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Teach abc for toddlers


5 Easy ways to teach the alphabet to preschoolers | Daycare Blog

Teaching children the alphabet is foundational to learning how to read. Before children can put together sounds or draw together lines that make words, they need to know what they are. If you’ve never taught the alphabet before, the concept may sound abstract: how do you teach something that comes so naturally to you? Teaching letters can be really fun and simple. In this article, we’ll give you easy ways to teach the alphabet to preschoolers.

1) Sing alphabet songs

Obviously, we all know the English-language, “A-B-C-D, E-F-G,” song. That’s a great place to start. However, there are more alphabet songs, which can add variety to your tunes, and help kids learn the alphabet in different ways.

This article lists a whole bunch of alphabet songs to try. And, if you saw our article on YouTube channels for toddlers and preschoolers, you can find letter-related songs there too. The visuals in videos can show objects that start with each letter, and sometimes the songs also pronounce sounds too.

One important note brought up by this early childhood educator, is that kids should go from singing the song, to being able to say and point out the letters without a tune. So don’t stop at singing!

2) Play letter matching games

Letter matching games are easy to set up. You can have a poster board with the alphabet printed on it in large letters. Have separate letter magnets or paper letters cut out at the same size as the print letters. Ask the preschoolers to match their cut outs to the letters on the chart. Where does “A” go? Place the letter “A” cut out on top of the printed “A” on the poster board. Get them to practice doing this with all the other letters.

As the early childhood educator mentioned above noted, you can also have an alphabet ‘arc,’ where one end of a half-circle shows the letter “A”, and the other end the letter “Z”. In between you can have other letters in the alphabet shown, but not all of them. Ask the preschoolers to put down their block letters in the right sequence, using the pre-filled in letters as clues.

3) Open a new ‘alphabet box’ each week

You may have seen us post on Facebook that a certain week is brought to you by a letter we’re covering. It may be “C,” and you’ll see photos of us painting the letter C at daycare, or learning about animals that start with the letter “C.” Weekly letter themes are common in preschools.

You can take your weekly letter curriculum a step further by creating a box that children can open to discover objects that relate to that letter.

For example, on the week covering the letter “A,” your preschoolers can open (or even unlock) a box that contains an apple, a toy airplane, a toy alligator, an acorn, an arrow (a safe one!), and so on. In fact, don’t tell the children right away what letter the box of ‘treasures’ represents. Ask them if they can guess the letter they’ll cover that week by observing the objects in the box alone. This can be a fun and whimsical way to have your children get excited about the week ahead, and work together to come up with an answer.

3) Use interdisciplinary learning with each letter, to strengthen letter associations

Since repeating a letter over and over again can get boring, you can mix it up a little by bringing in related lessons. You can start with a week’s letter as your core subject. Then, throughout the day, teach interdisciplinary subjects that still relate.

For example, if you are on the letter “R,” you can learn about the colour “red” too, since it starts with “R.” Ask the children, ‘what things are red?’ If you are on the letter “A,” you can learn about apples. We’ve done this before, where we teach children about the types of apples there are, as well as explain that seeds are inside an apple, and so on.

This blogger lists a whole bunch of crafts you can you incorporate into your letter learning. For example, you can make holes with a hole punch for the letter “H.” This can then lead into learning about the circle shape. You get the idea…

4) If you use flashcards to teach the alphabet, use logical ones

Flashcards are a great memorization tool, and the alphabet is all about memorizing. However, this teacher warns that sometimes, pre-made flashcards can get really confusing. If you are teaching the letter “D” and there is an image of something that simply uses the sound of “D” somewhere in the word, but doesn’t start with “D”… well you can quickly see how even adults would be confused by that.

Remember, at this stage, you’re not teaching phonetics or complex vocabulary and pronunciation. First, children need to recognize and know the alphabet. Use the simplest flash cards, with the simplest pictures of the objects and animals that preschoolers can recognize.

