Pre-School and Kindergarten Activities for Alphabet Recognition

Alphabet recognition is one of our most important pre-reading and pre-writing activities. If a child does not recognize alphabet letters, then the letters have no meaning, and copying and writing letters will have no meaning. A child will not be able to write at a level higher than their reading level. If a child reads on a first grade level, don’t expect him/her to copy 4th grade material.

Imagine how long it would take you to copy sentences in French, German, or Turkish, if you did not read those languages. But at least you would recognize most of the letters, if you read English. How long would it take you to copy sentences in Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, with unfamiliar characters? If a child does not recognize alphabet letters, then reading and writing are like an unfamiliar language.

I hope I’ve made my point about the importance of letter recognition to reading and writing. I have done a lot of letter recognition activities with young children as a Pediatric Occupational Therapist. Luckily, I have found that universally children enjoy the alphabet. Even my most challenging autistic clients readily participate in alphabet recognition and other alphabet activities.

Alphabet Puzzles

2-Piece Alphabet Puzzles

Alphabet Books

Alphabet Electronic Toys

Alphabet Memory Game

Alphabet Flash Cards

Coloring & Activity Books Featuring Alphabet

Writing Books

Wipe Off Books

Free Online Alphabet Resources

YouTube Alphabet Songs

Free Online Alphabet Games

Android Alphabet Apps

iPad & iPhone Alphabet Activities

I have about a half dozen different alphabet puzzles, and would rotate puzzles each week. I think the kids’ favorite would be the Melissa & Doug alphabet puzzle, starting with alligator for A. I use lots of repetition when working with alphabet puzzles, which the kids are very tolerant of, and seem to enjoy. Here is a typical sequence that I use with alphabet puzzles:

Sing ABC song while pointing to each letter.

Separate pieces by row, and give letters for first row.

Say each letter &/or word as child places piece.

Continue for each row.

When complete, sing ABC song again, pointing to letters.

Have child remove pieces one at a time.

Say each letter as child places pieces back in plastic bag.

The 2- and 3-piece alphabet puzzles are a higher level of difficulty in regard to alphabet knowledge. I usually give the pieces for 5 to 7 letters at a time for the child to match up. On the other hand, if you try not saying the letter or word- you may be surprised to learn your child can read, which was the case with one of my autistic clients. I do not think he was merely matching the shape of the interlock, nor do I think he was familiar enough with the picture depictions of the letters on this particular puzzle set.

I have about a dozen alphabet books, and would rotate them each week. Most of mine came from Goodwill, for 25 cents to a dollar, but that was through a lot of visits to a lot of different stores over time by my sister. Here are examples of my strategies:

If front or back of the book has the complete alphabet, start with this.

Sing ABC song or recite letters while pointing at them or getting child to point.

Go through alphabet book, saying each letter. If there are multiple pictures of objects for each picture, name at least one picture per letter.

Finish with naming all letters, or singing ABC song while pointing at letters if the complete alphabet is in the front or back of the book.

You could also try pointing to letters in the book at random, and have child point to corresponding letter on an alphabet puzzle, alphabet letter/writing guide, or alphabet electronic toy.

There are a lot of alphabet electronic toys available. My sister got all of mine for me. She works all over San Antonio, and would scope out the Goodwill stores on her lunch breaks. So I have quite a collection, but my sister collected them over time. She supplied me as well as my Certified Occupational Therapy Assistants (COTAs), never paying more than $3. I know most people can’t put in that kind of effort, so I have included pictures of 7 different alphabet electronic toys. I’ve also included some Amazon products so you know what to look for. Seems like V-Tech and Leap Frog have lots of options.

Most of the devices have several modes. You can set it to start saying all of the letters, starting with A. Usually if you press a letter, it will then only say a letter when you press that letter. Often there is a test mode, where it will say a letter and you have to press the key for that letter.

This is the alphabet version of children’s memory match, or concentration game. The alphabet memory game that I have requires that the child match upper- and lowercase alphabet letters. It could be played as a simple matching game, without turning pieces face down.

Played as memory match, cards are mixed up and turned face down. I would start with about 6 matched pairs of letters. Players take turns turning two cards face up, trying to make a match of upper and lowercase letters. Use a letter/writing guide if needed if the child does not know lowercase letters that correspond to the uppercase.

