teaching letter q to preschoolers

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Letter Q activities for preschool

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Check out our collection of creative letter Q activities!

(Update: I published this post years ago when my children were young. Now that I have more time, I’ve created a done-for-you alphabet curriculum perfect for preschool!)

Letter Q Activities

For this simple quilt making activity, I gave him a variety of paper shapes cut from cardstock. He arranged them however he wanted to make a paper quilt. This activity is a great way to incorporate math concepts if you talk about the shapes as your child is creating the quilt.

For this quilt, I printed a large 8 x 8 inch square. Then I gave him a collection of 2 inch squares and showed him how to glue them down to make a quilt. I encouraged him to consider making a pattern with the squares, but he wasn’t interested.

Finally, we printed this free quilt pattern from Making Learning Fun. I grabbed the stale Froot Loops from the basement (we only use them for crafts). I put a dot of glue on each circle, and he carefully placed a piece of cereal on each dot. Such great fine motor practice!

This fine motor activity  is from Fantastic Fun and Learning. He pushed Q-tips into the side of our metal spaghetti strainer. As it turned out, the holes on the base of the pot were too small for Q-tips, but he and his little sister had fun threading toothpicks through them.

This very basic craft only requires a block letter Q ( which you can find here ) and colorful square paper scraps. I like to raid my scrapbook paper collection.

Because with five kids (and one on the way), plus this blog, my scrapbooking days are a thing of the past!

This is my favorite. Isn’t she pretty? You can find even more letter Q crafts in this post.

Of course, we’re doing whole alphabet activities all week long, too. For this one, I grabbed some of his toy vehicles and wrote their beginning letters on a piece of paper. He had fun matching the bus to the B, the helicopter to the H, and so on. Amazon.com Widgets

Stay tuned for letter R!

Looking for a done-for-you alphabet curriculum?

Alphabet Curriculum for Preschool

$ 29.00

Our curriculum includes lessons for teaching both upper and lowercase letter names and sounds. You’ll get three lessons per letter, built-in review, simple handwriting practice, rhyming, syllable counting, phonemic awareness, and a whole lot more!

More links and free printables for you

• letter Q book  (songs and rhymes)
• My Letter Q Book (with photos)
• More  letter Q crafts
• Ways to write letter Q
• Letter Q book list
• Letter hunt and find pages
• Letter sound coloring pages
• Letter sound worksheets

See the whole series …

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Reader Interactions

September 10, 2020 at 5:08 am

Hi Anna, I printed your giant alphabet template printables several years ago and would like them for another grandchild to keep him busy while big brother is doing remote schooling. Are they still available on your site to print out? Thanks, Kathleen

Kate Dowling

September 10, 2020 at 6:59 pm

Hi Kathleen!

This is Kate, Anna’s assistant. Here are the links to Anna’s block letters. Capital: https://www.themeasuredmom.com/printable-block-letters-150-ways-fill/ Lowercase: https://www.themeasuredmom.com/printable-letters-lowercase/

Have fun with your grandchildren!

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Letter Q Preschool Activities (And Free Preschool Lesson Plan: Q is for Quilt)

Through games, music, books, crafts, and more, today we learn all about the letter Q! Kids will love and learn from these creative and hands-on Letter Q activities for preschool. This post includes all you need to teach the free preschool lesson plan Q is for Quilt.

This lesson continues our  alphabet lesson plan series  and is intended to help make your experience teaching preschool in your home easier, educational, and more fun.

Preschool at Home

Most importantly, the best part of doing preschool at home is the chance to teach my kids (and whatever buddies are with us) the things that really matter, laugh together, and shower them with love at this young and important age. My hope is that these lesson plans and activities help you in your efforts to do the same.

If you haven’t seen my  quick tips for getting started with successful home preschool , check them out.

Use and share these plans to talk, sing, read, write, and play your way through the alphabet; these kinds of activities are the  foundation of building strong readers . You can use our full lesson plans, or, of course, pick individual activities to do with the Littles in your life. Lastly, I am also a budget-friendly Mama, so no worries there: our activities are always easy on the pocketbook. Now, let’s get to it!

This post contains some affiliate links for your convenience. By shopping through those links you support Lovin’ Life with Littles at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support! Read my Full Disclosure  Here .

Visit the  Preschool Lesson Plan Index  to see what free plans are published or in the works!

Update : You can now get ALL of the Alphabet Lesson Plans, Checklists, and Printables, (plus Bonus Ideas and 75+ exclusive preschool printables!) all in one budget-friendly digital product… A to Z and Beyond! Preschool Curriculum.

INTRODUCTION

First off, gather on the floor for circle time and start with a welcome song. We have been singing,  “Hello to All the Children of the World”.  Each week we have been briefly spotlighting one of the countries or features in the song.

Last week we talked about how to be a good friend, which goes along with the last line of the song. The song also says, “We speak in many different ways!” Throughout the course of preschool so far, we’ve learned a little bit about some of the different ways to speak that are represented in the song.

Another way to speak that is not in the song is with sign language. For the next couple weeks, we will learn some signs for words in the song. The first sign is hello. It’s like a salute.

Next, we’ll learn children, which is like patting kids on the head and world, which is making a W with both hands and rolling them around each other. Each of these words can be found in this super helpful signing dictionary .

Write: Triple Writing with Letter Q

I introduced how today we are learning about the letter Q. The capital letter Q looks like a round shape with a line through one side. The lowercase q looks like a round shape with a tail.

Next, we practiced drawing the letter Q with triple writing, which is a super simple yet fun way to write. You simply hold three markers at once while you write or draw.

We used the backs of several pieces of scratch paper, so we could practice writing the letter Q many times.

Sing: The Sound of the Letter Q

In order to introduce the sound of the letter Q, we sang and danced to the Letter Q Song . This song has a strong beat and introduces some words that begin with Q. The Q sound is repetitive in the song which is helpful for kids.

Periodically as the song played, I stopped the music and said, “Quiet!” (A Q word!) This made it a freeze dance and was more interesting and fun.

Write: The Sound of the Letter Q Worksheet

I made a worksheet to help us practice the sound of the letter Q. With this Free Printable Letter Q Coloring Worksheet, preschoolers can color the words that begin with the letter Q and cross off the pictures that begin with a different letter.

In this coloring worksheet, the words that begin with the letter Q are quilt, queen, quarter, quack, and quiet.

Play: Quiet Games (Quiet Game and Charades)

One word that begins with the letter Q is quiet, so we played one round of the quiet game (first one to make a sound loses). It is really helpful to practice this skill at this age!

Next, we played the Quiet Acting Game, also known as charades. We took turns acting out different things without making noise for the others to guess. Charades is a great game that never gets old, no matter who is playing.

Play: 20 Questions

Another word that begins with the letter Q is question, so we played 20 Questions to guess what word we would learn more about next.

Twenty Questions is a fun game that gets kids using their critical thinking skills. To play this game, the kids ask yes or no questions to figure out what I’m thinking of. Typically, we take turns thinking of something, but this time I just thought of one.

Examples of good questions include, “Is it alive?” and “Do we have one?”

While many people keep track of how many questions have been asked and end at 20, we don’t count. Instead, we just keep asking until it’s figured out. The word for this game is blanket, or more specifically quilt.

Talk: Quilts and History

Looking at the history of quilting is a unique way to look at history in general.

We talked about how quilting is a way of making blankets. People have been making blankets to stay warm forever. We talked briefly about the pioneer and frontier era women who wasted very little. They would often piece together scraps of fabric or worn blankets in order to make a new quilt.

Later, when fabrics became more common place, women could put a lot of creativity and art into the quilts. The quilts would often tell a story or become a cherished family heirloom. Quilting skills were passed down from mother to daughter or granddaughter.

We have some quilts made by my husband’s grandmother, so as I showed those quilts, we talked about her and our specific family history.

If you want to dig in more, here is an informative history of quilting in America .

Helping our kids see past themselves and into a different era is a helpful way to build empathy.

Related: Raising Compassionate Children in a Conceited World

Read: The Queen’s Quilt: A Quest about Creativity

As I held up a small baby quilt, I asked, “What could we use this quilt for?” I encouraged creativity to think of more and more answers. Then I told a story called The Queen’s Quilt .

In The Queen’s Quilt , the queen is sent on a quest to take care of a troublesome dragon. She takes along her trusty quilt, which starts as her queenly cape but is used in all kinds of ways. Her quilt is a tent for her and a sail for her boat. The quilt fans a hot troll and, in the end, soothes the restless dragon who really just needs a little love.

I made up this story as I went, using the small quilt as a visual and including all the creative ways to use the quilt that were mentioned, plus others. However, if you’re not comfortable making up a story, you can find a version of The Queen’s Quilt stor y in the Lesson Plan Checklist .

Storytelling in this manner, without a book or pictures, is another way to connect with kids and help them develop a different listening skillset.

Play: Quilting Shapes Patterns

Patchwork quilts are made by piecing together different shapes. Before preschool, I cut out squares and triangles of various colored construction paper.

We named these shapes and colors, and then we practiced making patterns from them. Some of the patterns were AB patterns, such as triangle, square, triangle, square, or red, blue, red, blue.

We also tried a few more advanced ABB patterns, like triangle, square, square, and ABC patterns like red, blue, yellow, red, blue, yellow.

We took turns creating the patterns and having the other person continue them. Understanding patterns and how to continue them is an advanced skill. If your preschoolers aren’t there yet, don’t worry. Even introducing the idea and getting them thinking about patterns is a good step.

Play: Paper Quilt Craft

Our next activity was using those shapes to make paper quilts.

Paper Quilt Supplies:

Paper Quilt Instructions

• Before preschool, cut out triangles and squares from various colored construction paper.
• This is great for coordination. You might need to help to be sure they don’t make holes off the edge.
• Glue triangles and squares in patchwork fashion.
• “Sew” the ribbon or yarn around the edge. Alternately, you can cut the ribbon into about four inch pieces and make tassels.

The kids enjoyed making this craft. Plus, the punching and sewing were good skills we don’t practice as often.

Read: Knuffle Bunny by Mo Willems

My mom has made quilts for our kids, so for this next activity, I pulled out those quilts. Each child snuggled in the quilt, and we talked about how sometimes quilts, other blankets, or a stuffed animal can bring us comfort. They can help us fall asleep or feel calm.

Click image for purchasing information.

Read: The Kindness Quilt by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace

After reading the story, we talked about different ways we can be kind to each other. What have you done recently to help someone? Additionally, share what others have done to help you.

Play and Sing: Musical Quilts

We folded the quilts into squares, and put them in a circle on the floor. I turned on The Quilt Song , and we played Musical Quilts (just like Musical Chairs). We played a few rounds, and by the end, we could sing along to some of the words.

Play: Quack, Quack, Honk

This is another variation game on a popular classic. Rather than Duck, Duck, Goose, we made the sounds of the animals because quack begins with the letter Q. Thus we played Quack, Quack, Honk.

The kids loved this of course. We ended up playing with various animal noises.

Eat: Foods that Start with the Letter Q

There aren’t too many foods that begin with the letter Q. However, here are a few: quinoa, quick bread, quick oats, quiche, and (probably the kid favorite on this list) quesadillas.

Alternately, be creative, go with that Quack, and make a duck-themed snack. Go with simple duck-shaped crackers, or I found this cute duck-themed snack at Still Playing School .

That’s blueberry yogurt on there, not frosting, making it a healthy option that I think kids would enjoy putting together.

Sing: Goodbye Song

We closed up by reviewing our letter of the day: what Letter Q looks and sounds like.

Lastly, we sang our goodbye song and see you next week!

Our next preschool lesson will be Letter R is for Recycle . It has a lot of fun and educational activities!

Leave a comment  and share what activities your Littles are enjoying, what types of posts you’d like to see, or any other questions or thoughts you have. I love hearing from you. Share pictures on social media using #lovinlifewithlittles. Thanks for visiting, and Happy Preschooling!

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Thank you so much for our alphabet theme they are wonderful and fun my kiddos really enjoy the activities.

You’re so welcome. I’m glad you’re enjoying them together!

23 Letter Q Activities for Preschool

Today, our preschool adventure takes a charming turn as we explore the letter Q.

I’m delighted to present a handful of quick and quirky activities that promise to captivate the curiosity of our little learners.

From quiet crafts to quirky games, these Letter Q activities are designed to make our preschool journey both enjoyable and educational.

Quick as a Flash:

In this lively activity, encourage preschoolers to explore their speed and agility while learning about the letter Q. Set up a simple obstacle course in the classroom or outdoor area, featuring quick movements and quick-thinking challenges. For example, children can hop over a series of colorful Q-shaped hurdles, crawl under a low rope bridge, and zigzag through a maze of cones.

Queen or King for a Day:

Let the preschoolers immerse themselves in the regal world of queens and kings through imaginative play. Create a dress-up corner with crowns, capes, and other royal accessories. Provide a mirror where children can admire themselves and practice saying words like “queen,” “king,” “quilt,” and “quiet.”

Quirky Collage:

Unleash the preschoolers’ artistic side by engaging them in a quirky collage-making activity. Prepare a variety of craft materials, such as colored paper, fabric scraps, buttons, feathers, and sequins, along with glue and scissors. Explain that they will be creating a collage featuring things that start with the letter Q. Show them examples like a quail, a question mark, or a quarter.

Quiet Time Yoga:

Help preschoolers explore the concept of “quiet” through a calming and interactive yoga session. Begin by explaining that sometimes our bodies need to be still and our voices need to be quiet. Guide the children through simple yoga poses like the Quiet Tree (standing tall and still), the Quiet Mouse (sitting in a still and attentive position), or the Quiet Cat (curling up in a gentle stretch).

Related: 20 Exciting No Prep Get to Know You Games for Kids

Quest for Quilt Patterns:

Engage preschoolers in a hands-on and tactile activity that introduces them to the concept of patterns. Provide a variety of colorful fabric swatches and cardboard cutouts in different shapes, including the letter Q.

Q-Tip Painting:

Spark creativity and fine motor skills by introducing Q-Tip painting to preschoolers. Set up a painting station with sheets of paper and a palette of different colored paints. Instead of using brushes, provide Q-tips as the painting tool.

Quiet Corner Reading:

Create a cozy reading corner in the classroom where preschoolers can relax and explore books related to the letter Q. Fill the space with a variety of age-appropriate books that feature Queens, Quilts, and other letter Q-related themes.

Question and Answer Game:

Engage preschoolers in a lively question and answer game that focuses on the letter Q. Gather the children in a circle and explain that each person will take turns asking a question that starts with the letter Q, while the others answer.

Quilted Alphabet:

Encourage preschoolers to create their own alphabet quilt as a collaborative class project. Provide a large piece of fabric or a bulletin board divided into squares. Assign each child a letter of the alphabet and provide them with fabric markers or fabric paint.

Quilted Sensory Exploration:

Combine sensory play and creativity with a tactile quilt-making activity. Set up a sensory table or large tray filled with various materials, such as fabric scraps, textured paper, buttons, ribbons, and foam shapes.

Quick Letter Hunt:

Transform the classroom into a thrilling letter hunt adventure. Hide several Q-shaped cutouts throughout the room, and give each child a small basket or bag. Explain that they are on a mission to find as many letter Qs as they can.

Quiet Music Exploration:

Introduce the concept of quiet music to preschoolers through an interactive music exploration activity. Prepare a playlist of soothing instrumental music and set up a cozy area with pillows and blankets.

Quack-tastic Science:

Engage preschoolers in a science experiment that explores the properties of water through the fun theme of ducks. Fill a large container or sensory table with water and provide rubber ducks of different sizes and colors. Invite the children to observe and experiment with the ducks by predicting which ones will float or sink.

Quick Snack Creation:

Turn snack time into a letter Q-themed culinary adventure. Provide a variety of snack ingredients that start with the letter Q, such as quartered fruits (like grapes or strawberries), cubed cheese, or crackers shaped like the letter Q.

Quick Draw Challenge:

Foster creativity and letter recognition with a quick draw challenge. Provide each child with a piece of paper and a marker or crayon. Explain that they will have a limited amount of time (e.g., one minute) to draw as many things that start with the letter Q as they can. Start a timer and let the children begin drawing.

Quilt Pattern Sorting:

Help preschoolers develop their pattern recognition skills through a hands-on sorting activity using quilt patterns. Prepare several quilt pattern cards featuring different sequences of shapes and colors. Provide a variety of colored blocks or tiles that match the patterns on the cards. Invite the children to sort the blocks or tiles to recreate the patterns on the cards.

Quiet Nature Walk:

Take the preschoolers on a peaceful nature walk to explore the sights and sounds of the outdoors while focusing on the concept of quietness. Along the way, point out any letter Q-related items in nature, such as a quiet pond, quacking ducks, or a quaint flower.

Quirky Rhyme Time:

Introduce preschoolers to rhyming words through a quirky rhyme time activity. Gather a collection of objects or picture cards representing words that rhyme with “quack” (e.g., back, snack, track). Display each object or card one at a time and ask the children to suggest other words that rhyme with it.

Quick Construction Challenge:

Foster problem-solving and fine motor skills through a quick construction challenge using building blocks or other construction materials. Provide the children with a specific goal, such as building a tall tower or a structure with a unique shape, using only blocks that start with the letter Q.

Quiet Dance Party:

Wrap up the letter Q activities with a fun and interactive quiet dance party. Dim the lights and play some soft instrumental music. Encourage the children to express themselves through dance movements while keeping their voices quiet.

Recommended:

• How to Promote Cognitive Development in Preschoolers
• 10+ Music and Movement Activities for Toddlers & Preschoolers
• How to Teach a Child to Write their Name

Sohaib Hasan Shah

Sohaib's journey includes 10+ years of teaching and counseling experience at BCSS School in elementary and middle schools, coupled with a BBA (Hons) with a minor in Educational Psychology from Curtin University (Australia) . In his free time, he cherishes quality moments with his family, reveling in the joys and challenges of parenthood. His three daughters have not only enriched his personal life but also deepened his understanding of the importance of effective education and communication, spurring him to make a meaningful impact in the world of education.

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10 Quick Prep Letter Q Crafts and Activities for Preschool

If you’re looking for some quick and easy prep letter Q crafts and activities for your preschooler, look no further! These ten fun ideas will keep your little one engaged and learning. From playdough mats to quilt crafts, there’s something here for everyone. So get started today and let the letter Q fun begin!

Great Letter Q Crafts and Activities for Preschool

There are so many great ways to teach your preschooler the letter Q . With these ten fun ideas, they’ll be letter experts in no time! From q-tip painting to making homemade quilts, there’s something here for everyone. So grab your supplies, and let’s get started!

