I opened an email with a familiar story. She said, “I’m trying to teach him letters, he just won’t focus. We’ve been sitting at the kitchen table going over three flashcards for hours and he still can’t tell me what letters they are. Do you have any other ideas?”
This is a familiar story, and a frustrating place to be in as a parent. As kids, we learned through flashcards, but now that we are trying to teach our kids it’s just not working.
What is letter recognition and why is it important?
Letter recognition is the ability to identify a letter, and it is the foundational skill for reading.
Why worry about letters of the alphabet now? Won’t they learn their letters in preschool/kindergarten? Yes, they will have exposure to recognizing their letters in preschool and kindergarten, but they also have many other things to learn. Children who have some previous experience with letters will have an advantage when they start school.
Luckily, exposure to the alphabet doesn’t require worksheets or hours at the kitchen table. Letter recognition is a skill that is easily incorporated into your daily routine and can be made so fun that your kids won’t realize they are learning.
Should my child know their letters before kindergarten? When should I start?
Kids are not expected to begin kindergarten with any background knowledge. So, why bother trying to teach the alphabet? It’s such an overwhelming job!
In August, kindergarteners are bombarded with things to learn. They are introduced to a new building, a new teacher, new classmates, a bigger class size than what they are used to, new routines, and a lot of personal responsibility.
They are learning where to put their personal things, the procedure to get a drink, when and how they are allowed to go to the bathroom, how to go through the lunch line, stress about new friends, anxiousness about what this new teacher expects, trying to learn their way around a new building, for a 5-year-old also to be stressed about being introduced to letters is just too much!
In my kindergarten classroom, I even had some kids who went to preschool begin kindergarten without the necessary letter recognition skills to be successful. Parents thought these kids were set up for success because they attended preschool, but that’s not always the case.
When can I begin to teach my child letter recognition?
As soon as they are born, begin singing the ABC song and reading alphabet books. If your child knows the letter names, even before they look at any letters, they will have an easier time associating the letter name with the actual letter.
Around the age of 2, you can start trying to teach letter recognition with the letters. Remember, this should be FUN, do not pressure your child if they aren’t interested or ready.
If they aren’t ready, it will only end up in frustration for you and them, and they will begin to form a bad attitude about learning. This will only make things more difficult later on.
How do I start teaching letter recognition?
There are 26 letters in the alphabet, times 2 (lowercase & capital), +26 sounds… focusing on all of these at the same time overwhelms your child with 78 things to memorize!
When first starting out, focus on letter names before letter sounds, use only capital letters, and only focus on 5 new letters at a time.
- To help make learning more meaningful, start with the letters in your child’s name.
- After they’ve mastered the letters in their name, move to other meaningful letters, such as the letters in family and friends’ names. (G for Grandma, N for Nick, etc). Whenever you can make learning more meaningful, it’s easier for the child and way more fun!
- Next, move on to the most commonly used letters. M, A, P, S, T, vowels, etc.
- Finally, move onto any letters you haven’t covered.
- Once your child knows all of the uppercase letters, you can move onto the lowercase letters, using the same procedure. (Only 5 unknown at a time, beginning with the letters of their name).
- After your child can recognize all of their letters, then you can begin to work on sounds.
Learning letters doesn’t have to be from worksheets. Remember alphabet recognition does not require your child to write their letters. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself! (My 2-year-old knew all of his uppercase letters before he could even hold a pencil.)
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Engaging Letter Recognition Activities
Read
We start with reading a lot of alphabet books. Start reading these books to your children as infants. When it comes time to learn letters, they will already have some background knowledge and it will be easier to connect the letter name with the letter shape.
Some of our favorites are:
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Dr. Seuss’ ABC is one of our favorite books. In true Dr. Seuss fashion, this book has a fun rhythm and rhyme and is one of our favorite books to quote. By the time your child is ready to learn sounds, your child will have this book memorized and it will be helpful when your child is thinking about letter-sound recognition!
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault is a book that we have read hundreds of times. The story is simple, all the letters climb up the coconut tree, but it has a fun rhythm and rhyme to it, and we love when the letters all fall out!
Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site Cement Mixer’s BC by Sherri Duskey Rinker is a must-read for any construction lover!
Eric Carle’s ABC is another favorite. Any book by Eric Carle is wonderful, we especially love the unique illustrations.
LMNO Peas by Keith Baker is a fun new way to look at the alphabet, being shown by peas who look at hobbies, careers, and interests that make our world so fun!
Hands-On Activities
When your child is building and creating letters in many different ways, they will be more engaged and have an easier time learning than with worksheets if they are engaged with hands-on activities.
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Have your child draw (or trace) letters using
- Colored Rice
- Shaving Cream
- Paint
- Sand
- Cornmeal
- Pudding
- Foam soap
- Play-doh
- Wikki-Stix
- Dot Markers
- Alphabet Sensory Bin
- Sensory bins are a great fine motor activity, and making an alphabet sensory bin is simple. Grab some magnetic letters (or letters from a puzzle), a filler such as colored rice or cloud dough, and any objects your child loves such as construction trucks or unicorns. Only put up to 5 letters that they are working on and the letters your child has mastered in at a time. They can play with the letters, find a letter you call out, or hold up a letter and identify it for you.
- Alphabet Water Table Activity
- Using this alphabet ice tray, use it much like the alphabet sensory bin above. When you make your ice letters, add some food coloring to make them stand out in the water table. Have your child find the letters you call out, fish for them, or put them in a boat and tell you what letter they’ve found.
