Summer time is such a nice break! So nice, in fact, that it’s easy to push all things “learning” and “school” by the wayside…much like your kids. Suddenly, you realize school is about to start and you don’t want your wee-one struggling…so you do last minute cramming…and this post is for you!
Here are some fun ideas for helping your kids learn their letters/sounds:
1. Dot-to-Dot ABCs – Get a blank sheet of paper and scatter/write the alphabet all over the page, with a dot next to each letter. Have your child connect the letters in the right order. If you are working on a certain section of the alphabet, just include those letters. Also, be sure to do another sheet using lower-cased letters.
Make your own OR get a Dot to Dot Alphabet Book, $2.34
2. ABC Chart – Using a few sheets of paper, write every letter down. Use the papers to have your kid trace the letter you wrote. Too boring? Give them some paint and water and let them trace by painting. Or, give them a handful of pretzels, noodles, etc. and have them lay the food over the letters to match. Or…give them a bowl of candy. Call out a letter (or sound) and have them place the candy of the correct letter. They can eat the candy for each correct letter.
Make your own or download one, here.
3. Floor Letters – Use 26 pieces of paper, write one letter (large) on each sheet. Lay them in a line on the floor…you may have to tape them down. Call out a letter OR a letter sound and have your child run and stand on the correct letter. If that’s too easy…say a word and have your child stand on the first letter in that word. You could also mix up the letters on the floor and have your child put them back in order OR spell a word that you say.
Make your own or check out these…Alphabet Puzzle Mats, $29.99
4. Sound Buckets – Use 26 small buckets, bags (Ziploc would work great!), or other container. Write a letter of the alphabet on each container. Find objects that start with that letter to fill the bag with. If you can’t find an object, print a picture of it off of the computer and cut it out. Give your child the containers or bags of the letters they are working on. Empty the contents and have them sort them correctly into the containers again.
Make your own OR check these out! These are pricey but I love them and plan on using them with all my kids! Alphabet Teaching Tubs by Lakeshore Learning Store, $149
5. Flashlight Letters – Give your child a flashlight. Say a letter or sound and have them write on the wall (using a flashlight) the correct letter.
Other fun stuff:
Let them eat Alphabet Spaghetti-O’s, Alphabet Cereal, or Alphabet Cambell’s soup. Have them look for certain letters. You can also find Scrabble Cheez-It Crackers…you could easily play games with those, and they’re not messy. Who knew learning the alphabet could be yummy?
Make some ice letters out of juice in these cool ice trays!
If these aren’t the CUTEST felt letter magnets you’ve ever seen, kick me. ($50)
What are some fun things you’ve done to help your kids learn the alphabet???
I am SO seriously the one you wrote this post for! Another idea is flash cards. My soon-to-be kindergartner has been carrying hers around and quizzing herself for two days. You can find cute ones at the dollar store!
Mmm, this is such a colorful blog! I needed this and I don’t even have any kids 😉 I’ll recommend your blog to my sister-in-law though, she is always looking for great ideas to help my niece learn new things.
Stopped by from SITS!
My friend told me that they teach children with dyslexia the alphabet by sculpting the letters in clay – both upper and lower case. This helps them use both sides of their brain to learn them. What a great way to get your kids to learn and play at the same time!
Great ideas! I love the felt letters!
We will be doing an ABC dot to dot today! Thanks!
Oh, and I love the idea about sculpting the letters out of clay “The Jongejans” ….I assume play doh would work just as well 🙂
i think by keeping kidz playing with alphabets… there mind will really accept that more fast than ever… and will help in future..
regards
cleon dann
Heh, I was loving the felt letters… until I saw the price tag, eek! I want to try making alphabet letters for my little chick, but I’m stumped as to how one makes something like an O or A. The letters with holes.
My sister is 7 years younger and I am, and when we were kids, we used to play school all the time. I still have the “ditto sheets” I made to teach her the alphabet – or at least, to match upper & lowercase letters. There were two types.
On one side of a paper, I’d write all the letters, in order going top to bottom of the page, in capitals. On the other side, I’d write all the letters, in jumbled order, in lowercase down the page. My sister had to draw lines going from the capital letter on the left to the corresponding lowercase letter on the right.
Another one was a sheet on which I wrote all the letters in order, but for some I wrote them in capital, some in lowercase. Next to each, I put a blank line where my sis has to write in the corresponding letter, in either capital or lowercase depending on what was missing.
Great ideas, thanks Larissa!
My daughter learned the ABCs from a wooden puzzle! So simple, but it worked! She just picked a letter, walked over to me, asked what it was and went back and put it back. She did it over and over again until one day, she just knew them.