1. EO’s Fun Playdough Mat of Letter Q

EO’s Fun Playdough Mat of Letter Q is perfect for kids just learning their letters. The mat features upper and lowercase versions of the letter Q and three engaging exercises. Kids can shape playdough “snakes” into the letters, trace them with a finger or crayon, and then write the letter on their own.

The best part is that all of the supplies and materials needed are very simple and easy to find such as pencils and crayons. So, you need to purchase the worksheet via the listing, and you’ll receive a link to download the PDF. It’s that easy!

Plus, your kids will have so much fun they won’t even realize they’re learning. Win-win!

Purchase this fun playdough mat at Educationoutside.org .

2. “Q” can stand for “Quilt Craft”!

Q can stand for “Quilt Craft”! This activity is a great way for kids to learn about colors, shapes, and patterns while having fun. Plus, it’s a perfect opportunity to teach them about the letter Q!

You will need:

• Fabric squares
• PVA craft glue
• Glue brush or pop stick
• “Q is for Quilt” printable

To complete this activity, kids will need a paintbrush to use with the glue. They’ll use the brush to paint PVA craft glue into the space of the letter Q on their paper. It’s important that they place the glue onto the paper and not apply it directly to fabric squares. Once they’ve done that, they can fill the letter Q space with colored fabric squares. If necessary, add extra glue to ensure all fabric squares are secured.

Have fun! And don’t forget to share your child’s finished product! Your family and friends will love to see it.

This activity is brought to you by Learning 4 Kids . For more details about this quilt-themed activity, be sure to check out their website!

3. Q is for Quail Craft

This quail craft can teach your preschoolers various skills such as fine motor skills as they trace and paste the pieces to complete the craft, they will also do some coloring that will enhance their imagination.

To start, you will need:

• Letter Q Craft printables to prepare the materials

The letter Q is at the core of the quail, and students may color it in any hue they wish! The letter will become the body of the quail.

After coloring, students may trace “Q q is for Quail” at the bottom of the page. Color and cut out the craft pieces for pupils to complete. A head, beak, wing, and topknot are included with each piece.

The final step in crafting is to glue the pieces onto the letter, as seen in the sample photo.

Preschoolers may use this sample picture to find where each piece belongs on their papers or visit Adabofgluewilldo.com .

4. Creating a Popsicle Stick Letter Q

This is a great activity for kids to learn how to build letters with popsicle sticks! It’s also a fun way for them to learn how to count. This activity can be done with a group of friends or at home with parents. 

Materials you will need:

• popsicle stick letter cards
• popsicle sticks

Make the letter cards and get the popsicle sticks ready! Your kids will use the cards to teach them how to construct each letter. How many popsicle sticks does it take to make each letter? This is an excellent learning activity for youngsters to practice creating letters with popsicles! It’s also a lot of fun for them to learn how to make the letter independently.

This activity can be done with a group of friends or at home with parents. Visit ABCDee Learning for more information about this activity.

5. EO’s Comprehensive Activity Mat for Capital Letter Q

This alphabet activity mat is the perfect way to help your child master the uppercase letter Q.

You will only need a pencil, crayons, and a printable worksheet.

With four different exercises, this no-prep worksheet provides opportunities to practice letter recognition, letter formation , letter-sound association , and fine motor skills.

Plus, it’s a great opportunity for some quality bonding time!

Visit Educationoutside.org for more details about this activity mat.

6. Lowercase q Creative Queen Craft

Do you have a little one who is just learning their letters? If so, this Lowercase q Creative Queen Craft is the perfect activity to help them practice! Not only will they learn about the letter Q, but they’ll also get to be creative and have fun.

Now that you have all your materials, it’s time to start your lowercase q craft!

If you have the printed template already, you may start to cut it out. You will also need to trace the letter, including the cape, crown, gems, and cape trim using the card stock, then cut it out afterward. 

Once you have cut out the pieces, using glue, paste the cape trim at the back, then the cape should be at the back of the letter Q.

Next, paste the letter Q to the card stock. Then, attach the gems into the crown. You can use your marker to draw additional designs. Finally, paste the crown using glue to the head of the letter Q.

And that’s it! Your lowercase q craft is now complete. We hope you had fun making it and that you’re proud of your finished product. 

Your little one will love putting this craft together and be so proud of their finished product. So get creative and have fun!

And don’t forget to check out this alphabet q craft at Allaboutlearningpress.com .

7. Paint with a Q-Tip

If you want your child to learn the letter Q and have fun doing it, try this q-tip painting project. All you need are some q-tips, watercolors, glue, scissors, and a cut-out of the letter Q.

Let your child’s creativity flow by painting with the q-tips. They can make lines and dots on their paper. Once the painting has dried, glue the q-tips to the letter Q cut out, and voila! You have a beautiful and unique work of art.

This activity is educational and fun for kids who are learning their letters. Check this out at Fantasticfunandlearning.com .

8. Letter Q Tactile Adventure With Quinoa

Next, make a Letter Q Tactile Adventure With Quinoa! This activity is perfect for exploring the letter Q and practicing fine motor skills.

You will need two pieces of construction paper, markers or crayons, glue, scissors, and dry quinoa to get started. First, have your child trace the letter Q on one piece of construction paper. Next, have them decorate the letter with markers or crayons. This is a great opportunity to talk about the letter Q and its sound. Finally, cut out the letter Q and glue it to the other piece of construction paper.

Now it’s time to add the quinoa! Have your child add a trail of glue and pour the quinoa onto the letter Q. Encourage them to explore the texture of the quinoa and talk about how it feels before gluing and after the glue has dried. This activity is a great way to practice fine motor skills and learn about new textures.

We hope you enjoy this Letter Q Tactile Adventure With Quinoa! If you have any questions, please feel free to visit No Time For Flash Cards .

9. Fine Art Writing Using Feather Quill

These worksheets are perfect for parents or teachers looking for fun and engaging letter Q activities. Each page contains puzzles, dot-to-dots, tracing pages , coloring pages, and templates. This is a great way to teach your child the letters of the alphabet. With 21 pages of activities, your child will be sure to learn all about the letter Q.

So what are you waiting for? Get your hands on these Letter Q Worksheets today! Your child will love learning with these fun and engaging activities.

Grab this worksheet at Teach Beside Me .

10. Paper Cup Duck That Quacks

This is a fun and easy craft that you can do with your young child to help celebrate Duck Day! How does a duck tie into the letter Q? That’s easy because they quack. Start by talking about the word quack to help your child understand the letter q better. 

For this activity, you will need a yellow paper cup, string, a piece of sponge, yellow crepe paper or feathers, orange construction paper, googly eyes, glue or a hot glue gun, and scissors.

To start, cut a small triangle out of the orange construction paper. This will be the duck’s bill. Next, use glue to attach the bill to the cup. Then, add googly eyes to the cup just above the bill.

Now it’s time to make your duck’s body! Cut a strip of yellow crepe paper or feathers and glue to attach it to the back of the cup. This will be your duck’s tail.

To finish, cut a small hole in the bottom of the cup. Thread string through the hole and knot the end of the string a couple of times on top to prevent it from sliding into the cup. Secure the knot with glue and let dry.

Tie a knot around the sponge horizontally. Make sure it is secure and as tight as you can get it. It will shrink because it’s getting wet!

Here’s where the magic happens. To make the duck “quack,” dip the sponge in a bit of water. Squeeze out the excess. Clasp the sponge between two fingers. With the sponge, grab a point towards the top of the string. Squeeze and pull! The faster you pull, the louder the quack will be. You can even experiment with different pitches by squeezing the sponge tighter or looser. Have fun, and enjoy your new Paper Cup Duck!

Need more ideas about craft? Visit at The Quiet SLP .

In conclusion, these are ten quick and easy crafts and activities that all incorporate the letter Q. This is a great way to help your child or student learn their letters while also having some fun. These activities can be easily adapted to fit any theme or lesson plan. So whether you’re looking for a quick prep activity or something to supplement your current unit, these ten crafts and activities are sure to please.

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Letter of the Week: Preschool Letter Q Activities

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We are continuing on with the preschool letter of the week series today with the letter Q. I have lots of fun preschool letter Q activities for you today. There are obviously a lot less options for the Letter Q than for other letters, but there are still some fun ideas you can do to make a letter Q theme great! Some ideas for Letter Q Themes: Queen, Quail, Quack, Quick, Quiet, Quill, Quest, (Do Not) Quit.

Printable Preschool Letter Q Activities

Want some great letter activities for your preschool letter of the week lessons?  These letter worksheets have so many fun things to do. There are letter puzzles, dot to dots, dot marker pages, tracing pages, coloring pages and templates for the letter crafts. This has 21 pages of letter activities for both upper case and lower case letters.

Preschool Letter Q Books

We love the reading lists most of all!  Following is a fun list of letter Q books for your preschool reading enjoyment!

Giggle, Giggle Quack  by Doreen Cronin

Little Quack by Lauren Thompson

Queen of the Class by Mary Engelbreit

Tea for Ruby  (Tea with the Queen) by Sarah Ferguson the Duchess of York

Quest by Aaron Becker

The Quiet Quail by Heather Feldman

Quail Song: A Pueblo Indian Tale by Valerie Scho Carey

The Quiltmaker’s Gift  by Jeff Brumbea

The Keeping Quilt by Patricia Polacco

The Kindness Quilt by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace

The Very Quiet Cricket by Eric Carle

The Quiet Book by Deborah Underwood

Not the Quitting Kind by Sarra J. Roth

Preschool Letter Q Craft: Q is for Quill

Last week my kids collected some huge feathers from some wild turkeys that fly around near where we live. My son has been begging for me to get him some ink to use to make his feather into a pen.

Since it was letter Q week, I thought it would be a perfect time to try out making a quill! A Quill is a feather pen just like they used to use for writing in the past.

We got a bottle of India ink . Then you just cut the tip off of the fathers at an angle and clean out anything left over inside of the tip. Dip the feather into the ink and you can write with it. This ink stains, so be careful! You can purchase turkey feathers for quills online.

To make our Q is for Quill craft, we wrote on our Q with the Quill pens and then added a picture of a quill through the center of it. These are included in my printable pack.

Preschool Letter Q Snack: Q is for Quilt

For this Letter Q snack, Q is for quilt!  I made a grid page to make a cereal quilt. We used rice chex and Life cereal in ours. Let the kids make patterns and fill their quilt square!

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Former school teacher turned homeschool mom of 4 kids. Loves creating awesome hands-on creative learning ideas to make learning engaging and memorable for all kids!

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Fun Letter Q Activities for Preschoolers

Welcome, friend! You might like to subscribe to my newsletter for freebies and updates or follow me on Pinterest for creative ideas. Thanks for visiting!

In this blog post, we’ll explore a variety of activities designed to captivate young minds and reinforce their understanding of the letter Q with these fun letter Q activities for preschoolers .

Teaching preschoolers about the alphabet is an exciting adventure, and when it comes to the letter Q, you have a perfect opportunity to introduce some quick and quirky activities! The letter Q may not be as commonly used as other letters, but it has its own charm and unique words associated with it. By engaging preschoolers in fun and interactive activities, you can make learning the letter Q a memorable experience. Homeschool preschool activities should include plenty of play since that’s how children learn best at this age.

Download these free printable words that start with the Letter Q while you’re here! Just enter your info in the form and they’ll come straight to your inbox:

You’ll also want to check out this printable alphabet letter chart with matching tiles as a perfect companion activity!

Letter Q Preschool Activities

Quilt Collage : Introduce the concept of quilts to preschoolers by creating a quilt collage. Provide various colored construction papers, scissors, and glue sticks. Encourage children to cut out square shapes and glue them together to create a patchwork quilt. Discuss the shapes, colors, and patterns as they work, emphasizing the sound and appearance of the letter Q in words like “quilt” and “square.”

Check out this Q is for Quilt Craft for more ideas.

Queen or King Dress-Up : Let your preschoolers embrace their inner royalty by organizing a queen or king dress-up day. Provide crowns, capes, and other royal accessories for the children to wear. Talk about the letter Q and its association with words like “queen,” “king,” “quartz,” and “quill.” Encourage imaginative play, where they can pretend to be rulers of their own kingdoms.

Try these Letter Q Crowns to go along with their pretend play.

This Snow Queen costume set is adorable and would be so fun for pretend play!

Quiet Time : Teach preschoolers the importance of silence and tranquility with a dedicated “Quiet Time” activity. Create a cozy corner in your home or their room with pillows, blankets, and soft toys. Encourage the children to engage in quiet activities like reading, drawing, or simply enjoying the calm atmosphere. Emphasize the letter Q by discussing words like “quiet,” “quilt,” and “quality,” while emphasizing the soft “kw” sound the letter makes.

Try these Q is for Quiet DIY silent reading tubes to go with this activity.

Q-Tip Painting : Engage preschoolers in a unique and tactile art activity by introducing Q-Tip painting. Prepare a variety of colors of non-toxic paint and provide Q-Tips. Invite children to dip the Q-Tips into the paint and use them to create beautiful pictures or patterns on paper. Discuss the letter Q as they paint, encouraging them to make connections with words like “Q-Tip,” “quick,” and “quack.”

This Q-tip skeleton craft might be fun to try!

Quirky Collage : Collect a variety of small and quirky objects like buttons, paperclips, feathers, and beads. Provide your child with a sheet of construction paper and a glue stick. Let them arrange and glue the objects onto the paper to create a unique and quirky collage. Talk about the different objects and words associated with the letter Q as they work on their collages.

Quick Obstacle Course : Set up a quick-paced obstacle course for your preschooler to navigate. Use cones, hula hoops, and other age-appropriate equipment to create a course filled with twists, turns, and challenges. As your child makes their way through the course, encourage them to shout out words that start with the letter Q, such as “quick,” “quack,” or “quarterback.”

Quill Painting : Cut out feather shapes from white construction paper and provide your preschooler with paint and paintbrushes. Encourage them to dip the end of a quill or a thin paintbrush into the paint and use it to paint colorful patterns on the feather cut-outs. This activity not only explores the letter Q but also introduces them to different painting techniques.

More Letter Q Activities for Preschoolers

• Words that Start with Q color by number free printables
• Q is for Quarter Money Recognition Worksheet
• Printable Letter Q Activity

By incorporating these fun and engaging activities into your preschool curriculum, you can make learning about the letter Q an enjoyable and memorable experience for your young learners. From creative art projects to imaginative play, these activities will help reinforce letter recognition, phonetic sounds, and vocabulary associated with the letter Q.

Through hands-on experiences, preschoolers will not only develop their language skills but also enhance their creativity, critical thinking, and social interaction abilities. So, get ready to embark on a quick and quirky journey into the letter Q with your enthusiastic preschoolers!

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Preschool Letter Q Activities

Your kiddos will love learning their letters with these fun letter Q activities. As a former preschool teacher and a current homeschool mom I know that learning happens best when it’s made fun. I loved doing fun educational activities in my preschool class and at home with my boys when they were little.

One of my favorite ways to teach was through crafts and coloring pages. I’d balance the fun activities with interesting worksheets that taught the concepts being learned.

Today I want to share with you some resources I’ve collected that will help you teach the letter Q to preschoolers.

But first, pin these letter Q activities for easy access later.

Pin These Letter Q Activities for Later

See ALL of the Alphabet Activities by Letter

Free Letter Q Worksheets

Let’s start with the worksheets. Teach your little ones to write both uppercase Q and lowercase q with these free printable letter Q worksheets.

Free Printable Customizable Handwriting Worksheets

Before I share the specific, pre-made printable worksheets I’ve found I want to share a resource that has been incredibly useful to me over the years – HandwritingWorksheets.com .

You can create and print customized handwriting worksheets with this resource. Use it for letter tracing or word tracing. Handwriting Worksheets is such a valuable free homeschooling resource.

Letter Q Alphabet Worksheet Packet

This letter Q worksheet packet provides tons of worksheets for your preschoolers.

Letter Q Words Writing Practice

Your preschooler will learn new words beginning with the letter Q while they practice writing their letters with this great worksheet.

Find the Letter Q Worksheet

Help your little one learn to distinguish the letter Q from other letters with this letter-find worksheet.

Lowercase Letter q Handwriting Practice

This worksheet focuses only on the lowercase letter q, giving your preschooler extra practice on this sometimes tricky letter.

Multi Activity Letter Q Worksheet

Your preschooler will enjoy the various letter Q activities this worksheet offers.

Letter Q Writing Practice Worksheet

Your kiddos can practice writing both uppercase and lowercase letter Q/q with this worksheet.

Alphabet Connect the Dots Letters A-Q

Here’s a fun connect the letter worksheet that goes from letters A to Q.

Free Letter Q Coloring Pages

Next, we move along to the letter Q coloring pages. Coloring pages are a fun way to teach preschoolers what letters look like. Many coloring pages also teach beginning letter sounds by displaying common nouns that start with the featured letter.

Q is for Quarter Letter Q Coloring Page

This coloring page is great for a lesson about the letter Q or a lesson about American money.

Words That Start with the Letter Q Coloring Page

Expose your child to more words beginning with the letter Q with this fun coloring page.

Letter Q Dot Painting Coloring Page

This coloring page can be painted or colored with crayons and markers while your kiddo learns about the letter Q.

Q is for Quilt Letter Q Coloring Page

This Q is for Quilt coloring page will allow your kiddo to get creative with color.

Q is for Quesadilla Dot Marker Coloring Page

Your little one can use dot markers or regular markers to color this letter Q coloring page.

Letter Q Crafts for Preschoolers

These fun letter Q crafts and activities will spark your little one’s creativity and teach them all about the letter Q and letter Q words.

Q is for Quail Cupcake Liner Craft

Here’s a fun letter Q craft to do with cupcake liners!

Q is for Q-tip Letter Q Craft

You’ll find lots of q-tip crafts in my letter Q craft suggestions. Here’s an easy one for even the smallest hands to complete.

Footprint Quail Letter Q Craft

This one is a little messy, but totally worth it to preserve those adorable preschooler footprints in a fun craft.

Q is for Queen Letter Q Handprint Craft

Don’t forget those sweet little handprints! Preserve them with this letter Q handprint craft.

Letter Q Q-tip Mandala Craft

Kindergarteners will love creating a beautiful mandala with q-tips in this letter Q craft. |

Q is for Quilt Letter Q Craft

What a unique craft idea! Piece together scraps of fabric on paper with glue to make a lovely Q is for Quilt craft.

Letter Q Q-tip Painting Activity

Q-tip painting is fun for toddlers and preschoolers. They’ll love this idea.

Lowercase Letter q is for Queen Craft

This craft focuses on the lowercase letter q instead of the uppercase form of the letter.