- Grab a set of these tactile letter cards and have your child trace their finger over the letters they are learning. We used these when Jacob was learning to write his letters too, we would trace the letter with our finger to learn the correct letter formation, and then we would write with a pencil. It made a world of difference!
- Playfoam Alphabet Shape and Learn Set Kids love playfoam, it’s different than playdough, and fun to squeeze and mold. It is great for strengthening the muscles in little hands!
Get Moving
- Air write letters (Use a dowel rod with streamers attached to ‘write’ the letters in the air).
- Glue beans, noodles, cotton balls, pom-poms, mini marshmallows, etc to the paper to make letters.
- Use blue tape to make letters on your floor. Children can walk on them, use them as a road to drive cars on, line toys up on them, etc..
- Write letters in chalk and have your child “paint” over them with water.
- Build the letter with building blocks.
- Build the letter with mini erasers or pom poms.
- Write each letter you are practicing on a sticky note, and hang the sticky notes on your wall, door, or on your floor. Give your child a fly swatter. When you call a letter, they have to swat it!
- Write the letters you are working on with chalk in your driveway. Call out a letter and how your child should get to the letter. “Jump to the letter T!” This is a great way to strengthen gross motor skills while burning energy and practicing letter recognition.
Turn Letter Recognition into a Game
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- Play Alphabet Go-Fish
- Go on a letter hunt! See how many times you can find the letter A around your house.
- Use magnetic letters to put letters in order on your fridge or call out a letter and have them find it.
- Once your child knows the uppercase and lowercase letters, you can play a game matching letters. Use large letters and have your child find each letter’s match. Puzzles are fun too!
- Add letter cards to your child’s favorite board game. Before their turn, each player must draw a letter card and identify the letter. Make sure your child is checking your work-you may forget a letter or two!
- This works with any board game and it’s great because your child doesn’t even realize they’re learning their letters. Check out board games we love below or more favorite games for preschoolers that adults will love too.
Candy Land is a quick, fun game that preschoolers love. For added interest add letter cards and preschoolers will love watching the pile of letters they’ve mastered grow!
Let’s go Fishin’ is a great game to practice hand-eye coordination, fine motor skills, colors, counting, and it’s just plain fun. Your little learner will love catching the fish, and growing their confidence as they practice their letter identification.
Snug as a Bug in a Rug is one of our all-time favorites. It’s a cooperative game that practices counting, colors, and shapes on its own, and you can add your alphabet cards for added practice. There are also different levels of play, your kiddo will love this game for years as they learn and grow.
Feed the Woozle is another all-time favorite that’s a cooperative game with different levels of play. Kids can’t stop giggling when they have to feed the Woozle yucky snacks like moldy socks, or sand pizza.
Make a Letter Craft
- Draw a letter using the entire sheet of paper and have your child decorate it.
- Make an ABC book of letters your child has colored/decorated.
- Make letter animals out of the letter using an animal that starts with the letter.
- Make a letter headband. Cut a 2 or 3-inch strip of paper to go around your child’s head. Decorate it with the letter and different things that start with that letter. For an “A” headband you can draw Apple, Angel, Ant, Alligator, etc.
- Glue beans, noodles, cotton balls, pom poms, mini marshmallows, etc. to a paper plate to make letters.
- Use a push pin to outline letters on different colors of paper, and then decorate. You have a cool suncatcher!
Letter Bath
One of our favorite ways to learn letters is to grab a set of these alphabet foam letters to toss in the bath. During your normal bathtime routine, hold up a letter. After your child identifies it, toss it at them. They will roll with laughter when it sticks to their forehead or tummy! You could also use these twisty droppers and have them squirt a letter and call out its name.
Alphabet Pancakes
Who doesn’t love teaching letter recognition with yummy snacks? We love pancake Saturdays, and when Jacob was learning his letters, I cut letters out of his pancake. At first, I just did the letters in his name and he would tell me what letters he saw. We moved through the alphabet, only cutting the letters he was learning.
Make A Letter Book
As a kindergarten teacher, I’m not a fan of sitting a child down and spending hours on worksheets. Yes, you need to use worksheets to learn and practice correct letter formation, but learning at this age should be fun and interesting!
If you’re looking for engaging activities check out our Ultimate Alphabet Book Bundle. There are 12 pages of fun, hands-on activities for each letter you can pick and choose from. Staple them together to make fun letter books for letter of the week, or pick and choose your favorite activities. Each activity is designed to get your child excited about learning in a new and different way. Letter mazes, craft activities, and play dough mats will get your child excited about learning and take the pressure off you to find engaging learning activities for them. Check out the Ultimate Alphabet Book Bundle.
Make it Easy
Of course, I emailed her back and told her to ditch the flashcards. We know now that for learning to be meaningful, it has to be engaging and flashcards just don’t cut it.
Teaching the alphabet doesn’t have to be difficult but can be fun, great for bonding, and really set your child up to thrive.
Want to learn more about preparing your child for kindergarten? Read this post all about what your child needs to know for kindergarten academics!
Want More?
If you liked this, you’ll love:
5 Genius Ways to Teach the Alphabet with the Alphabet Chart (Free Printable Included)
13 Genius Dot Sticker Learning Activities that will Delight Preschoolers
How to Teach Your Child to Write Their Name
Your Turn
What are your favorite letter recognition activities for preschoolers?