoolers, books and manuals with creative tasks, various sets of cards.
Introduce your child to syllables.
Use single letter flashcards to show how a syllable is built - for example, say that a consonant and a vowel run or are attracted to each other and demonstrate their convergence by saying the syllable at the same time. Later, use cards with a ready-made printed or hand-drawn syllable in the lessons. Do not forget about the regularity of classes and the constant repetition of the material covered.
Primer training
By the age of six, a good primer will become clear and easy to learn. For example, the “Primer” by N. Zhukova is considered one of the best, although for younger children it may seem boring - it focuses on learning without providing entertainment materials. But in this primer much attention is paid to speech therapy moments.
“My primer: a book for teaching preschoolers to read” N.V. Nishchevoi - a manual also with a speech therapy bias, but the author adheres to his own methodology for studying letters and sounds. The path from simple sounds to complex ones will help the child develop both reading skills and good articulation.
In order for a child to develop a love for reading from a very early age, VV Shakirova's Journey to the Sound Book is a good choice. There is more entertainment material here that will interest and captivate the child. In addition, Shakirova paid a lot of attention to the development of motivation, and this will definitely come in handy in the future, in the process of further study.
Games for learning the alphabet
In this section, we will give examples of games that will make learning more interesting and at the same time more effective. Entertaining elements will not only diversify classes, but also provide a fairly wide field for applying the acquired knowledge in practice.
"Find the letter" . On a sheet of paper, arrange different letters in a random order. Let them be bright and large. You name the letter, and the child must find it and show it. A mobile version of this game is to hang sheets with large letters around the room, let the child find and tear off the desired sheet.
Memo . Prepare a set of cards, each letter must be represented in duplicate to get a certain number of pairs. Cards are laid out in several rows face down. Have the child turn over one card and name the sound that the letter on it represents. Then you need to find a pair for her by opening other cards. It didn’t work the first time - the cards are turned back face down and you have to look again. A pair was found - the player takes both cards for himself, and so on until the moment when all the cards run out.
“What letter does it begin with?” . Arrange several animals in a row - these can be drawings on paper, cards or small toys. Select the letters with which their names begin, and give them mixed to the child. The task is to correlate which letter refers to whom, and put it next to the desired animal.
"Collect the letter" . Draw a letter the size of the entire sheet of paper. Cut into several parts, let the kid assemble the resulting puzzle and name which letter is depicted on it.