More Letter Teaching Resources Here are a few more letter teaching worksheets, activities and other resources you may find useful. Printable Alphabet Tracing Worksheets (A-Z)

Spectrum Early Writing Practice

Letter Writing Practice Sand Tray

You Might Also Enjoy:

• Letter S Activities – Letter S Worksheets, Crafts, and Coloring Pages
• Letter X Activities – Letter X Worksheets, Crafts, and Coloring Pages
• Letter U Activities – Letter U Worksheets, Crafts, and Coloring Pages
• Letter H Activities – Letter H Worksheets, Crafts, and Coloring Pages
• Letter G Activities – Letter G Worksheets, Crafts, and Coloring Pages
• Letter A Activities – Letter A Worksheets, Crafts, and Coloring Pages
• Letter E Activities – Letter E Worksheets, Crafts, and Coloring Pages
• Letter F Activities – Letter F Worksheets, Crafts, and Coloring Pages
• Letter J Activities – Letter J Worksheets, Crafts, and Coloring Pages
• Letter K Activities – Letter K Worksheets, Crafts, and Coloring Pages

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17 Letter “Q” Crafts and Activities for Preschoolers

Kids learn the alphabet better with crafts and activities associated with each letter, so I’ve compiled a list of 17 letter “Q” crafts to help you teach your kids all about the letter and the words associated with it.

Not every tutorial includes a template, but here’s a free letter “Q” printable template I found for your convenience. Happy crafting!

10 Letter “Q” Crafts for Preschoolers

The first few crafts on this list include “Q” words for kids that will help them associate the letter with common words that begin with it.

1. “Q is for Queen” Craft

Here’s a simple letter “Q” craft from All Kids Network that teaches kids how to trace, cut, and glue different shapes and sizes.

Download the letter “Q” and crown templates by registering your email on their site or try your hand at drawing each part of the queen yourself for your kids to cut out!

2. Lowercase “q is for Queen” Craft

This lowercase letter “q” craft is great for both toddlers, preschoolers, and even kindergartners because it only involves cutting and pasting pieces together.

This “q is for queen” craft can be made using tools found at home and the free letter “q” template found on All About Learning Press .

3. “Q is for Quail” Craft

Help your kids make a quail head AND a capital letter “Q” with this tutorial by A Dab of Glue Will Do using basic school supplies and the quail template provided on the tutorial’s webpage.

Word association like this is known to be incredibly helpful!

4. “Q is for Quack” Craft

Another great way to teach younger children about new letters is with onomatopoeias, and this incredibly simple quack craft from Momstown can easily be done by a toddler or preschooler who’s still learning how to use a marker.

Want to teach your kids more about ducks? I’ve compiled a list of cute duck crafts my kids and I had a lot of fun making!

5. “Q is for Quinoa” Craft

I love a good sensory craft, and this quinoa craft by No Time for Flash Cards that uses quinoa seeds is a very simple sensory activity that’s great for toddlers and preschoolers.

6. “Q is for Q-Tips” Craft

Here’s a two-for-one letter “Q” craft Q-Tip activity that asks kids to both paint with Q-Tips and glue them onto a giant letter “Q” cutout.

Gather some Q-Tips, paint, and various other arts and crafts materials to get started on this letter “Q” craft for kindergarteners.

Cotton balls are a great craft material for kids because they’re easy to access and safe to use. Check out these other fun and simple cotton ball crafts for kids!

7. “Q is for Quarter” Stamping Activity

Here’s a fun stamping activity using quarters for kids. Jill from Confidence Meets Parenting shares an easy-to-follow tutorial (plus a letter “Q” template ) to help you teach your kids about the letter “Q” and money!

8. “Q is for Quill” Craft

Teach Beside Me has one of the coolest letter “Q” crafts for kindergarteners that uses an actual quill!

For this craft you’ll need a quill and ink , the template, and craft tools you might already have at home.

Warning: the template provided by the site publisher isn’t free, but it does come bundled with multiple activities and other letter templates.

9. “Q is for Quilt” Craft

Schooltime Snippets shares a wonderful and unique letter “Q” quilt craft for kids that only requires glue, scissors, and fabric scraps.

This is another great sensory craft for young children who are beginning to learn and understand shapes, colors, and size.

10. Lowercase “q is for Quilt” Craft

To make this patchwork lowercase “q is quilt” craft by Blessings Overflowing you’ll need construction paper, glue, and scissors – that’s it!

This is another great q craft for preschoolers and toddlers because of how simple and easy it is to do.

8 Other Letter “Q” Activities

11. question mark hat.

This is a fun activity for young children that teaches them about letter “Q” words and punctuation marks, and that helps them practice asking and answering questions, too.

To make this simple hat, you’ll need to print, cut out, and glue the free printables at the bottom of the tutorial page (you’ll have to register your email to access them, though).

12. Paper Plate Quilt Craft

Help your kids create a colorful and easy-to-do quilt craft on a paper plate using this tutorial by Happy Hooligans .

I love this craft because it’s easy, simple, and allows my little ones to be as creative as they want to be.

My toddler loves any activity that involves paint and his hands, and I’m sure yours does too. Check out these toddler painting ideas I guarantee your kids will enjoy as much as mine did!

13. Popsicle Stick Queen

Make an adorable little queen right in your home with this popsicle stick queen craft by Craft Project Ideas that uses both regular and jumbo popsicle sticks.

Other materials you may consider to really give this monarch some style are googly eyes and craft jewels.

Popsicle sticks are another kid-friendly craft material I love to use. For more crafts like this, check out these incredibly easy popsicle stick crafts kids as young as toddlers can do!

14. Toilet Paper Roll Queen of Hearts

We all have empty toilet paper rolls lurking around our homes, so put them to good use! Pink Heartstring shows kids how to make a Queen of Hearts out of an empty toilet paper roll.

This letter “Q” craft requires some additional supplies you may not already have in stock, such as gold tin foil.

Get inspired to do more simple crafts like this by taking a look at the other toilet paper roll crafts on this site!

15. Cupcake Liner Quail Craft

Here’s a fun quail craft that uses cupcake liners. I Heart Crafty Things uses cardstock, a googly eye, and cupcake liners to show kids how they can make a quail of their own!

16. Quacking Duck Craft

Okay so this isn’t a letter “Q” craft persay, but The Quiet SLP shares this quacking duck craft, so it still counts.

While this duck craft may require some effort on the front end, it’s worth it to see your children’s surprised faces when they make the duck quack!

This craft will require a paper cup, string, a sponge, scissors, a glue gun , crepe paper, googly eyes, and construction paper.

17. DIY Quicksand

And finally, here’s a really fun “Q” word craft your kids can really sink their hands into. Kids can make their own mini quicksand courtesy of PBS Kids with just cornstarch, water, and food coloring.

While super simple, this activity is a really fun sensory activity that will keep little hands busy for a long time.

Letter “Q” Crafts for Preschool and Kindergarten

Kids will have a blast learning all about how the letter “Q” looks and sounds thanks to these 17 letter “Q” crafts.

When you’re done with this letter, check out these other letter craft lists:

• Letter H Crafts
• Letter D Crafts
• Letter i Crafts
• Letter J Crafts

Did you try any of these letter “Q” activities with your kids? Share your experience in the comments!

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Home » Alphabet » Letter Q Activities & Fun Ideas for Kids

Letter Q Activities & Fun Ideas for Kids

All our activities are available at no cost and are free to print and share . Select below to get started.

Letter Q Arts and Crafts

Q is for Queen Let the girls (and boys) decorate construction paper crowns. Staple on a headband and your room will be full of queens!

Q-tips Paint with Q-tips. Make structures out of Q-tips and play dough or clay. Let the children take them home after they dry. If using clay, have the children paint their sculptures first.

Quilt Make a quilt throughout the year of the children’s experiences at school for them to view. Or have each of the children’s parents make one square of a quilt, that has something to do with the child and their experiences at child care. Have the children talk about the picture/material/whatever about their quilt square.

Then, sew it all together and put it in the book center as a backdrop for the children to wear. If you have an old pioneer creek village, see if they have a demonstration of making quilts and take your children to go and see it.

Quacking for Q Print Q’s and q’s on some index cards and print several other letter on several more cards. Have the children sit in front of you. Hold up the cards one at a time. Whenever the children see a Q or a q have them quack.

Quarter Rubbings Make a large Q shape on a piece of paper. Let the children make crayon rubbings of “quarters” on white paper using different color crayons. The children cut out the rubbings and glue them on the big Q. Variations: The children can also look through magazines for question marks and cut them out to glue on the Q. Glue Q-tips to a large Q.

Letter Q Games and Activities

Q is for Quick Spend another half hour or so doing things quickly – moving quickly outside, playing “hot potato”, etc.

Quack Talk about ducks. Talk about how they say, “Quack.” Talk about the letter that “quack” starts with.

Quadruplets (can do same for Quintuplets) Find a picture of quadruplets and show it to the children. Talk about how quadruplets means that 4 children were born at the same time, just like twins are called twins because two babies are born from the same mother at the same time.

Quail Put a picture of a quail up in the room and talk about the interesting name that the bird has.

Quake If anyone has ever been in an earthquake, or the children in your care have, you can talk about how they felt when the earth shook and trembled.

Quarter Bring a quarter in for display. Let the children look at it. Set up a shopping center with fake money in the dramatic play area and see if the children can identify which one is the quarter.

Quartet Find a quartet that can perform to children or listen to a quartet. Make your own quartet with the children and have them sing songs in groups of four. (It was worth a shot!)

Queen Bee Talk about the queen bee and how her job is to produce more baby bees.

Question mark Draw one on the board. Give the children examples of questions they ask and have them ask questions.

Quick See how “quickly” the children can clean up.

Quiz Play a “quiz” game. Have a few items out on display. Cover them up and quiz the children to see if they can remember which objects were on the table.

Play the Quiet Game The teacher chooses a child to be “it.” The child who is “it” walks around looking at the other students in the class for a set time (maybe one minute) and chooses the person who is the “quietest.” That person becomes “it,” and you can repeat the process.

Quiet or Loud Sounds Talk about different sounds. Students decide if the are “loud” or “quiet” sounds.

Game: Mother and Her Baby Quails Choose one child to be the Mother Quail and let the others be the baby quails. Have the Mother Quail start walking around the room. Then sing the song below, each time signaling one of the baby Quails to get in line behind the mother. Continue singing until everyone is in line. If desired, choose a new Mother Quail and play the game again. (Tune: Down By The Station) Out in the forest Early in the morning, See the Mother Quail Walking to and fro. See a baby quail Get in line behind her. Quickly, quickly, off they go.

Letter Q Recipes and Snacks

Quaker Oats Eat some Quaker Oats!  

Letter Q Songs, Poems and Finger Plays

I’m A Busy Quilter (Tune: Itsy Bitsy Spider) I’m a busy quilter, I sew and sew all day. When my quilts are finished, I can stop and play. Sometimes my quilts are fancy, Sometimes I make them plain. Sometimes my quilts are different, Sometimes they’re all the same.

I’ve Got The Letter Q (Sung to: He’s Got The Whole World) I’ve got the letter Q on my quilt. I’ve got the letter Q on my quilt. I’ve got the letter Q on my quilt. Q goes q-q-q (Sound of KW) (Make a Q with fingers. Pretend to smooth out a quilt.)

Little Duck (Sung to: Yankee Doodle) Once there was a little duck, Who lived down by the lake. His mother had to quack at him `Cause he was always late. Quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, quack Hurry, don’t be late, Quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, quack Don’t make your mother wait!

Did You Ever See A Duck? (Tune: Did You Ever See A Lassie?) Did you ever see a duck, a duck, a duck, Did you ever see a duck who waddles so slow? She waddles and waddles and waddles and waddles. Did you ever see a duck who waddles so slow? Did you ever see a duck, a duck, a duck, Did you ever see a duck who quacks so fast? She quacks and quacks and quacks and quacks. Did you ever see a duck who quacks so fast?

Quiet Time Quiet time, quiet time That’s the time for me. My mouth, my head, my hands, my feet Are quiet as can be.

Letter Q (Tune: Frere Jacques) I am learning I am learning Letter Q Letter Q Not used very often Not used very often Letter Q Q…Q…Q

Quentin The Quail (Tune: Frosty The Snowman) Quentin the quail begins with letter Q. He has lots of quills and a question mark, And a quarry is his home. (Repeat)

Q is for Quilt (Tune: Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star) Soft warm quilt, I love you so. You warm me from head to toe. No more shivers q…q…q. Grandma made you just for me. Soft warm quilt, I love you so. You warm me from head to toe.

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Teaching the letter q

Q is a letter that deserves a reading lesson of its own for many reasons, as I discovered while working with a kindergartener.

• A lower case q can be mistaken for a p or a g .  It needs to be taught with p and g distractions to help students recognize the differences in those letters.
• The presence of the silent u can lead the child to pronounce a word like quick as kwuh-ick .  So qu- words need to be pronounced among CVC words.

I would begin by telling the child that the u is silent.  The u has to be there for spelling reasons, but it is not pronounced.

Then practice simple CVC-like words such as quack, quad, quest, quill and quit.

You could create a BINGO-like card with words and nonsense words like quad/quab, puest/quest, and guit/quit, to test the child’s recognition of the real q .

You could pour sand or sugar into a pan and have the child draw the first letter of words you say, such as pest, quest, pack, quack, pick, and quick.  Using multiple senses helps the concepts studied to stick better than reading aloud or writing with a pencil.

You could show an assortment of flashcard words and ask the child to pronounce them in order to reinforce that the u is silent.

My point is that q is more complicated than most other consonants and needs to be taught with special emphasis.

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Hands On As We Grow®

Hands on kids activities for hands on moms. Focusing on kids activities perfect for toddlers and preschoolers.

50 Simple & Fun Alphabet Activities for Preschoolers

Literacy & ABCs Popular Preschoolers ABCs Letter Sounds Letters Lowercase Letters Resources 94 Comments

It’s almost time for back to school for preschool and kindergarten kids and these alphabet activities will come in handy!

How do you teach the alphabet to preschoolers?!

As a preschooler, I don’t really think a lot is expected for them to know. Some basics are good though, like colors , shapes ,  numbers and letters.

To refresh my preschooler’s memory of letter recognition in general, as well as knowing the uppercase and lowercase alphabet and getting to know some of the letters sounds, I’ve been collecting ideas for activities that Henry can do to get him back on track of school. (Check some more out my ABC Learning & More Pinterest Board .)

Not to mention it’ll be great to get me back into school mode too!

With any learning activities, it’s very important to not crush your child’s confidence . Build on what they already know and expand slowly. And only go further when they’re excited to learn.

We want our kids to love learning! Not dread it.

So if they’re not excited about an activity, put it away until another day.

The big question then is…

How do you teach alphabets to preschoolers in a fun way?

Here are 50 alphabet activities meant for preschoolers that do just that.

Hands-on activities that have the preschoolers playing and involving their entire body while learning their ABCs.

Without them even realizing that they’re learning to recognize the letters of the alphabet, both the upper and lower case… or their letter sounds.

Let’s get on with it and see how to teach the alphabet to preschoolers in a fun way!

Recognizing Letters of the Alphabet

Identifying the letters of the alphabet can be a fun activity for preschoolers to learn while playing!

Here are  25 Alphabet activities to recognize the letters of the alphabet.

• An ABC Mat is super handy to have on hand when your child is learning the alphabet! Try an active ABC mat learning game  to get them really involved!
• By singing the ABCs the child can find his way through an  alphabet maze ! Use vehicles or a ball, or even a doll to walk their way through the maze.
• Squirt the Letter.
• Make learning magical with magic letters  that the kids reveal as they paint over them.
• Do a  letter search and find  and match the pieces back together. (Two Hearts, One Roof)
• Make a sensory bag to find the letters .
• Get creative and have her feed the monster letters as you call them out. (Little Family Fun)
• Use sticker letters to match to letters  that you write on a paper towel tube! (Activity Mom)
• Make letters from pipe cleaners . (Make and Takes)
• Have fun  stacking letter tiles ! The catch? Name the letter before you can add it to your tower! (Stay At Home Educator)
• Try a magic trick like Playdough to Plato does with a ABC cup hunt game! Which one is the pom pom under?
• Find the letter and trash it! A fun idea from Motherhood on a Dime.
• Playing House does a bean bag toss into a letter tub that you call out.
• An activity twist on musical chairs, play musical alphabet with your preschooler and identify the letter you stop on! Kids Activities can make this more difficult for older kids too!
• Fish for Letters from First Palette. Can you identify your ‘catch’?
• Letter “I Spy” with Grown Up Board Games from A Heart for Home.
• Make these simple ‘building blocks’ so your child can build a letter and then tell you what it is! (Simple Real Moms)
• Write the alphabet on the sidewalk and water the ‘garden’. (Toddler Approved)
• Magnetic letters matching from NutureStore make great alphabet games!
• Simply make it a race! Lay out some letters on post-its and shout out a letter, have your child run as fast as they can to find it and bring it back to you. (Frugal Fun 4 Boys)
• A classic from my childhood. When in the car and traveling, do an alphabet hunt . (Teach Mama)
• Let the children play on a typewriter , or old computer keyboard. (picklebums)
• NurtureStore reinforces alphabet identification by baking the alphabet .
• Another use for the ABC Mat is to play twister ! (Mothergoose Club)
• Homemade letter sponges for the bath from Learning 4 Kids are a fun learning addition to bath time!

Additionally, these products are excellent to have on hand when learning letters.

These do include my affiliate link that helps to support Hands On As We Grow® at no additional cost to you if you purchase. We truly appreciate the support, thank you.

These provide amazing opportunities for letter or alphabet games and activities to do at home!

Learning Uppercase & Lowercase Letters

Lowercase letters tend to be harder for preschoolers to identify as well as match up with their uppercase counterparts.

Here are 9 alphabet activities to help preschoolers distinguish between upper and lower case letters.

• Got on a  letter hunt and match  the found letters to a set of lowercase letters!
• Match uppercase and lowercase hearts using a free printable .
• Write lowercase letters on clothespins and have your child match and clip them onto an uppercase letter that’s printed (or written) out. (I Can Teach My Child)
• Bring out the Easter Eggs . Label each side with corresponding upper and lowercase letters! Can your child put the eggs back together? (Mom. Wife. Busy Life.)
• Learn letters on the go with two paper plates, one with lowercase, one with uppercase letters. No Time for Flash Cards has the how to.
• Make learning the ABCs a big event! Turn the floor into a mega doodle of letters and then match corresponding letters to it! (Filth Wizardry)
• Match upper and lowercase letters on the sidewalk.
• Practice writing while also learning both upper and lowercase letters by using a tray of salt. (Happy Hooligans)
• Play a game of  alphabet bingo . (Teach Mama)

Letter Sound Activities

Many of the activities for preschoolers that are listed for recognizing the letters of the alphabet can also be adjusted for learning the sounds of the letters too!  