That said, sometimes you want to use lowercase and uppercase letters in your flashcards…and yes, that can be confusing for the very young learners, especially when the upper and lowercase look so different, but are called the same thing. But if you’re using a set of magnets, for example, you can just use their uppercase versions, that’s ok (they may only come in that form). For very early learners, you can start really basic. Just don’t forget to start showing them the lowercase and uppercase letters together at some point in their alphabet learning journey.

5) Eat foods shaped like letters to help preschoolers learn their alphabet

Speaking of interdisciplinary alphabet learning, why not do a baking session with the kids at preschool? They can use letter-shaped cookie cutters to make a fun and yummy snack. Meanwhile, there is a host of lessons you can teach with the baking activity. Chemistry, cooking, nutrition…the list goes on.

If you want the easy route, try commercially-sold letter-shaped biscuits. IKEA has a version of these. Ask your toddler or preschooler to name the alphabet letter they’re about to eat. Eating it can be the reward for getting it right!

And of course, there is alphabet soup, or noodles shaped like letters. You can make mealtime fun, and educational, with these edible alphabet manipulatives.

So there you have it, 5 easy ways to teach the alphabet to preschoolers. They may even be fun for you, too! It is super cute to hear little ones pronounce letters, and guess what object goes with each letter. When your preschoolers are learning the alphabet, be sure to take every teachable opportunity you can to encourage them to recognize letters in the world around them. If you’re on a field trip, ask the children if they can spot their letter-of-the-week on a street or building sign. If you’re reading a book, see if they can spot the letters you’re reading to them. Keep pushing letter recognition throughout the day, so the lessons can really sink into their memory.

See more on our blog:

  • How to teach digraphs to preschool children (6 ways)
  • What is the best way to teach word recognition to early childhood readers?
  • Why is literacy crucial in the early years? How can parents and preschools help with reading skills?
  • How to teach toddlers and preschoolers to count, and learn their numbers
  • Ideas for teaching shapes in preschool and daycare

14+ Simple Activities to Teach Toddlers the Alphabet

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Learning the ABCs is the foundation of reading and writing and something that you’ll want to start teaching your child early on.

Teaching toddlers the alphabet can often seem like a daunting task because you’ll want to create a strong foundation to build on for higher level skills.

The last thing you want to do is make letter learning stressful or frustrating. The goal is not to have them just memorize the letters and spit them back out, but to interact and grow from what they are learning now.

When Should You Start Teaching Your Toddlers the Alphabet?

The good news is that little ones are like sponges and they love to learn!

Your toddler may begin to recite the alphabet from memory by learning the ABC song closer to 18 months old, but recognizing and identifying the actual letters is a skill that may come later on. 

You can start teaching toddlers the alphabet around age 2, but can even begin earlier than that.

Now that’s not to say that at two years old your child will know their whole alphabet. Two is simply the age that they can recognize a letter here and there.

Don’t overwhelm your child by showing them the entire alphabet at once. Work on one letter at a time and your toddler should pick it up quickly.

How to Teach Toddlers the Alphabet

Children typically start recognizing the letters in their own name first and then recognize all other letters after that.

Be sure to have your child look at both uppercase and lowercase letters when learning. Most children are taught all of the uppercase letters first, however, the lowers case letters are the ones that they will see more often when they read or see words.

Incorporating the Alphabet in Everyday Activities

One of the best things about teaching toddlers the alphabet is that you can include simple activities throughout the day. Some of my favorite ways to do this are:

Board Books

If you aren’t already, reading to your children is so important and great for development. Exposing them to books helps them start to recognize letters.

Any and all books provide so much benefit for recognizing letters as your child gets older, but board books with large letters are best for teaching toddlers the alphabet. This book allows your toddler to trace the letters with their fingers and lift-the-flap fun to help with letter learning.

ABC Toys

There are lots of different toys out there that help children learn their alphabet. Try finding toys like these letter matching puzzles that have your child match the shape of the letter.

Magnetic letters are also great. You can have them on the refrigerator so when you are cooking they can play with the letters. 

Related Post: 20 Important Things to Teach Your 2 Year Old

Name Learning Recognition

Writing your little one’s name out large on a piece of paper and going over each letter is a great way to help them recognize the letters in their name. You can have them trace the letters in different colors to make a “rainbow name” activity.  

