Alphabet Activities

Every morning for the month of March I have been greeted upon arrival with the question “what letter are we learning today?”

To which I reply “it’s a surprise, you’ll have to wait until we are inside to find out”.

Now, for any adult listening, this may seem like a silly question. The obvious answer is which ever letter is next in the alphabet.

However, pre-prep aged children have only just begun on their journey towards letter awareness.

Even though they can all sing the alphabet song their understanding of the relationship between each letter and the matching sound has only just begun.

The alphabet is the building block of literacy . Children must learn to:

Recognise the letters;
Name the letters;
Know them in and out of order, and
Identify the sounds associated with each letter.

It is a fundamental concept to master, but one that cannot be overlooked.

Letters and their sounds absolutely must be memorized to prepare them for reading.

Whenever possible make it a game and you child will enjoy learning.

Here’s some of the fun and engaging ways the pre-prep class has been learning their letters and sounds.

Alphabet soup

3-5 wooden letter are placed into a big bowl of dried soup mix. The children use an over sized spoon to mix up the soup and scoop out each letter, identifying the letter and its sound before returning the wooden letter back to the soup mix.

Alphabet stamping

The weeks focus letter or the child’s name is written on a piece of paper. The stamps are used to match the written letters. We like to use a recycled egg container to organise the stamps as this allows the stamps to be placed with the letter facing upwards.

Phonics songs

There are many different phonics songs available on the internet. Our class favourite is by Bounce Patrol. Through the use of catchy jingles and repetitive phrases the children become aware of the sound each letter makes and a recognise objects with the matching sound.

Kinaesthetic activities

Children learn best when they are able to use all of their senses. Sensory activities which involve manipulation of materials support kinaesthetic learners. We use playdough snakes to bend into the shape of the letters, paint trays to draw the letter, Lego blocks to build the letter and sand trays to write the letter.

How can you support your beginner reader at home?

Have books in many locations for your child to explore and view.
Point out letters daily eg; look how big that letter M is! That sign says ‘STOP’.
Highlight the beginning letter of some objects around the house eg; it’s time for bed, bed starts with a b sound.

TIP: Display the books with the cover facing out. By doing so, the colours and images will invite your child to look through them.

That’s all from the Sea Turtles and Miss Patti.

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Alphabet Activities