Here are 16 alphabet activities for preschoolers to work on the sounds of the letters!

• Go on a hunt for toys that start with the letters and then got to punch through for a prize in our  letter sound punch alphabet game .
• Make an alphabet game to sort by beginning letter sounds.
• An active way for the kids to learn their letters is simply with a ball and shouting out words that start with a letter ! The Pleasantest Thing gives us many variations of this alphabet game in her guest post!
• Take learning outside with a  sidewalk letter sound scavenger hunt  like No Time for Flashcards.
• Another version of this would be to spray the letter that makes the sound from Train Up a Child.
• Indoors, set out some cups and letters on them and have the kids find as many toys as they can that start with each letter. (PreKinders)
• Simple. Kids love to pretend to ‘work’. Give them tees and a hammer and  pound the sound  idea from ABCs of Literacy.
• Add letters to muffin tins and toss a small object. Where it lands the child has to tell you what sound that letter makes . This idea’s found at ABC & Learning by Playdough to Plato.
• Do a beginning letter sound toy wash!
• Climb  up the stairs when you get the right letter sound  from A Mom with a Lesson Plan.
• Make a collage from magazine cutouts for letter sounds. (Carrots are Orange)
• Get active with a letter sound jumping game from The Imagination Tree.
• A Run N Spell alphabet game from Having Fun At Home gets the kids moving and learning starting letter sounds.
• “Baking” the Alphabet on a hot day from Not Just Cute. Hungry for a banana? Fill up the letter b-b-b-B!
• Alphabet bowling with letter pins from Toddler Approved
• Use  letter pops  (sticks with a letter on the end) to have the kids identify objects from around the room or house that start with the same letter. (Dr. Jean & Friends)
• Match toys to letters with this hands-on sound activity from No Time For Flash Cards

Fantastic books for learning ABCs:

Supplement these learning activities with books and your preschooler will be singing, reciting, spelling and sounding out the ABCs in no time I bet!

I’d love to know.

When was your child able to identify some letters of the alphabet?

Henry learned his alphabet really early it seemed. Identifying a few letters when he was 20 months old and knowing almost the entire alphabet when he was just over 2 years old.

George on the other hand has no interest yet at 22 months so it’s not on our radar.

If you have an eager early learner, these beginning learning letter activities are perfect for toddlers!

Onto numbers!  40 number activities for preschoolers too!

About Jamie Reimer

Jamie learned to be a hands on mom by creating activities, crafts and art projects for her three boys to do. Jamie needed the creative outlet that activities provided to get through the early years of parenting with a smile! Follow Jamie on Pinterest and Instagram !

More Hands on Kids Activities to Try

Reader Interactions

94 comments.

March 6, 2024 at 5:58 am

Well done for making such content, it is very useful for us. I know you put a lot of effort into this, thank you!

EtonHouse says

October 9, 2023 at 1:44 am

Thankyou for sharing this idea.

Rose Prevost says

March 18, 2023 at 9:36 am

Your ideas are fabulous and I love the hands on approach to everything. Can you send me the template for the ABC Alphabet Hunt – upper/lowercase? The link in the article does not work.

Thanks again.

Tabitha Lightfoot says

March 20, 2023 at 6:47 am

Hi Rose! Thanks! Unfortunately, the link in the article goes to a post that isn’t ours so we don’t have the template. But, you can easily make your own on a piece of paper, just by writing the letters!

lasercut says

December 3, 2022 at 12:54 am

smith wesley says

January 26, 2022 at 5:29 pm

thanks alot

SNK Creation says

December 14, 2021 at 4:52 am

Thanks for sharing this valuable content with us this work is appreciable and I have bookmarked your website.

November 1, 2021 at 1:55 pm

Really loved your ideas and links, I’m always on the hunt for things that can help my son with learning……thanks dear for nice sharing……….i appreciate your efforts……….

Amrita Madhur says

October 25, 2021 at 7:26 am

Wonderful ideas! Thanks for sharing these great ways to teach Alphabets to kids

karton bardak says

October 6, 2021 at 5:09 am

They have very sweet and stylish designs, beautiful products.

Alicia says

May 22, 2021 at 1:32 pm

This has been wonderful… they are all brilliant ideas but some resources are hard to access but nevertheless.. it was very learning.. mainly because I develop ideas by studying certain things. ????????????. Very helping

The Read Today says

April 28, 2021 at 8:34 am

Nicely put together everything. I think if one follows everything mentioned in this article, it can never go wrong with the kids. Always wanted to read something about alphabets activities with the sound of the letters

April 11, 2021 at 9:39 am

I think this is an interesting way to teach children before entering school

Agnes Adiani says

February 14, 2021 at 4:30 am

This is a good idea, it can raise children’s enthusiasm for learning. Because children’s development is faster when something they like is there.

Alifyah says

July 5, 2020 at 11:35 pm

Woww, this is the perfect list! It has everything! Thankyou!

Spartan Kids says

November 24, 2019 at 6:24 am

Good Artical

Soma Daire ilanları says

September 28, 2019 at 5:27 am

Great collection! thank you for sharing!

September 9, 2019 at 9:57 am

Amazing tips! Can’t wait to try them out with my youngest. I might start baking the alphabet, sounds like so much fun. Thanks for sharing!

Billie says

September 21, 2020 at 4:58 am

Great list! I’m definitely saving this for future use. This list has literally everything

May 17, 2019 at 7:04 am

He learned the letters by us reading the Dr. Seuss “A, B, C” book to him every night and learned the sounds by a kids’ laptop my parents bought him. My younger son is now 21 months old and I’m getting ready to start working with him, but he does not enjoy reading like my older son does so I have a feeling it is going to be a different ballgame! Thank you for some great ideas!

January 14, 2019 at 10:27 am

it is very important for every begainer .so my brother younger to help teach the ABC’s

November 8, 2018 at 11:38 am

These are great activities to help teach the ABC’s. My daughter is in early child hood education, she will love these ideas.

Jack Irby says

November 16, 2017 at 11:06 am

We have alphabet mats all along our kid’s play area. They also have magnets which to be honest get scattered literally EVERYWHERE. But that’s what kids do, right? They’re learning the ABCs and 123s right now in pre-k and learning so much.

Destiny McDonald says

November 15, 2017 at 9:52 am

They were good ideas ,but needs more visual representation .

bullet force says

October 4, 2017 at 2:30 am

What a fabulous collection!

192.168.0.1 says

Cool alphabet activities! great collection!

Leona Paygar says

September 27, 2017 at 11:18 pm

Thanks, it was rewarding. Hope to get more of this.

February 20, 2017 at 4:01 am

please help us to teach are kid all subject .years 3

Lindsey O'Connell says

September 23, 2016 at 1:17 pm

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE these ideas!!! Also, wanted to share a link to a great product. It’s like Elf on a Shelf for LEARNING! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1591009521/my-owl-pal-book-and-toy-let-your-learning-adventur

November 12, 2015 at 1:17 pm

i like but maybe give us how much time can we do that activity

May 26, 2015 at 9:32 pm

Is there an easier version to print?

Devany says

May 7, 2015 at 1:53 pm

These are fantastic! Thank you!

March 2, 2015 at 3:25 am

Thank you for the great materials! Sometimes I teach kids and will definitely use some of those methods, especially Letter Sound Activities!

Jamie Reimer says

March 2, 2015 at 7:05 am

You’re welcome! Have fun!

October 27, 2014 at 10:49 pm

I love these ideas! Thank you for sharing!

Sinea Pies says

October 7, 2014 at 6:32 pm

What a marvelous source of alphabet activities for preschoolers!

October 7, 2014 at 7:54 pm

Thank you :)

September 17, 2014 at 8:38 am

Thanks for sharing great ways to teach ABC Alphabets to kids. Let me share another great way to teach ABC Alphabets to kids.

As you know kids are really crazy about smartphones and tablets, so why not teach them with fun using smartphones.

Yes you can teach kids using smartphone/tablets apps/games.

Let me share you some cool ABC learning games which helps kids to learn ABC here

January 7, 2014 at 6:25 pm

Thanks for linking up Simply Real Moms! We have a great article including the letter builders activity of ours you shared that includes over 13 ways to learn letters without flashcards! Learning through play is the way to go!

Shavahn says

October 21, 2013 at 3:00 pm

My son knew most of his capital letters at 18 months. I owe it to Star Wars ABC! =)

Thekidsworkbook says

October 19, 2013 at 5:00 pm

Hi. Great new site for kids, Alphabet, Numbers, coloring pages and more, We are updating the site continuously.

shaunnaevans says

June 6, 2013 at 12:02 pm

This is a terrific resource! I hope you don’t mind that I linked to it in my Top 10 Ways to Remember the ABCs post today.

June 9, 2013 at 5:25 pm

Thanks Shaunna! You can link me up anytime! :) Thanks for including it!

April 3, 2013 at 7:35 am

What a great roundup, thank you!

I just pinned it :-)

Deb @ Living Montessori Now says

December 6, 2012 at 9:17 pm

What an awesome roundup, Jamie! Thanks so much for including my post! I’ve pinned this. :)

Melissa says

October 23, 2012 at 8:51 pm

Really loved your ideas and links, I’m always on the hunt for things that can help my son with learning. He knew all of his letters by sight until he went to kindergarten and they teach the phonics of the letters first, ugh! So now we are on letter sounds!

Amy Rhodes says

August 17, 2012 at 5:41 pm

So many ideas where do I start? they are great will definitely be using some of these in the coming weeks thank you for the inspiration :) Another one to add to the pins.

Yvonne says

August 16, 2012 at 9:31 am

Love, love, love this collection! My older son also learned his alphabet as well as sounds very early. He had the alphabet down by about 22 months, mastered what sound each letter made by about 24 months. He learned the letters by us reading the Dr. Seuss “A, B, C” book to him every night and learned the sounds by a kids’ laptop my parents bought him. My younger son is now 21 months old and I’m getting ready to start working with him, but he does not enjoy reading like my older son does so I have a feeling it is going to be a different ballgame! Thank you for some great ideas!

August 14, 2012 at 3:55 pm

Great list! So many fun activities. Thanks for sharing at Mom’s Library!

August 10, 2012 at 8:32 am

What a great list of ways to learn. My kids loved our fridge phonics game.

Cerys @ Rainy Day Mum says

August 10, 2012 at 2:17 am

These are brilliant – J is just starting to identify letters he gets the ones in his name (nick name and full name) and also T’s name as well as some of his favourite things as well.

Carolyn @ Pleasantest Thing says

August 9, 2012 at 6:46 pm

Fantastic round-up! We are going to have to try using an ABC mat to play twister!

Eddie - The Usual Mayhem says

August 9, 2012 at 3:42 pm

Wow, what a fantastic collection of ideas! We’re near the end of our alphabet learning now but I’m going to make note of…well, all of these!….and use them for review so we can enjoy them all! Thanks for sharing.

Stacie says

August 7, 2012 at 5:27 pm

Thanks for including me!!

cathie says

August 7, 2012 at 6:56 am

Loved reading through your ideas. Would it be alright to share with my readers on my blog? Check it out at toddlersthroughpreschool.com and let me know. Thanks and keep up the great posting! Cathie

August 7, 2012 at 7:20 am

you can certainly share a link to it with your readers! Thanks for asking!

Michelle says

December 29, 2014 at 9:43 am

Hi, Just wondering if I can ad your site as a link in my blog section of my day care site? I think parents would love to see where I’m getting some of the fabulous ideas I share with their children. Thanks so much for all your efforts!

December 29, 2014 at 7:37 pm

Absolutely! I’d love to have you share hands on : as we grow with your daycare parents!

Asadur Rahman says

January 14, 2019 at 10:32 am

its very important every child

Mackenzie says

August 6, 2012 at 7:36 pm

Jamie! What a fabulous collection! I can’t wait to share it with all my readers! Thanks for all your hard work! :) Mackenzie- Cheerios and Lattes.com

August 7, 2012 at 7:23 am

Thanks so much!

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Preschool Letter Activities: 10 Fun and Engaging Ways to Teach Letter Recognition and Sounds

Table of Contents

Introduction  

I am always so excited to share preschool letter activities with parents and educators.

This is because laying the foundation for alphabet learning and phonics skills from an early age is so important, as it gives our little ones a head start in the world of reading and language.

When children can recognize letters and learn letter sounds, it’s like equipping them with a secret code to unlock the wonders of reading and communication. Plus, these skills form the building blocks for future literacy development. 

The best part of it is that we can make learning letters super fun and engaging!

Gone are the days of boring drills or sitting at a desk to learn.

These interactive, hands-on and fun alphabet activities that I am about to share will make your little learners jump for joy.

Get ready to dive into some incredible alphabet activities for preschoolers that will make recognizing letters and phonics feel like child’s play.

Trust me, your kids will be having so much fun that they won’t even realize they’re learning all the letters of the alphabet.

10 Fun Ways to Learn Letters  

Who says learning has to be all work and no play? 

We’re going to practice letter recognition through some classic games that will have the kids begging for more. We’ll also explore a series of fun and engaging alphabet activities that will captivate your child’s imagination and make learning letters an unforgettable experience.

1. Playing Letter Games  

Did you know that you can turn classic favorite games like “Bingo” and “I Spy” into alphabet games that will have your little ones eagerly exploring the world of alphabet letters while having a blast? 

In the fun game of “Letter Bingo,” they’ll excitedly await their turn to call out “Bingo!” while matching letters on their letter cards.

The excitement builds with each letter revealed, fostering their letter recognition skills while creating unforgettable moments of joy. 

To watch a guide on how to play Alphabet Bingo, click here .  

“I Spy”  takes them on a captivating journey of observation. Together, you’ll search for objects with specific beginning letters, sharpening their visual discrimination skills and letter recognition abilities.  

Watch a guide on how to play I Spy here .

2. Incorporating Letter Recognition into Everyday Activities

Have you ever noticed how letters are all around us? From street signs to cereal boxes, there are lots of letters hidden right in front of us, like a treasure waiting to be found.

So, why not turn everyday outings into letter-hunt adventures?

As you walk down the street, point out letters on signs and labels, and challenge your little ones to identify them.

Further still, grab a basket of toys or a pile of household items, and turn it into a letter-sorting extravaganza.

Challenge your child to group objects based on their beginning letter sound .

For example, all the toys that start with the letter “B” go in one pile, while those starting with “S” go in another.

It’s a playful way to practice letter recognition while enhancing their cognitive skills.

3. Using Songs and Rhymes

There’s something magical about music that captures our attention and sticks in our minds.

Why not create this magic by singing along to classic alphabet songs with your little one, like the good old “ABC” song?

Add some extra fun by incorporating alphabet activities or dance moves that go along with each letter.

This makes it feel like a mini dance party where they’ll be learning the letters of the alphabet without even realizing it.

By infusing music, songs, and rhymes into our letter learning, we’re tapping into our child’s natural inclination for rhythm and movement.

They’ll be singing, dancing, and chanting their way to letter sound mastery.  

4. Sound Scavenger Hunts

Choose specific beginning sounds and challenge your child to find objects in your home or surroundings that start with that sound.

For example, if you’re focusing on the letter “B,” they could search for a ball, a book , or even a banana.

It’s like a treasure hunt, but instead of gold, they’re seeking out the sounds of letters.

This game not only sharpens their listening skills but also reinforces their ability to identify letter sounds in the world around them. 

5. Sound Matching Games  

It’s time to match sounds with pictures! Create a set of picture cards or gather some manipulatives representing various objects.

Each object should start with a different letter sound.

Create a set of letter cards that match the picture cards.

Spread the cards or manipulatives out and have your child match the correct sound to each picture.

For example, if they see a picture of a cat, they’ll need to find the letter card that represents the “C” sound.

This game strengthens their letter-sound association and improves their visual discrimination skills.

6. Building Letters with Playdough  

Kids love playing with playdough. 

Roll out the playdough on playdough mats and show your child how to shape it into different letters.

As they create each letter, encourage them to say the corresponding sound.

This hands-on alphabet activity helps them connect the visual form of the letter with its sound, making letter learning a sensory adventure.

7. Letter Sound Sensory Bins

Fill a bin or tray with a variety of objects that represent different letters of the alphabet.

For example, you can include a toy car for the “C” sound, a feather for the “F” sound, or a small doll for the “D” sound.

As your child sifts through the sensory materials, they can identify the objects and say the corresponding letter sounds.

This activity combines the sense of touch , sight, and hearing, reinforcing letter-sound connections in a captivating way.

8. Alphabet Hopscotch and Letter Obstacle Courses

Transform learning the entire alphabet into an exciting and fun learning adventure with alphabet hopscotch or letter obstacle courses.

Create a hopscotch grid with uppercase letters or lowercase letters instead of numbers, and challenge your child to hop from one uppercase letter or lowercase alphabet to another, saying the letter sound as they land on it.

For an extra challenge, create a letter obstacle course where your child has to navigate through various letters, perform specific actions, or even solve letter-related puzzles.

It’s a dynamic and enjoyable way for kids to identify letters while boosting their balance, coordination, and gross motor skills . 

9. Practicing Letter Formation through Tracing or Finger-Painting  

Letter tracing is a fantastic letter activity you can incorporate to strengthen fine motor skills and practice letter formation.

Provide your child with letter tracing worksheets or create your own by drawing large upper and lower case letters on paper.

Guide their hand as they trace each letter, encouraging them to pay attention to the strokes and shapes.

Alternatively, you can swap pencil writing for finger painting.

Spread some food coloring on a surface and have your child trace letters using their fingers.

It’s a sensory-rich fun activity that combines tactile engagement with letter learning. 

10. Using Textured Materials for Preschool Learning Activities

Let’s add some texture to our letter activities!

Practice letter recognition by incorporating textured materials such as sandpaper into letter learning activities.

Cut out large uppercase letters and lowercase letters from sandpaper and let your child trace their fingers over the rough surface, feeling the letter shapes.

You can also stick different textured fabrics onto cardboard letters, making a touchable alphabet set.

Encourage your child to run their fingers over the different textures while saying the corresponding letter sounds.

It’s a multisensory and great fine motor activity that enhances letter recognition through touch and texture. 

How to Make Letter Learning Interactive

Check out these three fantastic approaches to learning letters of the alphabet that will take learning to a whole new level of fun and interactivity.

1. Letter of the Week Program

The Letter of the Week program is a fun activity that helps to immerse your child in the exploration of individual letters of the alphabet.