These name puzzles from Bloom Owl are a great way to get your child learning the letters of their name. They’ll love playing with the puzzle as they start to recognize the letters they see all the time. 

Sing the ABC song

Singing the ABC song is a great way to help your toddler learn the sequence of the alphabet. When doing an activity like letter recognition, you can sing the song and point to the letter at the same time helping them to recognize the letter name with the letter shape. 

Workbooks and Printable Worksheets

Workbooks and worksheets are great tools to help children learn the alphabet and teach them what letters look like. Even if they aren’t quite able to trace yet, exposing them to the letters is still a great idea.

Letter Shows

By far the easiest resource for having your child learning letters and letter sounds is the Leap Frog shows on Netflix. They include Letter Factory, Phonics Farm, and more. If you have Netflix you can access these shows! My 20 month year old was reciting all of the letter sounds because he loves this show so much!

Games and Activities for Teaching the Alphabet

Since toddlers learn through play and exploration of their environment, they understand best when taking a hands-on approach to learning. Finding fun games and activities is a great way to teach toddlers the alphabet by making it an engaging learning experience.

Every child also has their own style when it comes to absorbing new information. Some children may learn best while jumping up and down, feeling objects with their fingers, or listening to a song.

Here are a few games and activities that incorporate sensory modalities to build on letter learning. They don’t involve actually writing letters, so they’re great for young toddlers as you teach them the alphabet.

Related Post: 31 Things That You Can Teach Your 3 Year Old

Alphabet Soup Via Busy Toddler

This activity is great for toddlers because it helps them to interact with letters and have fun. You can help them by asking them what letter they found and then associating the sound the letter makes.

Writing Let

ters with Shaving Cream Via A Gift of Curiosity

Writing letters with shaving cream is one of the ways my mom helped me learn letters as a child. I remember having so much fun writing with shaving cream.

ABC Hide and SeekVia Discovering Mommyhood

Bury some letters in rice (beans would work too!) and have your toddler find them. This is a great way to engage them with play and also help them learn to match up their letters. Another way you can change this up would be to have them match uppercase to lowercase and vice versa.

Feed the Alphabet MonsterVia I Can Teach My Child

Feed the alphabet monster is a fun and silly way to help teach toddlers the alphabet. You can leave the letters in order to start and then, later on, scramble them up. Another way to make this game a little more complex would be to have an uppercase and lowercase version of each letter.

Related Post: 10 Clever Ways to Teach Your Toddler How to Share

Sticky Alphabet TreeVia Toddler Approved

I love this game for teaching toddlers the alphabet! I think it is adorable and functional. You can help your toddler associate words with each letter like “A for apple” or “B for bear”. As they become more proficient, you can ask them to say a word that starts with the letter they picked up.

Dry Erase Letter Erasing

This is a multi-sensory activity using a dry erase board and dry erase marker or eraser to help your child learn to recognize letters. Tell them that you will tell them a letter to find. Then they must locate it on the board and erase it. This is great for little ones who don’t have control of writing actual strokes.

Teaching toddlers the alphabet doesn’t have to be complicated and learning through play is a great way to build a strong foundation for letter recognition. There are so many simple everyday activities that you can do to help them learn.

The best part is when you teach your older children the alphabet, they can help your younger children learn too!

I hope that you found some practical ways to incorporate teaching toddlers the alphabet in your everyday activities and some fun games to play!

Related posts:

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:

  1. Learn the Alphabet Easily: Basic Principles
  2. 5 ways to learn the alphabet with your child
  3. 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.

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.

Learn letters! Alphabet for kids!

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Our interactive talking alphabet contains a set of cards in which the child needs to identify the object associated with the letter in simple steps. For the little ones, it is easier to learn the alphabet when letters and sounds are associated with something.

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It is important for preschoolers to do school preparation, learning the alphabet and learning to read in order to feel comfortable in the first grade in Russian. To facilitate your child's preschool education, you can download educational games and educational games for children, such as the Russian and English alphabet for toddlers and children a little older.

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