There are multiple variations of alphabet flash cards. A common presentation is with uppercase &/or lowercase alphabet letter on one side of the card, and a picture of something starting with that letter on the other side of the card.

If you have cards with a full set of uppercase letters and separate cards for lowercase letters, you could have the child match upper and lowercase. I have used the cards to see if the child knows alphabet letters when presented randomly. You can set aside the letters they cannot identify, then you know your baseline.

There are a myriad of coloring books and other children’s activity books with alphabet activities. Some of my favorites are alphabet dot-to-dot. Instead of creating a picture by drawing lines from number to number (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, etc.), you connect the dots by drawing lines from letter to letter (A, B, C, D, E, etc.).

I have a coloring book-type children’s activity book that has color by number pictures featuring the alphabet. There is a worksheet for each letter, featuring the letter, and a couple objects that start with that letter. Other coloring book activities include identifying pictures from an array of pictures that start with a designated letter.

Look for Fun Pad and coloring book activity books at Family Dollar, Dollar Tree, Ross, Target, Wal-Mart, Big Lot, etc. I’ve found great alphabet activity books at Lakeshore Learning Store and Hobby Lobby, though a bit pricey. I have an alphabet dot painting book. You use special markers that create pictures through dots.

Writing books are A to Z workbooks for practicing writing letters. I sometimes use these as part of the process of alphabet recognition, if the child shows progress, and readiness to begin working on letter formation. I try to choose books with large letters, and always begin with upper case letters.

You can order actual “school house” writing books like Zaner-Bloser, of which I would buy the kindergarten book. You can also get a variety of inexpensive letter books, including books for one dollar from Dollar Tree, Family Dollar, or Target. Just choose large letters, with an emphasis on tracing, and don’t focus too much on precision of letter formation.

I have one book with really large upper case letters. There is one block-style letter that could be used for gluing in macaroni, dried beans etc.

I really love my Wipe Clean wipe off books. They have thick cardboard pages. I have several, including one with 3” upper case letter, one with lower case letters, and one based on animals.

I also love my Lakeshore Learning wipe off books. I have one for upper case and one for lowercase letters. I use the upper case book the most. The letters are about 2”, and there is a line for tracing light blue shaded letters, a row to trace dotted line letters, and two rows for free hand letters. I seldom use the free hand rows with young children.

I have made my own wipe off books by cutting apart my favorite writing books and laminating the sheets.

There are lots of free alphabet worksheets online. These are very similar to writing books you can purchase. These would be suitable for laminating as well.

You can print up worksheets for:

manuscript and cursive letters

uppercase and lower case letters

Zaner Bloser and D’Nealian letters

Bookmark several versions of the alphabet song from YouTube to your phone. All of my clients love the ABC song, even with me singing it! Sometimes I’ll play a version with an activity. Other times I’ll play an ABC song from YouTube as a reward, or to signal the end of our session. I have shared the 4 that I have on my phone.

The first version is Elmo. Who doesn’t like Elmo?!

This second version is sung to the traditional ABC song melody. Large alphabet letters shown on the left side of the screen. The only thing I don’t like is that they say “zed” for “Z”.

This version is sung to an alternate tune, but it’s catchy. I kinda like it.

This version of the ABC song has it all. Upper- and lowercase letters are shown, the sign language symbol for that letter is demonstrated, and they give the letter sound. For example, “A sounds like….”

Intellijoy

Kids ABC Letters

Kids ABC Phonics

Phonics A-H

Phonics J-Z

Wisemon

ABC Finger Paint for Kids Lite (free)

Oceanhouse Media

Dr. Seuss’s ABC

Aknght Studios

Kids ABC Learn and Trace Lite (free)

Sriram Satyavolu

Write ABC (Learn ABC)

ABC Alphabets

A+ ABC’s Fun

ABA Flash Cards-Alphabet

ABC Alphabet Coloring Book

ABC Dancing Flash Cards

ABC Coloring Book (free)

ABC Animal Flash Cards (free)

ABC writing

iWrite words

whack-a-mole

Pocket phonics

Go fun – counting, letters, shapes

Word Slapps

Learning sounds - by different roads to learning