Each week, choose an individual letter to focus on, and let the excitement begin! 

Start by introducing the chosen letter to your child. Show them how it looks, say its sound, and explain its importance.

Throughout the week, incorporate various fun alphabet activities centered around that letter. For example, if the letter is “S,” you can:

Engage in letter-themed crafts, such as creating a sparkling letter “S” with glitter and glue.

Make some delicious letter-themed snacks, like making sandwiches in the shape of the letter “S”  

Dive into dramatic play scenarios that revolve around the chosen letter. For example: Transform your living room into a doctor’s office where your child can play the role of a skilled “S” surgeon.

By immersing your child in a letter-themed week, you’re providing a rich and interactive learning experience.

They’ll develop a deeper understanding of individual letters, their sounds and their importance in words.

2. Technology and Educational Apps

In today’s digital age, technology is a valuable tool in supporting letter learning. 

There is a wide range of educational apps and interactive websites available for preschoolers nowadays.

Many of these apps incorporate fun games, colorful visuals, and interactive features to capture your child’s attention while they learn.

Note however that you should only use technology as a supplement to hands-on alphabet activities rather than a replacement.

As you incorporate letter learning apps or websites into your child’s daily routine, also ensure they have ample time for engaging in hands-on alphabet activities like crafts, sensory play, and interactive games.

3. Group Letter Activities  

Group alphabet activities for preschoolers are an excellent opportunity to work together, share ideas, and create something amazing.

Choose a letter and organize a collaborative letter activity where children can contribute their creativity and skills. 

For example, they can work together to create a letter-themed display for the classroom or a letter-themed book.

Assign each child a letter, and let them design and decorate it using various materials like colored paper, dot markers, and stickers.

Once all the letters of the alphabet are complete, they can arrange them to form words or even a giant alphabet display.

Doing this not only reinforces letter recognition but also fosters teamwork and collaboration skills . 

Tips for Making Letter Activities Exciting

The following tips will help make and keep your letter activities exciting:

Never forget to celebrate milestones and accomplishments in letter recognition and sounds to boost their confidence and enthusiasm. 

Use bright colors, playful fonts, and eye-catching visuals and learning materials to design a visually appealing and stimulating space that captivates children’s attention.

Personalize letter activities by integrating topics or characters that interest your children, whether it’s their favorite animals, superheroes, or storybook characters. 

By tapping into their interests and imagination, you make letter activities relatable, meaningful, and exciting for children.

As parents, teachers, and caregivers, we have the power to ignite a lifelong love for letters and words in young minds. Our dedication, enthusiasm, and unwavering support will shape their educational path and pave the way for future success.

So, let’s embrace the wonder and magic of alphabet activities for preschoolers.

Let’s create an atmosphere of curiosity, exploration, and joy, where every letter becomes an opportunity for growth and discovery.

Together, we can empower our children to become confident readers, effective communicators, and lifelong learners. 

Having been armed with this wealth of knowledge on alphabet activities for preschoolers, go forth and inspire!

Make every alphabet activity an unforgettable experience, leaving a lasting impression on the young hearts and minds in your care.

The future is bright, and it begins with the power of letters in the hands of our little learners.

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How to Teach the Alphabet to Preschoolers

Is your preschooler ready to learn the alphabet? If so, this post is for you! Jam-packed with letter recognition activities designed to help you teach the alphabet, this post contains enough fun to keep your child busy for months!

Read on to discover more about this valuable pre-reading skill for young children, or scroll down to download eight of our free, top-quality letter recognition activities.

What Is Letter Recognition?

Letter recognition—also known as alphabet recognition—is the ability to:

• distinguish between the 26 letters of the alphabet
• say the letter name

If your child already knows “The Alphabet Song,” that is a great start! But there is more to letter recognition than being able to sing the ABCs. You want your child to be able to pick out the individual letters and name them, and that’s where the downloadable activities that follow really shine.

Advantages of Learning the Letter Names

Children who know the names of the letters have three major advantages:

• Kids who know letter names will learn the sounds of the letters much more easily. By contrast, children who don’t know the letter names often have tremendous difficulty in learning the sounds of the letters. 1
• Children who can easily name the letters of the alphabet have an easier time learning to read. 2, 3
• As they learn the letter names, children tend to be more motivated to discover more about the letters and about the words around them. 4, 5, 6

So you know that teaching the letter names is important, but now you may be wondering…

Should Uppercase or Lowercase Letters Be Taught First?

Developmentally, it will be easier for your child to learn capital letters first. That’s because the visual form of the capital letters is more distinct. Take a look at this row of capital letters:

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

The only letters that could be flipped and mistaken for another letter are M/W.

Now take a look at this row of lowercase letters:

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

With the lowercase letters, there are several pairs of letters that could be flipped.

• b/d (flip on the vertical axis)
• b/p (flip on the horizontal axis)
• d/p (flip on the horizontal and vertical axis)
• p/q (flip on the vertical axis)
• n/u (flip on the horizontal and vertical axis)

So that’s why I recommend starting with the “easier” uppercase letters.

But what about the fact that most text is composed of lower case letters? After all, this sentence has 57 letters, and only one of them is uppercase. Doesn’t it stand to reason that kids should learn the lowercase letters first?

The fact is that your child will learn all of the letters– uppercase and lowercase –before he learns to read. So why not start with the letter form that is easiest to learn?

Honestly though, it isn’t critical. If you want to teach lowercase letters first, that is fine. Just be aware that some kids do mix up those letters mentioned above. (And here’s help if your child already reverses similar letters such as “b” and “d” .) The most important thing is that your child has an enjoyable introduction to the alphabet, and that she can recognize the letters with confidence.

Now let’s dig in to the fun stuff!

Here Are 8 Free Letter Recognition Activities You Can Download!

Creating the Alphabet with Building Blocks

Creating the alphabet with colorful bricks is a fun way for preschoolers to become more familiar with letters and enjoy a favorite playtime activity—building!

ABC Playdough Mats

Crafting letters out of playdough allows children to feel the alphabet as they roll and bend the dough to form the letters. Your child may not even realize he’s learning!

ABC Caterpillar

As your child inches his way through the alphabet with this colorful caterpillar, he’ll get plenty of hands-on alphabet play, including putting letters in alphabetical order.

ABC Bracelets

Your little one will admire her “letter of the day” every time she glances at her wrist. And tomorrow she’ll get a brand new bracelet to “show off” to family and friends!

Tactile Letter Cards

Children learn about the world around them through their senses. Our tactile letter cards let children use their sense of touch to learn about uppercase and lowercase letters.

Make Your Own Fabric Alphabet

Playing with the alphabet is a great way to help your preschooler get ready to read. This easy-to-make, soft, and colorful alphabet turns learning letters into a tactile activity.

“Feed the Puppy” Alphabet Game

Our “Feed the Puppy” Alphabet Game lets kids practice the names of the letters in a super-fun way. After all, who doesn’t love learning with a cute puppy?

Alphabet Picture Books

Alphabet picture books are the perfect way to increase letter knowledge . No crafty mess required! All you need are books, a comfy couch, and a cuddly preschooler.

These activities will give your child hours and hours of fun while helping prepare him for formal reading instruction.

Keep Track of Which Letters Your Child Knows

When you are teaching letters to your child, make sure that you get to the end of the alphabet. This may seem obvious, but all too often, young children don’t master the last several letters. Be sure that your child knows U, V, and W as well as he knows A, B, and C!

To help you keep track of which letters have been learned, you can download this great little alphabet progress chart . Post it on your fridge or playroom wall.

Letter Knowledge Is One of the Big Five Skills

Did you know that there are five skills that your child should master before beginning formal reading instruction? We call them the “ Big Five Skills ” and these skills lay the foundation for learning to read. In fact, they’re so important that we cover all of them in the All About Reading Pre-reading program .

If you’re ready to tackle the rest of the Big Five Skills, be sure to check out the All About Reading Pre-reading program. Your student will enjoy special games, crafts, and story time read-alouds, and you will love the way your student effortlessly learns essential pre-reading skills.

Which of these letter recognition activities are you going to try out first? Let me know in the comments below!

___________________________________ 1. Mason, Jana M. (1980). When do children begin to read: an exploration of our year-old children’s letter and word reading competencies. Reading Research Quarterly , 15, 203-227. 2. Bond , Guy L., and Dykstra, Robert (1967). The cooperative research program in first-grade reading instruction. Reading Research Quarterly , 2, 5-142. 3. Chall, Jeanne S. (1967). Learning to read: The great debate. New York: McGraw-Hill. 4. Chomsky, Carol (1979). Approaching reading through invented spelling. In L. B. Resnick and P. A. Weaver (eds.), Theory and practice of early reading , vol. 2, 43-65. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum Associates. 5. Mason, Jana M. (1980). When do children begin to read: an exploration of our year-old children’s letter and word reading competencies. Reading Research Quarterly , 15, 203-227. 6. Read, Charles (1971). Preschool children’s knowledge of English phonology. Harvard Educational Review , 41, 1-34.

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We’re working our way through pre-reading and I’m excited to incorporate some of these activities to help with letter recognition.

Great! I glad these will be useful activities for you as you move through the Pre-Reading Level, Jesselyn!

Very Helpful, Thanks for this article Hope this video is also helpful for kids https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hlwyiWB_CE

Thank you, Kamran.

I just found out about your wonderful site. Thx for sharing.

Thank you, Barbara!

ABC Caterpillar was chosen for beginners

Lana, The ABC Caterpillar activity is such a hit with many kids!

Where in the process of learning the alphabet should they be working on letter sounds? The letter sounds are my absolute biggest struggle! 😫

Great question, Stormi!

Our All About Reading Pre-Reading program teaches letter sounds only after a child has mastered capital and lower case letter names. So, we recommend holding off on teaching letter sounds until your child has mastered the alphabet.

Also, once a child knows the alphabet well (knows all the letters and can match up lower and upper case letters), they can easily learn the letter sounds a few at a time as they learn to sound out words.

I hope this help, but let me know if you have additional questions.

These are great ideas! I’m working through the pre-reading program with my daughter and the addition of the letter “bracelets” has been a BIG HIT! Thanks!

I’m so glad that your daughter enjoyed the bracelets, Amanda! Thank you!

Very helpful, thanks!

We love the All about Reading Curriculum. We are on our second child using it and we are thrilled with the firm phonics foundation our children have gained from using this curriculum.

What exciting news…new and color material!! We LOVE AAR and AAS!! Best programs ever!!!

I am always on the lookout for ideas – I teach all levels of English as a second language and I like the preference for learning the capital letters first! I have 2 students that are just ready to start learning the letters and I am going to give it a try. I am also going to create a set of tactile cards. Great ideas! Thanks!

You’re welcome, Sarah! I’m glad the ideas and activities where will be helpful for your students!

Kimberly Treon

I love this! Thanks for sharing this awesome resource!

Thank you for the resources! My 4 year old is struggling with learning the alphabet. She will love the feed the puppy game. I’m excited to try it with her. We will be starting pre reading this fall.

I’m sorry to hear your child is struggling to learn the alphabet, Allison. The Pre-Reading level will help.

In addition, consider working on just one letter at a time for a few days, or even a week, until your child knows it well. Only then introduce the next letter, but continue to review the first one every day. This adding in one letter at a time while continuing to review previously learned ones is much more effective than trying to teach lots of letters at once.

Let me know if you need ideas or have questions. I’m happy to help!

Rebecca Kenyon

Thank you for these great ideas!

You’re so welcome, Rebecca!

Wow, I love this! I can’t wait to do some of these with my almost 4 year old. I think she will love the caterpillar and feeding the puppy!

I hope your little one has lots and lots of fun learning with these, Kimberly! The “Feed the Puppy” activity seems to be the biggest hit with young learners!

This is helpful. Thank you.

You’re welcome, Kim. Glad it’s helpful!

My little grandsons love the letter craft books!

It’s great to hear your grandsons are enjoying the Letter Crafts books, Karen! Thank you!

Thank you for all the free activity downloads. We have used several throughout the years and they are always a big hit! We love All about Reading and All about Spelling!

Thank you for letting us know that the activity downloads are a hit with your students, Rhonda!

Katie Hanna

I’m teaching higher levels to my big kids but am due to give birth any sag now and I’m grateful for this site as a reference for all ages and stages!

Congratulations on the upcoming baby, Katie!

I love thr progress chart! All great ideas!

I love the multi-sensory approaches to learning the letters listed in this article! My daughter is a hands-on learner and loved using things like the play dough mat and the tactile letters to learn her letters in an engaging way. We also completed the AAR Pre-Reading program, which was essential for her! It went at a good pace and involved lots of different fun activities to help her learn. After we completed the program, I was so confident that she learned everything she needed to know before we dove into AAR Level 1. Thank you so much for your materials, they have been a wonderful help.

Nicole, Thank you for sharing how the Pre-reading Program helped your daughter, and the confidence it gave you. Wonderful to read!

Thanks for all the great resources. Really loving the progress chart!

Such good ideas!!!! Using some of these with my two year old who wants to learn to read “just like his big brother and sister”!

Mena, I’m glad these ideas will be helpful for your little one to be learning like his siblings!

I love all the extra freebie activities and suggestions. I love that I don’t have to go searching all over the internet to find fun extras. Thank you!

You’re so welcome, Gina!

Such helpful information ♥️

Ashley Metcalf

Wonderful information!!

Thank you, Ashley!

I love the activities. Thank you so much.

You are so welcome, Gloria!

Stormi Miron

My oldest has the letters down pretty well, but the sounds is where we struggle. My youngest is struggling with letter names though, so this is going to come in handy! Thank you!

I’m glad this will be helpful for you, Stormi! We have a free Letter Sounds from A to Z app that may be helpful with your oldest learning the first sound of each letter. And our How to Teach Phonograms blog post has printable games and activities you can play for practicing the sounds.

What a great resource with wonderful tips! Thanks so much.

You are so welcome, Jennifer!

Greatly appreciate All About Learning’s blog posts! Always full of helpful advice and tips.

I never realized how many lower case letters could be flipped. I can totally see why upper case is easier to start with now.

Nicki, Yes! I think we are so comfortable with letters that we forget how confusing they can be to someone that is brand new to them.

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How Wee Learn

Out of the box learning ideas, playful art, exploring nature, and simple living - that is How We Learn!

Teaching Letter Recognition – What Order to Introduce Letters

May 7, 2024 by Sarah 66 Comments

Wondering about the order for teaching letters to your little ones? I’m on it!

I feel as though I am always writing about waiting to teach letter recognition. Wait and let little hands get strengthened by other activities. Wait until little minds have had ample time to hear different words and sounds . But a day will come when you SHOULD teach your little ones their alphabet letters, of course.

Whether it is when they are 3, 4, 5, or 6, at one point or another, they will be ready, and teaching letter recognition will be the name of the game. So, when they are ready, what is the order for teaching letters?

Don’t worry—I have an opinion on that too!

In fact, I have an entire learn-to-read program that includes letter recognition! How Wee Read covers it all, from rhyming to reading in 60 sequential, simple, and beautiful lessons:

• Step One: Phonological Awareness (7 lessons)
• Step Two: Letters, Sounds, and Blending (12 lessons)
• Step Three: Special Rules (5 lessons)
• Step Four: Familiar Readers (36 lessons)

You can grab a FREE Sample of How Wee Read, including beautiful letter cards that focus on the first grouping of letters—s, a, t, i, p, n—right here:

What Order to Introduce the Alphabet Letters

When I was in the Kindergarten classroom, I did not teach letter recognition in alphabetical order. I began with “name letters” as these letters hold a very important meaning to children. So for “Sammy,” he learned all about s, a, m, and y.

Once children know their name letters well, I would introduce the other alphabet letters (and sounds) in this order: 

At first, relatively quickly, I would introduce the first row of letters, maybe over a week. Then we do lots of activities playing with those letters: their sounds, shapes, and names. Once they are mastered, we add in the next row. Building and growing, slow and steady.

Starting with the lowercase is helpful, and something I have begun doing—though I haven’t always. Clearly, little ones need to know both upper and lowercase letters, but since so much of the print in our everyday lives is lowercase, I find it beneficial to start in that way.

The letter order is similar to the way the letters are taught in the Jolly Phonics Program. By teaching the letters in this manner, children are able to begin forming words very quickly. After learning the first six letters, kids can make words in the “at,” “an,” “it,” “ip,” “ap,” and “in” word families.

• s, a, t, i, p, n
• c, k, e, h, r
• l, f, b, q, u

Introducing the letters and letting little ones begin to make words almost right away creates a huge sense of pride. And since you waited to introduce the letters (you did wait, right?) they are absolutely ready and will be catching on right away, grasping those letter names and sounds easily. If not, perhaps wait a little longer.

I know it is hard (trust me, I know!) but waiting until your little one is ready will save you both mounds of frustration, and ensure your little one loves learning. There is no rush.

Of course, ideas and games for introducing letters can be found all over How Wee Learn!

Games to Help Little Ones Learn Letters

Ready to start helping your little ones learn their letters? Here are some great ideas and fun games that will have those letters mastered in no time!

Digging Up Letters – Grab some dump trucks, diggers, and pebbles and “dig up” some letter-learning fun with your preschooler! This post shares more information about the order for teaching the letters.

Flying into Letter Recognition – This fun one just requires painter’s tape and construction paper . Pop that first group of alphabet letters (s, a, t, i, p, n) on the ground using painter’s tape and let those little ones throw paper airplanes to learn their ABCs!

Swat the ABC Balloons – We love using balloons for fun learning games. This alphabet activity is absolutely perfect for preschoolers as it engages the whole body. And we all know 3-year-olds LOVE to learn with their whole body.

Zoom and Sort the ABCs – All you need is painter’s tape and some toy cars for this one. This one uses painter’s tape in a different way; the painter’s tape forms the road while the cars hold the letters. This letters activity for preschoolers is great for introducing capital and lowercase letters. 

Pipecleaner and Popsicle Stick Letters – Forming letters with pipecleaners and popsicle sticks on a homemade sticky board  – popsicle sticks can be used for so many purposes!

Skeleton Bone Writing (bending Qtips!) – We use Qtips a lot over here for learning games like this one. Bending those Qtips is a great way to make the curvy parts of the letters. Having children manipulate objects to form letters is a very powerful learning opportunity.

Re-useable Alphabet Paper Chain Games – We use construction paper a lot to make simple paper chains. I like to add velcro to make these chains reusable again and again. Little words can be built and played with all day long. 

Building a Name with Blocks  – Duplo building blocks are a favourite here, and they are perfect for this name-building game.

Mail Play! – Mailing friends their “name letters” is a great way to practice letter recognition! Matching letters of the alphabet is a great place to start with letter recognition. First, little ones recognize which letters match, then they can practice forming the letters from a sample, and finally, they can produce it on their own. The order for teaching letters can be the same for all of these steps. 

Dinosaur Bone (Well, Letter) Excavating – Magnetic alphabet letters can be used for so many learning activities, like this fun dinosaur letter excavation!

An A-MAZE-ing Letter Learning Game – Grab that painter’s tape once more! This time we made a fun maze for learning our alphabet letters. 

Now that you are armed with some fun games, have an idea about the order for teaching letters, and have waited for your little one to be ready… it is time to let them learn those letters!

Have fun with this big step with your little ones. And remember, slow is always better. Follow your child’s lead and keep it light and fun. This is the beginning of a lifetime of learning and a love of reading.

For absolutely everything you need to teach your child to read— from rhyming to reading —check out How Wee Read:

https://shop.howweelearn.com/ pages/how-wee-read

Thank you so much for reading, sweet friend!

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June 28, 2015 at 9:40 am

Very helpful article!How do you know when your child is ready to learn letter recognition?

June 29, 2015 at 1:41 pm

Very glad you found this helpful Jessica. A great way to know when little ones are ready is when they start asking questions about letters, asking what signs say, and generally begin to show an interest. Another way is to begin with a child’s name letters slowly. If they pick them up quickly, and remember them, then they are probably set. A lot of individuals who follow the Waldorf education philosophy believe it is best to wait quite a long time, regardless of whether little ones are ‘ready’ or not, allowing them to experience and develop in all the other important areas first. Letters are not introduced until first grade with that curriculum. There are all different views, all with positives and negatives. You just need to listen to yourself and your child to find out what will work best for your family. Hope this is somewhat helpful! Thank you for reading.

July 26, 2015 at 2:42 pm

hi Sarah, I was just wondering if you would teach the alphabet this way to all students. Do you find it is easier for them?

Thanks so much for posting this,

July 26, 2015 at 8:13 pm

Hi Eunice, Thank you for reading! So glad you find it helpful. I do (personally) introduce letters in this manner – both to my own little ones, and to the children in my classroom. I begin with name letters, and then move through the letters in this order. I introduce sounds as well and have little ones build words and practice phonetics right from the get go. Hope this helps!

June 12, 2022 at 9:14 pm

As a pediatric Occupational Therapist who consults with teachers about how to best teach letter FORMATION, this is not accurate. Children learn how to write letters in a developmental pattern. Horizontal and vertical lines first, then curves, then diagonals. Also, there are several more strokes when writing lowercase letters, so this is why uppercase letters (combination of only 4 strokes) should be taught first. When teaching children how to write their letters, the research is quite different than what you are suggesting.

July 5, 2022 at 9:47 pm

This is a great point, Sarah! I believe in delayed writing, and am encouraging this method for teaching letter recognition, not formation. With these games and activities children practice letters and also practice building those important fine motor skills, pincer grip, and hand strength. Once children are ready to hold a pencil they will be strong and capable and will be able to print without any trouble. I believe children struggle to learn to print because they are being asked to write too young, or before hand muscles have properly developed for a number of reasons. Would you agree?

September 8, 2015 at 7:20 pm

Great resource to teach ESL students the alphabet in English. Thanks!!

September 13, 2015 at 10:00 pm

Very glad it is helpful Adriana, thank you for commenting.

September 28, 2015 at 12:25 am

Thanks for this, it’s great! I’m about to start letters with my 4.5yo daughter and I just wondered if when you teach the name letters you use a capital letter for the first letter and lower case for the following letters?

September 30, 2015 at 10:57 pm

Hi Carly! Yes, that is how I would recommend it. I have done both ways, all uppercase and only the first letter uppercase, but I think for a name it is nice for little ones to be able to easily recognize it as it will be written in their environment 🙂 Hope this helps! Good luck and have fun Mama!

September 30, 2015 at 12:41 pm

Love this! I used Jolly Phonics when I taught kind and it’s awesome! What would you recommend for second grader who speaks no English to start with? The first group, or ABC order? He speaks only Portuguese and is nearly deaf in both ears, so it’s hard for him to even repeat sounds, let alone remember them. He is also not literate in his native language, so I have no foundation to start on.

October 14, 2015 at 7:50 pm

Well this is beyond my knowledge base I’m afraid Jenny! I would suggest talking with other ELL/ESL teachers. Personally, I see no reason to teach in ABC order … What a feat – best of luck to you and your little student!!

October 1, 2015 at 8:47 am

Is there a special way to teach the letters and sounds to a high functional autistic child. My son is in kindergarten and falling way behind his classmates.

October 3, 2015 at 10:22 pm

Hi there, Thank you so much for your question. I have taught children with autism before, so I in fact do have a suggestion or two. Perhaps you could email me at [email protected] and I could offer a suggestion or two and give you some helpful links. I can say that for many, many children (with special needs and typically developing) they need a lot of time to play and explore with letters and sounds before they are ready to grasp ‘learning’ them. My daughter started learning to read at 4, whereas my middle son is still learning his letter sounds at 5. Thank you for reaching out and I hope I can be of help!

October 3, 2015 at 1:36 pm

I just found your site, I love! Thank you.I will be ordering your book!

October 3, 2015 at 10:13 pm

Wonderful! So happy you found me – and I hope you love my book!Thank you for taking the time to comment.

December 21, 2015 at 8:23 pm

Wow!! I am so inspired by these activities. My son is four, and his teachers are on my case about him not knowing his letters and numbers. I personally agree with you — I just think he is not interested right now. However, I do have to work with him on it to keep him caught up and googled some ideas. I absolutely LOVE you excavation game!! And your use of tape!! I cannot wait to try these out with him. Thank you so much for these creative ideas.. I wish they were being implemented in my son’s classroom! I find he is a kinesthetic learner — do you have any more suggestions that will really help in dig in and get his hands on the letters? Thanks again!

December 21, 2015 at 10:02 pm

Oh I am so happy you like this post! My two little boys are also kinesthetic learners so oodles of my posts, past and upcoming, will hopefully be a fun way for your little one to play with letters. For my little ones we are still focusing on tons of reading aloud, rhymes, and songs. And, in fact, I am just nearing the end of a book exactly on this topic! I will be sure to email you an advanced copy to check out when it is ready 🙂 Thank you for reading How Wee Learn!

January 15, 2016 at 1:51 am

Have a 4 1/2 yr old grandson in preschool not yet showing readiness to read but loves being read to. My son is anxious for him to start. With some dyslexia on both sides of family I tell my son not to worry or push him, just be patient and keep reading to him. I’d love to send his folks your book, is it on Amazon?

January 19, 2016 at 9:55 pm

I completely agree Ruth. Parents just need to read, read, read until their little ones are ready to read, read, read! And thank you for passing along my book – it is on Amazon – here is the (affiliate) link: http://amzn.to/1Ovo0E0

February 19, 2016 at 10:42 pm

This is an excellent article! I’d love to share this on my blog!

February 22, 2016 at 7:37 pm

March 10, 2016 at 11:10 am

My son will be 5 on March 17. He is in a private school in a 4k program. He is having trouble remembering his letters and doing work on his own without teacher assistance when expected. I am having huge anxiety over the school implying this may mean he should not go to 5k which I disagree with. I am going to start using your methods with him at home but wanted your opinion on whether this is a reason to hold him back from 5k???

March 12, 2016 at 10:27 pm

Hi Lynn, I am sorry to hear you are having issues with your school. I am afraid I cannot offer much guidance as I am not sure the extent of any issues. I am a very large advocate for giving children time and delaying academics. However, there are certain developmental milestones that should be reached when a child is 4. For me, a child not knowing his letters or numbers at age 4 is certainly not an issue whatsoever, but I am not in the classroom with your little one. I would strongly encourage you to express your concerns and talk very openly with the teacher about expectations the school holds to be sure they match developmentally appropriate expectations. 4 is very, very little, and the most important thing is that he feels good about himself and his abilities. You should feel very proud of yourself for questioning things and ensuring decisions made are made with careful consideration. I wish I could be more helpful, but I hope you find answers and your little one gets the time he needs.

July 30, 2016 at 7:40 am

I am a teacher and have my own little ones at home, l really love your post and method,I use jolly phonics to teach and I can see this is so close to it. I will adopt some if your activities here in class and at home. Thank you for you work.

August 2, 2016 at 9:13 pm

So happy you found it helpful. Thank you for taking the time to let me know!

August 2, 2016 at 7:28 am

Our school has what they call “kindergarten round up” where next years kinders get used to the school once a month the entire school year before. What we’re finding out is that they are cutting, playing alphabet bingo and are fully expected to go in (the year before mind you) recognizing both upper and lower case! Going into this round up my daughter is ready to begin learning, but my son is still not really ready (they’re twins). It almost makes me want to home school! Thanks for this great resource!

August 2, 2016 at 9:12 pm

Wow. I am always so interested to hear how other school systems work and what the expectations are. They are so varied and the differences are amazingly vast. Some little ones would be ready for that of course, but others would be no where near ready! Homeschooling is so much more prevalent than you might expect … It is certainly not right for everyone, but it is a really valid option.

August 17, 2016 at 8:58 pm

Hi Billie, just wanted to say how much I sympathize with you as our situations are so similar. When my now 5th grader was in kinder we had missed the “roundup” so we didn’t find out until the first few weeks of kinder how much farther “behind”she was. She was so excited and full of confidence going in and made great progress within the first quarter, but was being pushed so hard to catch up to the other kids (and staying late every day for a teacher recommended catch-up class, and homework each night [seriously?]) that she quickly became overburdened, insecure, and lost her spark. By the second quarter she had regressed and wasn’t even interested anymore. It was devastating. We finished out the year and decided to homeschool 1st grade, just to catch back up without the pressure and strain of 26 (yes, 26!) other kindergarteners to be compared with. It worked out so much better for us that 5 years later we’ve never looked back. However, it took years to regenerate that original spark again in regards to reading. It was nerve-wracking to have a 1st, then 2nd, then 3rd! grader that was not interested or “on grade level” in reading. But, even in 3rd grade, we just stayed chill about it and didn’t push. All of a sudden during summer between 3/4 she blossomed, all on her own, and now at the start of 5th grade she is reading at an “end of year” 6th grade level. Simplified classics mainly. It was a miracle. Anyway, ALL that to say – I understand, I agree, the pressure on your teeny tiny little boy is real and *can do damage, though not necessarily. Just wanted you to feel heard and be able to see at least one reallife potential outcome to your situation. Now with our 4 year old, I’m so so so not concerned. I’ll be able to see if he’s ready for kinder next year. If not, whatevs. Hope this helps 🙂 (P.S. we love homeschooling and certainly recommend it for a million different reasons in addition to academics, but it’s cool if it doesn’t work for everyone. Life’s not black and white. )

August 19, 2016 at 9:12 pm

I love this response Elizabeth. Thank you very much for your kindness and support. I am so thrilled you were able to follow your daughter’s lead and give her the time she needed to thrive. Thank you for sharing your story.

January 8, 2017 at 9:39 pm

I have one November born 4 year old who does not recognize the letters in his name I was delighted, relieved, etc. to find your suggestions to answer the question “what next.” The order you have given for introducing the Alphabet after letters in your name gives me a place to start. What story, how to do small groups ,what to present during large group meeting time… will become apparent to me as I look at the needs of my children. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you…This is serious stuff…Thank you, I had no real idea of “what next”

January 22, 2017 at 7:38 am

This comment has put a huge smile on my face. I am so happy to be able to offer suggestions you find helpful. Thank you very much for taking the time to let me know!!

January 8, 2017 at 9:45 pm

My “thank you” is because, thanks to your suggestion, I have a plan for the rest of the class – those that recognize the letters in their names.

January 22, 2017 at 7:37 am

Wonderful! SO happy this was helpful.

September 21, 2017 at 10:08 pm

Hi, my daughter is 5 1/2 and a spirited, outgoing, delightful child. She started kindergarten a month ago and her teacher is admonishing her because she doesn’t know all her letters yet. My daughter is clearly discouraged and “losing her spark” as someone said above. We are working hard with her on her letters but she just says “I don’t remember them” and gets frustrated. Any suggestions?

October 18, 2017 at 3:07 pm

I am so sorry to hear this. My suggestion, though I know it is really not helpful, is to give her time. Many little ones simply aren’t ready or interested in learning their letter at that age. Here in Ontario, where I teach Kindergarten, we are a purely play based program. However, since time might not be an option, I would suggest starting with her name letters. Practice them nice and slowly and don’t introduce anymore until she is SUPER confident with them. Once she really, really knows those letters, add in “S”, “A”, and “T” and again learn them nice and slowly. Pop them on the stairs and jump up them saying the letters before bed, pop them on the wall and high five them as you call them out as you walk past. I have so many playful ideas for learning letters on the blog – please feel free to use my search bar for more simple ideas. The biggest thing I can suggest is to go very, very slowly. We want that little munchkin to be super confident. Please email me if I can be of any further help [email protected] . Good luck Mama!

October 10, 2017 at 10:51 pm

I have a 3 year old who loves to be read too. He asks a million questions while we are reading, loves taking picture walks throughout books and will read with me for long stretches. He asks what words are and tracks the sentences with his finger as we read. He will ask what letter something is or wants to know what anything written says. However when ever I try to help him learn his letters he fights it. We have recently started working on his name. We do crafts, make shapes with our bodies, on walks I try to have him find certain letters in the signs we see, and he has fun doing it. Lots of variety, but as soon as I ask what a specific letter is he will not do it or even try to say. I feel he wants to learn to read, But just not from me. Any advice on what I can do to help him better?

I love the ideas I will be trying a lot of these out. Thank you

October 18, 2017 at 2:55 pm

Hi Michelle,

Thank you for taking the time to write! It seems like you have one very smart little guy in your home! It sounds like you are doing so many wonderful things. All the time you are spending with him reading is huge, and is so, so beneficial. I actually have an eBook I have written entirely about this topic as it is one that keeps coming up again and again (for good reason!) It is called Play into Reading Readiness and is a step by step guide for playfully teaching children phonological awareness skills (which are needed before children can read), letters, sounds, and even outlines how to teach children to read. It is $8 and can be found on my “Books” page right here . Best of luck and please let me know if I can help in any way – I am just an email away [email protected]

June 2, 2018 at 8:56 am

Hi Sarah, I was wondering if I could teach the Satpin order to children who are 2.5 years old? I had another questions, is that when we sing ABCD would it confuse the child if we teach them in the satpin order?

July 5, 2018 at 7:46 pm

Hi Jessica! Thank you so much for your question. 2.5 is pretty little to begin teaching letter names and sounds, unless of course your little one is very interested in this topic. There are oodles of phonological awareness activities to be playing with children before they learn letter names and sounds which will give them such a strong foundation that learning names and sounds comes so easily. I go by child readiness more so than age myself. I am happy to chat with you more about this, please shoot me an email: [email protected] Thank you!!

September 11, 2018 at 1:03 pm

Hello my 5 year old just started kindergarten and will be 6 in December. I just found out that she is behind majority of her classmates. She is not having an easy time recognizing her letters. She is great at comprehension, but when it is time to learn her letters it is taking longer to get her there. I just purchased ABC mouse, and she is seeing a resource teacher 30 mins each day while at school. Is there any other advise you would suggest we do at home? How would I be able to tell if it is something else that may be holding her back?

October 5, 2018 at 8:33 pm

Hi Trina, Thank you for reaching out. Five is very young! I know, being a Kindergarten teacher, that the pressure to teach little ones more and more at a younger and younger age is a big issue in the classroom. A really large part of learning to read is knowing phonemic awareness. This really is the starting point for all other literacy to grow on. A strong foundation is what our little ones need to start with. I have written an eBook all about this and feel it would be very beneficial to you and your daughter. You can find it here: https://www.howweelearn.com/reading-readiness-preschoolers/ If you have any questions, or if I can help you in any way, please email me at [email protected] . Hang in there Mama, xoxo

October 21, 2018 at 9:34 am

Laptop’s Fridgephonics songs are great and I also apply the Tucker hand signs for the sounds provide good recall for the Development all Preschool program I work in. We do lots of rhymes and reading and games as well with thematic plans. I stay away from worksheet.

January 9, 2019 at 11:33 pm

Hello. I have a bit of a quandary. like Sarah, my 26 month old twin grandsons are very, very interested in letters, sounds, letter patterns, and even grammatical symbols like commas & exclamation points. We were aware that they recognized their names (& each other’s), but it appears that they are recognizing words “out of context” i.e. without pictures, both alone & in sentences. And they point out letters & say the sounds often throughout the day. We did do the library “read 1000 books before kindergarten” in two months, so they enjoy books a lot. If they recognize 40+ words, are they actually reading? How do we make sure they continue to enjoy letters & words? How do we know they won’t be bored with preschool or kindergarten if they are reading very early? Should we be trying to slow them down somehow?

January 22, 2019 at 8:38 pm

Wow this is very fascinating. I would love to chat with you further about this. Could you please email me: [email protected] Thank you,

January 20, 2019 at 3:12 pm

Hi Sarah! I love your site and lifestyle and also the helpful content you share here on your website. My name is Sarah as well and I live in Portland, Oregon. I’m currently trying to get pregnant, so no kids here yet but I will bookmark your site for the future. I recently started a site that shares gift ideas for kids that are either eco-friendly, long-lasting or inspire creativity and/or make learning fun. Perhaps once it grows into something bigger (I just launched it this month) we could talk about doing some guest posts :).

Here’s the site if you’d like to take a look: https://happylittletadpole.com/2019/01/05/wooden-abc-blocks/ – I linked to the ABC block post as it’s related to yours. I’ll bookmark your site for now and maybe we can chat in the future! 🙂

PS: Love the hats you make for your chickens!

January 22, 2019 at 7:59 pm

Thank you for taking the time to comment and introduce yourself. I had a look at your blog and it looks beautiful. I look forward to following along as you start your blogging journey! Please feel free to email me anytime 🙂 Sarah

February 25, 2019 at 6:25 pm

I am lucky to have just found your site and I love it. I have been yearning to know more about the appropriate methods of teaching letters to the kids. I will appreciate those resource materials and videos that can help me out. I have a school in Nigeria and have been searching for who/materials to teach/help me out. Read through your comments and I am really blessed.

May 1, 2019 at 6:02 pm

Hi I just found your site and wow! Do you happen to have a list of words to teach along with the letters? I don’t want to miss any as I am highly interested in this teaching method with my child care.

November 16, 2019 at 4:36 pm

Hi Cailie, Thank you for your message! A list of words to go along with this post is coming your way soon – thank you for the idea!

May 2, 2019 at 3:30 pm

Hi. I am teaching my four year old nephew he is learning his alphabet he does know the song and sings it and does write his letters and name. He is however autistic so it’s a little harder for him to focus. How can I make learning more fun for him to be able to teach him?

May 30, 2019 at 10:24 pm

Hi Nicole, Thank you for your message. How wonderful that you are teaching your nephew! I have many resources that will be helpful to you. This free printable is a great place for you to start. I also have an eBook that would be ideal. Please feel free to email me any questions: [email protected]

August 23, 2019 at 2:23 pm

Hi. I really enjoyed this post and I’m looking forward to implementing it when I start “school” with my almost 4yo in a few weeks. I love the idea of starting with teaching her the letters in her name but was wondering why you don’t recommend teaching letters in alphabetical order? I kind of feel, like someone else said above that it would be confusing to teach them out of order but still sing the ABC song. I could however see kids just memorizing the order verses actually learning the letter but I would be really interested in hearing your reason as to why you teach them out of order.

December 1, 2019 at 9:22 pm

Hi Angela, That is so exciting that you are about to start school with your daughter! You will have so many special memories and adventures ahead. The main reason I suggest the s, a, t, i, p, n order is because it helps little ones begin to read right away. They can immediately form small words like: sat and pat. There is a lot more information about this within the post above. Please email me any other questions and I will be very happy to help: [email protected]

May 3, 2020 at 1:14 pm

Thank you so much for your weekly packets. I am using the preschool packet during this time of school closure. I appreciate your kindness so much. Thank you.

May 3, 2020 at 9:39 pm

You are so welcome Orpita! I am very happy the printable bundles are helpful to you (and for those of you reading this comment and perhaps wondering about the bundles, you can see them here: School Closure Bundles

July 2, 2020 at 1:34 pm

I’m starting the letters over again with my preschool class and I’m using this format when teaching them this time. They love learning new letters, all my kids love the letters of the day songs. Thanks for all the fun helpful tips

July 9, 2020 at 8:51 pm

Please keep me posted, Becca! I am so glad that my blog is helpful to you. Thank you so much for the encouragement!

January 18, 2021 at 10:50 pm

Thanks for the video. While I never sit down and watch videos, I listen to them when cleaning the kitchen, folding laundry, and doing other exciting mom tasks. Then I peek back at your blog if I have questions. The videos add a lot to your already excellent blog. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge!

January 20, 2021 at 7:58 pm

Thank you so much for your encouragement Sara! I appreciate it very much and it is also helpful for me to know how parents are using the videos – doesn’t make me feel nearly as nervous to know I am just being listened to 🙂 Thank you very much for your kind comment xo

June 2, 2022 at 4:26 am

Hello 🙂 thank you for helpful info and tips. I have a question though – is this recommended order universal for all languages? Or it wouldn’t make sense for other languages than english? Thank you.

June 5, 2022 at 7:51 pm

Great question, Alexandra! This is the order so word families can begin to be built, so it is really only relevant to the English language.

June 3, 2022 at 4:22 pm

I work in a private preschool in a two year old room. We are expected to introduce them to letters and we’ve always followed along alphabetically. Would you say this method to be appropriate as a simple introduction? I strive to do things age appropriately.

June 5, 2022 at 7:50 pm

In my opinion 2 is too young to be focusing on letters, for the vast majority of children. So I would suggest you keep it crafty, hands on, and focus more on the process of creating the shapes with their hands, then focusing on the letters themselves. The order really doesn’t matter at this age, as the letter knowledge won’t be retained deeply. I suggest starting this order when children are 3-4. Thank you for asking!

November 22, 2022 at 4:23 pm

Thanks for this resource! I’m starting next week with my littles ♥️

December 4, 2022 at 9:16 pm

Wonderful! Please let me know if you have any questions at all. xo

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Early Writing Ideas for Preschoolers

Early writing activities for preschoolers not only help our youngest learners understand the shape and structure of the letters in the alphabet, but they also serve a number of other functions as well. Early writing practice teaches directionality in writing, encourages fine muscle development and coordination, and also helps students process sensory information critical to the writing process. These early writing ideas for preschoolers are both fun and functional for teachers and students alike!

Early literacy skills are crucial in developing life-long learners. All of the domains of a child’s development – physical, social-emotional, cognitive, language, and literacy – are interrelated and interdependent. Children exposed to more literacy and language tools at a young age tend to achieve greater success in reading. Thankfully, young students are usually very enthusiastic about literacy activities – especially when they are presented naturally in play! You can read more about the impact of early literacy here.

Fine Motor and Early Writing Ideas

Learning to read and write goes hand in hand, like best friends helping each other out. When a child uses their fingers to do small tasks, it helps get their hand ready for writing letters and numbers. Some ways to do this include:

• Lacing cards
• Tracing activities
• Threading beads on pipe cleaners
• Manipulating play dough or clay
• Painting with a brush or other tools
• Pushing a large push pin into cardboard
• Building with LEGO bricks
• Manipulating unifix cubes
• Using tweezers or tongs at the sensory table
• Buttoning, zippering, or tying clothing in the dramatic play area

It is also important to help students understand that letters and words have meaning, or “concept of word.” Labeling items around the classroom or pointing to words in a book or poem while reading to the students helps students understand this. They’ll discover that letters can make words, and drawings can represent people, places, and things. These are important building blocks for becoming a good reader and writer!

Here’s a list of ideas that incorporate both fine motor and alphabet skills – and this is just the beginning!

• Letter Dots
• Alphabet Snap Cubes
• Alphabet Geoboards
• Collage Letters
• Push Pin Cards
• Alphabet Sticker Pages

Check out this Resource from my Shop!

Alphabet Activities Hands-On Literacy Centers for Preschool and Pre-K

Teach your young learners the alphabet with this set of hands-on, fun, and practical letter centers. Includes 8 centers, plus a set of alphabet wall posters!

Tracing Activities

One way of honing the fine muscle skills needed for writing is tracing. Letter tracing helps students build muscle control and coordination from the wrists all the way to the tips of their fingers. With all fine motor activities in these early writing ideas, repetition is key. Whenever a child picks up a pencil, their brain sends signals to communicate with the hands. The more practice a child has holding a pencil and putting it to the paper, the more familiar those signals become until writing becomes second nature!

Even before a child can recognize letters, it is not too early to start practicing pre-writing skills. Straight, zig-zag, and curved lines are the building blocks of letters – so tracing different lines or doing simple mazes helps. Even before a child fully understands the letters and what they mean, tracing letters helps prepare children to become skilled writers.

Teaching preschoolers to trace, especially in the early years, allows them to find their dominant writing hand and become familiar with techniques like ‘ crossing the midline ,’ which will make it easier for them to eventually start writing letters on their own.

Building Skills through Early Writing Ideas

Tracing letters also helps students build spatial awareness. As preschoolers absorb the world around them, they develop a sense of space and place. At its simplest, sitting at a table with a pencil in hand helps build this physical sense of self. They learn intuitively to judge how far the paper is from their body, where their hand is on the paper, and more.

In addition to the physical, this sense of space brings with it a vocabulary that children are beginning to master. Positional words such as “above,” “down,” and “around” are new to preschoolers. Tracing the alphabet can be a great opportunity to continue practicing these concepts. Encourage students to talk about the letters that they are tracing. Arrows showing directional movement are great for starting discussions like “Which way do you need to move the pencil to make this letter?”

Practice pages are fantastic for building all of these skills. An economical way to use them is to put them in page protectors in binders and supply dry-erase markers. Students get double practice – once while writing and again while erasing!

• Alphabet Practice Pages
• Tracing Cards such as the ones included in the Sports Circle Time Unit
• Write & Wipe Alphabet pages

Additional Early Writing Ideas

• Editable Name Art Books
• Seasonal Letter Cards to use with a sand tray

Starting writing activities early with preschoolers isn’t just about learning letters. It’s about teaching them how to write in the right direction, helping their muscles get stronger, and making sense of what they feel as they write. These activities aren’t just useful—they’re fun too! So, by mixing fun with learning, teachers are giving preschoolers a strong start in reading and writing that they can carry with them for life.

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What Teachers Should Know Before They Teach the Alphabet!

• May 26, 2024

Learning about the alphabet is usually one of the first steps kids take toward reading and writing! Before some of our students ever start school, someone may sing the alphabet to them, point out the shapes of letters, or maybe even have them write letters. Or they may watch alphabet videos on TV or a tablet.

But of course, there’s a lot more to consider when you’re intentionally teaching the alphabet. It’s not as easy as just singing the ABC’s!

In this post, I’m going to break down important information that Pre-K and Kindergarten teachers should know when teaching the alphabet. But guess what? Lots of this information will help ANY students who are learning to read and spell, even beyond Kindergarten!

A lot of this information may be new to you, and that’s okay! I actually didn’t learn this information from my undergraduate or graduate programs, but I sure wish I did.

Which Sounds Should Be Taught for the Alphabet?

Research shows that, when we’re teaching the alphabet, it’s effective to teach both letter names and sounds together . This means that as students learn what a letter is called and what it looks like, they should also learn about the primary sound associated with that letter. For instance, “This is the letter ‘t.’ It makes the /t/ sound as in ‘top,'” as opposed to just saying “This is the letter ‘t.’ This is the letter ‘b.’ This is the letter ‘k.'”

Which consonant sounds should be taught?

When first introducing consonants:

• Only introduce the hard sounds, not the soft sounds for the letters g and c. Hard sounds are more common than soft sounds. The letter “c” can make a hard /k/ sound as in “cat” or a soft /s/ sound as in “cent.” The letter “g” can make the hard /g/ sound as in “game” or the soft /j/ sound as in “giraffe.” Again, you only want to introduce the hard sounds when children are first learning the alphabet. (For more information on the difference between hard/soft sounds and when I recommend introducing soft sounds, read this blog “What Are the Hard and Soft G and C Sounds? What Are Some Ideas For Teaching the Hard and Soft G and C Sounds?” )
• The letter “q” needs its friend the letter “u.” Teach students that the letter “q” is a letter by itself; however, it works with the letter “u” to make the /kw/ sound.
• Practice how you say /r/ before you introduce it to students. The sound for “r” can be tricky. Many say “The letter r says /er/,” but that’s technically incorrect. The letter r just says /r/ as in “rrrrrred.” You want to remove any extra vowel sound before saying the /r/ sound. So make sure you get your mouth ready to say a word like “red” or “rain” (and then stop before you say the rest of the word!) to really isolate that /r/ sound.
• Clip the schwa sound! A schwa is an unstressed vowel that can sound like a short “u” or short “i” in an unaccented syllable. For example, the word “battle” sounds more like “batull.” That slight “uh” sound is the schwa. When teaching consonant sounds, you want to clip off that schwa sound. Let’s take the letter “w.” It can be easy to say “W says /wuh/,” and add on that “uh” part. Instead, you need to clip it and isolate the consonant sound to say “W says /w/,” and keep your mouth in the correct position. The letter “y” can also often have a schwa added if you’re not careful. So again, it’s just “Y says /y/” as in yyyyyyellow. But you would stop before the “ellow” part! Here’s the reason you don’t want to include the schwa – if a student is sounding out a new word such as “bag,” you don’t want them adding a schwa to /b/ and saying /buh/ /a/ /g/. Then, they might say “buhag.” You want it to be the pure /b/ sound to help with the blending.
• Use the /ks/ sound for the letter “x.” I prefer to use a keyword where “x” comes at the end, such as “box,” to provide an example of this sound to students. (The letter x can represent other sounds, but /ks/ is where we start.)

Which vowel sounds should be taught?

When first introducing vowels:

• Only focus on short vowel sounds at first. Yes, long vowel sounds are “easier” in one sense, because the sound is the same as the letter name for long vowels (as in “‘I’ says /i/ like in ‘ice cream'”). However, teaching the short vowels first will give students a head start on reading and writing CVC words. If you’re not familiar with that term: CVC words are often the first words kids learn to read. They are simple words with usually three letters, made up of a consonant (C), short vowel (V), and another consonant (C).

In Which Order Should the Letters Be Taught?

As of now, research has not yet pinpointed an exact order to teach the letters in. Nonetheless, research has shown us the following:

• Don’t teach all of the consonants first and then the vowels after that. The reason we want to mix in short vowels is it helps to introduce the alphabetic principle, because we can begin showing students how to read and spell CVC words (more on this below). The alphabetic principle is the concept that letters and letter combinations represent sounds, which can be put together to spell words. Without this principle, alphabet learning can be meaningless and less likely to stick!
• Ideally, you’ll teach about 5-6 consonants and a vowel to begin. Then, you explain how to use those letters (only the ones you’ve taught) to sound out and decode. For example, if you’ve taught “m, s, a, r, t, l, n” – you can start to model for students how to decode CVC words like sat, ran, nap, tan . This way, they begin to see how we put letters together to form words. And it allows them to practice their letter sounds in context.
• Teach some letters with continuous sounds first. Continuous sounds are those that can be produced in the mouth without a “stop” of air. It is usually easiest for kids to blend words that  begin  with these continuous sound consonants: f, l, m, n, r, s, v, z. Of course, students  will  need to learn non-continuous sounds, too! Words that begin with continuous sounds are just a good starting point! (Note: the vowel sounds are also continuous. So if you start with vowel-consonant words like “at,” you will still be using words that begin with continuous sounds.)

What Else Should I Know About Teaching the Alphabet?

Here are a few more tips on teaching the alphabet:

• Instead of introducing only one letter per week, I recommend introducing a couple of letters throughout each week.
• Consistent review of previously-taught letters is crucial. Always circle back and review. Multiple exposures over weeks is more effective than single-week letter introductions without review.
• Some letters in the alphabet are more common in the English language, so you can/should spend a bit more time with students on these letters. For example, the letters “e” and “r” are going to be in many more words than “q” and “x.”

What Comes After Teaching the Alphabet?

After the alphabet, I move to teaching CVC words. And because of the methods outlined above, students have already been exposed to decoding CVC words, so this is a natural progression!

Obviously, there is a lot more to learn when it comes to what to teach, beginning in Kindergarten and moving through fourth grade.

If you feel like your knowledge in this area is lacking…it’s not your fault! The truth is, most of us were never taught these rules (not in college or even grad school)! But the good news is that I have a course called “Master the Rules of English Phonics” to cover this information!

I recommend all elementary teachers take the course because it’s filled with foundational knowledge. As a teacher, you deserve to have the background knowledge you need to successfully teach your students how to spell. Click here to learn more!

Happy teaching!

Related Posts:

I’m Alison, a literacy specialist. I love getting kids excited about reading and writing – and sharing teaching ideas with other teachers!

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What To Expect at Your Child's Kindergarten Screening

What actually happens at a kindergarten assessment test? Here's what to know.

• Before the Screening
• Purpose of Screening
• Readiness Skills
• If Your Child Doesn't Seem Ready

Before your child starts kindergarten , there are a few things you'll need to take care of first. In addition to helping your child be emotionally and socially ready for kindergarten and teaching them some basic academics , you'll need to register them for kindergarten and bring them for a kindergarten screening.

Here's what to know about the kindergarten assessment and screening process before you go, what readiness skills are looked at, and what to do if you think your child isn't ready for kindergarten.

Parents / Brianna Gilmartin

Before the Kindergarten Screening

To register your child for kindergarten, call your local school district or private school to learn about the school's process. You will likely need to provide documentation to prove your child's age (such as a birth certificate or passport) and residency (typically your driver's license and a utility bill in the parent's name).

Most schools also require vaccination and immunization records, along with a physical before starting school. The school should provide forms for your pediatrician to fill out when you register or when you bring your child to the kindergarten screening.

Purpose of Kindergarten Assessment Tests

Not all schools or school districts require kindergarten assessment tests or screenings, but they are a fairly common practice. The purpose of a screening is to ensure a child is developmentally ready to start kindergarten and to determine whether any additional classroom support may be needed. In addition to helping the transition to kindergarten, it's also important for kids to start on the right foot as kindergarten readiness indicates future academic success.

Kindergarten screenings give the school an opportunity to meet your child and are also a great way to familiarize your child with their new school.

The Readiness Skills That Are Assessed

For a kindergarten assessment test, the prospective kindergartner will typically meet with a teacher alone or in a group for about 20 to 30 minutes and will be assessed for basic kindergarten readiness skills. Some schools may look for more kindergarten readiness skills than those listed here while others may look for less. In general, you expect your child to be assessed on the following skills.

Self-care skills

Many everyday tasks need to be taught and practiced. Some of the self-care skills your child may be assessed for include:

• Can wash hands on their own
• Is fully potty trained
• Can dress after using the restroom, including fastening and unfastening buttons, snaps, and zippers
• Can put on own shoes
• Can eat lunch or a snack without assistance, such as putting a straw in a juice box and opening a lunch box
• Can put on a jacket and zip or button it closed

Language skills

At the kindergarten screening, your child's ability to communicate, comprehend, and follow instructions will be assessed. For example, the teachers will check to see if your child can:

• Be understood by an adult who does not talk with the child every day
• Speak in complete sentences of at least five words
• Follow directions that have at least two different steps, such as "Find your coat and put it on"
• Answer basic questions, such as name and age
• Rhyme simple words

Cognitive skills

Cognitive skills refer to a child's ability to gain meaning and knowledge from experience and information. In kindergartners, these skills include the ability to:

• Classify and identify objects by different variables, such as shape, color, size, etc.
• Hold a book the right way (reading preparedness); may pretend to read
• Put together a small puzzle (less than 10 pieces)
• Recognize a pattern and identify the next items in the sequence
• Correctly identify four colors
• Recognize their own name in writing
• Identify some letter sounds
• Count up to five objects
• Name at least five body parts

Gross motor skills

Gross motor skills  are actions that use the body's large muscles, such as those in the arms, legs, and core. They are sometimes referred to as large motor skills. The school may look at whether a child can:

• Stand and hop on one foot on each foot
• Walk backward
• Throw and catch a large ball
• Kick a ball in a straight line
• Walk up and down stairs using alternating feet (not stepping with one foot, then the other onto the same step)

Fine motor skills

Fine motor skills refer to the coordination between small muscles, like those of the hands and fingers, with the eyes. These skills include:

• Cutting with safety scissors, holding them the right way
• Fitting pieces into a puzzle
• Holding and using a pencil the correct way
• Drawing a straight line, a cross, a square, and a circle
• Drawing a person who has five body parts
• Possibly writing some letters and numbers, perhaps their name
• Tracing a variety of shapes, letters, and numbers

If Your Child Doesn't Seem Ready

If you have any concerns about your child's development or are worried they aren't meeting milestones on time, talk with your child's preschool teacher or pediatrician. Even though the above are considered kindergarten readiness skills, not all children master skills at the same time, especially in the wake of COVID-19. Not every child who doesn't meet these requirements will be denied entry to kindergarten. As with anything having to do with child development, children develop at their own rate, and educators can work with you to determine correct developmental next steps.

Depending on where their birthday falls, some children that enter kindergarten may be nearing 6 years old, while others may still be 4. That's a big gap at this age. Some parents choose to hold their child back and delay starting kindergarten for a year, especially if children are very young for their class or do not seem ready to start school.

Is Your Child Ready For Kindergarten . Brookings Institute . 2017.

State‐level perspectives on kindergarten readiness .  ETS Res Report . 2019.

Kindergarten Readiness, Later Health, and Social Costs . Pediatrics . 2020.

• Early Correlates of School Readiness Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic Linking Health and School Data. JAMA Pediatrics. 2024.

Is Your Preschooler Ready for Kindergarten . American Academy of Pediatrics . 2019.

Related Articles

How Does Writing Fit Into the ‘Science of Reading’?

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In one sense, the national conversation about what it will take to make sure all children become strong readers has been wildly successful: States are passing legislation supporting evidence-based teaching approaches , and school districts are rushing to supply training. Publishers are under pressure to drop older materials . And for the first time in years, an instructional issue—reading—is headlining education media coverage.

In the middle of all that, though, the focus on the “science of reading” has elided its twin component in literacy instruction: writing.

Writing is intrinsically important for all students to learn—after all, it is the primary way beyond speech that humans communicate. But more than that, research suggests that teaching students to write in an integrated fashion with reading is not only efficient, it’s effective.

Yet writing is often underplayed in the elementary grades. Too often, it is separated from schools’ reading block. Writing is not assessed as frequently as reading, and principals, worried about reading-exam scores, direct teachers to focus on one often at the expense of the other. Finally, beyond the English/language arts block, kids often aren’t asked to do much writing in early grades.

“Sometimes, in an early-literacy classroom, you’ll hear a teacher say, ‘It’s time to pick up your pencils,’” said Wiley Blevins, an author and literacy consultant who provides training in schools. “But your pencils should be in your hand almost the entire morning.”

Strikingly, many of the critiques that reading researchers have made against the “balanced literacy” approach that has held sway in schools for decades could equally apply to writing instruction: Foundational writing skills—like phonics and language structure—have not generally been taught systematically or explicitly.

And like the “find the main idea” strategies commonly taught in reading comprehension, writing instruction has tended to focus on content-neutral tasks, rather than deepening students’ connections to the content they learn.

Education Week wants to bring more attention to these connections in the stories that make up this special collection . But first, we want to delve deeper into the case for including writing in every step of the elementary curriculum.

Why has writing been missing from the reading conversation?

Much like the body of knowledge on how children learn to read words, it is also settled science that reading and writing draw on shared knowledge, even though they have traditionally been segmented in instruction.

“The body of research is substantial in both number of studies and quality of studies. There’s no question that reading and writing share a lot of real estate, they depend on a lot of the same knowledge and skills,” said Timothy Shanahan, an emeritus professor of education at the University of Illinois Chicago. “Pick your spot: text structure, vocabulary, sound-symbol relationships, ‘world knowledge.’”

The reasons for the bifurcation in reading and writing are legion. One is that the two fields have typically been studied separately. (Researchers studying writing usually didn’t examine whether a writing intervention, for instance, also aided students’ reading abilities—and vice versa.)

Some scholars also finger the dominance of the federally commissioned National Reading Panel report, which in 2000 outlined key instructional components of learning to read. The review didn’t examine the connection of writing to reading.

Looking even further back yields insights, too. Penmanship and spelling were historically the only parts of writing that were taught, and when writing reappeared in the latter half of the 20th century, it tended to focus on “process writing,” emphasizing personal experience and story generation over other genres. Only when the Common Core State Standards appeared in 2010 did the emphasis shift to writing about nonfiction texts and across subjects—the idea that students should be writing about what they’ve learned.

And finally, teaching writing is hard. Few studies document what preparation teachers receive to teach writing, but in surveys, many teachers say they received little training in their college education courses. That’s probably why only a little over half of teachers, in one 2016 survey, said that they enjoyed teaching writing.

Writing should begin in the early grades

These factors all work against what is probably the most important conclusion from the research over the last few decades: Students in the early-elementary grades need lots of varied opportunities to write.

“Students need support in their writing,” said Dana Robertson, an associate professor of reading and literacy education at the school of education at Virginia Tech who also studies how instructional change takes root in schools. “They need to be taught explicitly the skills and strategies of writing and they need to see the connections of reading, writing, and knowledge development.”

While research supports some fundamental tenets of writing instruction—that it should be structured, for instance, and involve drafting and revising—it hasn’t yet pointed to a specific teaching recipe that works best.

One of the challenges, the researchers note, is that while reading curricula have improved over the years, they still don’t typically provide many supports for students—or teachers, for that matter—for writing. Teachers often have to supplement with additions that don’t always mesh well with their core, grade-level content instruction.

“We have a lot of activities in writing we know are good,” Shanahan said. “We don’t really have a yearlong elementary-school-level curriculum in writing. That just doesn’t exist the way it does in reading.”

Nevertheless, practitioners like Blevins work writing into every reading lesson, even in the earliest grades. And all the components that make up a solid reading program can be enhanced through writing activities.

4 Key Things to Know About How Reading and Writing Interlock

Want a quick summary of what research tells us about the instructional connections between reading and writing?

1. Reading and writing are intimately connected.

Research on the connections began in the early 1980s and has grown more robust with time.

Among the newest and most important additions are three research syntheses conducted by Steve Graham, a professor at the University of Arizona, and his research partners. One of them examined whether writing instruction also led to improvements in students’ reading ability; a second examined the inverse question. Both found significant positive effects for reading and writing.

A third meta-analysis gets one step closer to classroom instruction. Graham and partners examined 47 studies of instructional programs that balanced both reading and writing—no program could feature more than 60 percent of one or the other. The results showed generally positive effects on both reading and writing measures.

2. Writing matters even at the earliest grades, when students are learning to read.

Studies show that the prewriting students do in early education carries meaningful signals about their decoding, spelling, and reading comprehension later on. Reading experts say that students should be supported in writing almost as soon as they begin reading, and evidence suggests that both spelling and handwriting are connected to the ability to connect speech to print and to oral language development.

3. Like reading, writing must be taught explicitly.

Writing is a complex task that demands much of students’ cognitive resources. Researchers generally agree that writing must be explicitly taught—rather than left up to students to “figure out” the rules on their own.

There isn’t as much research about how precisely to do this. One 2019 review, in fact, found significant overlap among the dozen writing programs studied, and concluded that all showed signs of boosting learning. Debates abound about the amount of structure students need and in what sequence, such as whether they need to master sentence construction before moving onto paragraphs and lengthier texts.

But in general, students should be guided on how to construct sentences and paragraphs, and they should have access to models and exemplars, the research suggests. They also need to understand the iterative nature of writing, including how to draft and revise.

A number of different writing frameworks incorporating various degrees of structure and modeling are available, though most of them have not been studied empirically.

4. Writing can help students learn content—and make sense of it.

Much of reading comprehension depends on helping students absorb “world knowledge”—think arts, ancient cultures, literature, and science—so that they can make sense of increasingly sophisticated texts and ideas as their reading improves. Writing can enhance students’ content learning, too, and should be emphasized rather than taking a back seat to the more commonly taught stories and personal reflections.

Graham and colleagues conducted another meta-analysis of nearly 60 studies looking at this idea of “writing to learn” in mathematics, science, and social studies. The studies included a mix of higher-order assignments, like analyses and argumentative writing, and lower-level ones, like summarizing and explaining. The study found that across all three disciplines, writing about the content improved student learning.

If students are doing work on phonemic awareness—the ability to recognize sounds—they shouldn’t merely manipulate sounds orally; they can put them on the page using letters. If students are learning how to decode, they can also encode—record written letters and words while they say the sounds out loud.

And students can write as they begin learning about language structure. When Blevins’ students are mainly working with decodable texts with controlled vocabularies, writing can support their knowledge about how texts and narratives work: how sentences are put together and how they can be pulled apart and reconstructed. Teachers can prompt them in these tasks, asking them to rephrase a sentence as a question, split up two sentences, or combine them.

“Young kids are writing these mile-long sentences that become second nature. We set a higher bar, and they are fully capable of doing it. We can demystify a bit some of that complex text if we develop early on how to talk about sentences—how they’re created, how they’re joined,” Blevins said. “There are all these things you can do that are helpful to develop an understanding of how sentences work and to get lots of practice.”

As students progress through the elementary grades, this structured work grows more sophisticated. They need to be taught both sentence and paragraph structure , and they need to learn how different writing purposes and genres—narrative, persuasive, analytical—demand different approaches. Most of all, the research indicates, students need opportunities to write at length often.

Using writing to support students’ exploration of content

Reading is far more than foundational skills, of course. It means introducing students to rich content and the specialized vocabulary in each discipline and then ensuring that they read, discuss, analyze, and write about those ideas. The work to systematically build students’ knowledge begins in the early grades and progresses throughout their K-12 experience.

Here again, available evidence suggests that writing can be a useful tool to help students explore, deepen, and draw connections in this content. With the proper supports, writing can be a method for students to retell and analyze what they’ve learned in discussions of content and literature throughout the school day —in addition to their creative writing.

This “writing to learn” approach need not wait for students to master foundational skills. In the K-2 grades especially, much content is learned through teacher read-alouds and conversation that include more complex vocabulary and ideas than the texts students are capable of reading. But that should not preclude students from writing about this content, experts say.

“We do a read-aloud or a media piece and we write about what we learned. It’s just a part of how you’re responding, or sharing, what you’ve learned across texts; it’s not a separate thing from reading,” Blevins said. “If I am doing read-alouds on a concept—on animal habitats, for example—my decodable texts will be on animals. And students are able to include some of these more sophisticated ideas and language in their writing, because we’ve elevated the conversations around these texts.”

In this set of stories , Education Week examines the connections between elementary-level reading and writing in three areas— encoding , language and text structure , and content-area learning . But there are so many more examples.

Please write us to share yours when you’ve finished.

Want to read more about the research that informed this story? Here’s a bibliography to start you off.

Berninger V. W., Abbott, R. D., Abbott, S. P., Graham S., & Richards T. (2002). Writing and reading: Connections between language by hand and language by eye. J ournal of Learning Disabilities. Special Issue: The Language of Written Language, 35(1), 39–56 Berninger, Virginia, Robert D. Abbott, Janine Jones, Beverly J. Wolf, Laura Gould, Marci Anderson-Younstrom, Shirley Shimada, Kenn Apel. (2006) “Early development of language by hand: composing, reading, listening, and speaking connections; three letter-writing modes; and fast mapping in spelling.” Developmental Neuropsychology, 29(1), pp. 61-92 Cabell, Sonia Q, Laura S. Tortorelli, and Hope K. Gerde (2013). “How Do I Write…? Scaffolding Preschoolers’ Early Writing Skills.” The Reading Teacher, 66(8), pp. 650-659. Gerde, H.K., Bingham, G.E. & Wasik, B.A. (2012). “Writing in Early Childhood Classrooms: Guidance for Best Practices.” Early Childhood Education Journal 40, 351–359 (2012) Gilbert, Jennifer, and Steve Graham. (2010). “Teaching Writing to Elementary Students in Grades 4–6: A National Survey.” The Elementary School Journal 110(44) Graham, Steve, et al. (2017). “Effectiveness of Literacy Programs Balancing Reading and Writing Instruction: A Meta-Analysis.” Reading Research Quarterly, 53(3) pp. 279–304 Graham, Steve, and Michael Hebert. (2011). “Writing to Read: A Meta-Analysis of the Impact of Writing and Writing Instruction on Reading.” Harvard Educational Review (2011) 81(4): 710–744. Graham, Steve. (2020). “The Sciences of Reading and Writing Must Become More Fully Integrated.” Reading Research Quarterly, 55(S1) pp. S35–S44 Graham, Steve, Sharlene A. Kiuhara, and Meade MacKay. (2020).”The Effects of Writing on Learning in Science, Social Studies, and Mathematics: A Meta-Analysis.” Review of Educational Research April 2020, Vol 90, No. 2, pp. 179–226 Shanahan, Timothy. “History of Writing and Reading Connections.” in Shanahan, Timothy. (2016). “Relationships between reading and writing development.” In C. MacArthur, S. Graham, & J. Fitzgerald (Eds.), Handbook of writing research (2nd ed., pp. 194–207). New York, NY: Guilford. Slavin, Robert, Lake, C., Inns, A., Baye, A., Dachet, D., & Haslam, J. (2019). “A quantitative synthesis of research on writing approaches in grades 2 to 12.” London: Education Endowment Foundation. Troia, Gary. (2014). Evidence-based practices for writing instruction (Document No. IC-5). Retrieved from University of Florida, Collaboration for Effective Educator, Development, Accountability, and Reform Center website: http://ceedar.education.ufl.edu/tools/innovation-configuration/ Troia, Gary, and Steve Graham. (2016).“Common Core Writing and Language Standards and Aligned State Assessments: A National Survey of Teacher Beliefs and Attitudes.” Reading and Writing 29(9).

A version of this article appeared in the January 25, 2023 edition of Education Week as How Does Writing Fit Into the ‘Science of Reading’?

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Commencement | 5.22.2024

“The Heart of Teaching”

Howard gardner addresses the harvard graduate school of education..

Howard Gardner | Photograph by Jay Gardner

Howard Gardner ’65, Ph.D. ’71, first walked through Radcliffe Yard, where he today addressed the Graduate School of Education’s class of 2024, as a College freshman in 1961. Since then, the Hobbs research professor of cognition and education reflected, much about the world has changed. But some things have stayed the same: “Ever since 1967, this is the site—the cluster of neo-Georgian buildings—that I call my working home.”

Throughout Gardner’s six-decade career, he has researched child development, leadership, creativity, intelligence, higher education , and fulfilling work . While pursuing this research, he said, he’s thought often about “two well-known adages” that reflect truths about continuity and change: “There is nothing new under the sun,” and “you can never step in the same river twice.” (Because of the nearly 90-degree heat, Gardner delivered his speech through a pre-recorded video, with brief in-person remarks at the beginning and end.)

For today’s educators, perhaps change is easiest to see, as technologies such as video conferencing and generative artificial intelligence transform how students learn. Closer to home, HGSE, too, is in the midst of a transition, as Dean Bridget Terry Long steps down at the end of this academic year, to be succeeded for now by interim Dean Nosie Leseaux . “Thanks to Bridget,” Gardner said, “for many years a valued colleague, scholar, academic dean, and then dean. … You are still young, especially in comparison to some of us—indeed still a kid—with many more years of productive scholarship and service to go.”

But it’s also important to look out for continuities, Gardner said—from “the stability of the solar system” to “the familiar individuals and familiar conflicts” that characterize literature from different eras and around the world. Across the diverse work HGSE graduates pursue, the ability to identify continuity while responding to change will be important: “All of us in education—whether teaching preschoolers or mentoring post docs,” he said, “need to be aware of, monitor, and deal with the continuities in education, even as we need as well to monitor the changes.”

To demonstrate his point, Gardner expanded on three areas of research he’s pursued with Project Zero, an educational think tank housed at HGSE that seeks to “understand and nurture human potentials, such as learning, thinking, ethics, intelligence, and creativity.” This research has pursued truths that “could have been investigated in earlier times—that is continuity,” he said. “But they can and should be revisited frequently in terms of what we know today and what we will learn tomorrow—that is change.”

One of those research areas concerns the arts , which “used to be thought of as entertainment, just pleasure,” he said. But his research, he continued, helped show that arts are “highly cognitive, as well, involving thinking, problem-solving, problem-finding, and especially creating something new.” Another major area of inquiry has involved intelligence: “Sixty years ago, there was a widespread belief that intelligence is a fixed, single capacity,” he said, able to be captured by an IQ score. Gardner’s groundbreaking work on multiple intelligences showed that humans possess different forms of intelligence “that can be discovered, built up, put together in new ways,” he said. Where general intelligence was thought to be fixed, multiple intelligences are not: intelligences can be strengthened and supplemented, not just with other forms of intelligence but also with technology. “Perhaps, working together with ‘smart machines,’” Gardner said, “we can accomplish what not even the writers of science fiction in my childhood could have imagined.”

The final research area Gardner addressed—Project Zero’s “most sustained work”—concerns “ethics and morality,” he said: “What does it mean to be a good worker, and to do good work in our time?” To understand what constitutes good work , Project Zero studied more than 1,000 adult professionals, finding that good work consists of three elements: excellence (the worker is technically skilled), engagement (the worker looks forward to work), and ethics (the work avoids unnecessary harms to others and tries to achieve the profession’s core values). More recently, Gardner said, he and colleagues have begun to expand their work on ethics to include children. “We realize that ethics and morality begin much younger, when as human beings we just think of ‘I’ or ‘me’ or ‘we’ or ‘us’—or whether we take into account the needs or desires of others, the larger collectivity,” he said.

Continuity and change have also characterized Gardner’s teaching. When he was hired to teach developmental psychology at HGSE 40 years ago, he taught classes by himself. Then, he said, he began to collaborate with fellow cognitive scientist Kurt Fischer . The co-teachers, at first, spent most of their class time lecturing, then posed and answered questions at the end. “But then, around 1990—before most of you were born—there was a new technology,” Gardner said: video recording. “We both recorded all of our lectures in advance…this freed class time for discussion and debate.”

With the addition of another new colleague, educational entrepreneur David Rose , Gardner found his teaching practice transformed yet again. With Rose and Fischer, Gardner began to center his pedagogy around discussion: “The three of us taught together. No more lectures—we discussed themes with one another, then with the class, then discussion continued with teaching fellows,” he said. “This struck me as a great way to teach, and not one easily replicated online: walking up and down the aisles of Askwith Hall, and spilling over after class to the Gutman cafeteria or the sunken garden behind you.”

The fundamental principles underlying effective teaching stayed the same, even as the methods Gardner used to achieve those principles shifted. “The heart of teaching is thoughtful teachers interacting with one another and with students,” he said, “as old as Plato’s Republic and as contemporary as computer-based flipped classes.”

Concluding his speech, Gardner quoted the American historian Henry Adams, A.B. 1858 , to remind the graduates that their work will have impacts beyond what they can imagine: “A teacher affects eternity; he never knows when his influence ends.” In the spirit of change and continuity, Gardner reworded the quote with a contemporary twist: “Educators affect eternity—they never know where their influence ends.”

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