50 Simple & Fun Alphabet Activities for Preschoolers

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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.

1. 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!
2. 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.
3. Squirt the Letter.
4. Make learning magical with magic letters that the kids reveal as they paint over them.
5. Do a letter search and find and match the pieces back together. (Two Hearts, One Roof)
6. Make a sensory bag to find the letters.
7. Get creative and have her feed the monster letters as you call them out. (Little Family Fun)
8. Use sticker letters to match to letters that you write on a paper towel tube! (Activity Mom)
9. Make letters from pipe cleaners. (Make and Takes)
10. Have fun stacking letter tiles! The catch? Name the letter before you can add it to your tower! (Stay At Home Educator)
11. Try a magic trick like Playdough to Plato does with a ABC cup hunt game! Which one is the pom pom under?
12. Find the letter and trash it! A fun idea from Motherhood on a Dime.
13. Playing House does a bean bag toss into a letter tub that you call out.
14. 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!
15. Fish for Letters from First Palette. Can you identify your ‘catch’?
16. Letter “I Spy” with Grown Up Board Games from A Heart for Home.
17. Make these simple ‘building blocks’ so your child can build a letter and then tell you what it is! (Simple Real Moms)
18. Write the alphabet on the sidewalk and water the ‘garden’. (Toddler Approved)
19. Magnetic letters matching from NutureStore make great alphabet games!
20. Simply make it a race! Lay out some letter cards 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)
21. A classic from my childhood. When in the car and traveling, do an alphabet hunt. (Teach Mama)
22. Let the children play on a typewriter, or old computer keyboard. (picklebums)
23. NurtureStore reinforces alphabet identification by baking the alphabet.
24. Another use for the ABC Mat is to play twister! (Mothergoose Club)
25. 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.

• Alphabet Foam Puzzle Mat
• Foam Bath Letters & Numbers
• Large Wooden ABC 26-piece Puzzle
• Melissa & Doug Classic ABC Block Cart
• Alphabet Fun Flash Cards
• LeapFrog Fridge Phonics Magnetic Alphabet Set

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.

1. Got on a letter hunt and match the found letters to a set of lowercase letters!
2. Match uppercase and lowercase hearts using a free printable.
3. 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)
4. 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.)
5. 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.
6. 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)
7. Match upper and lowercase letters on the sidewalk.
8. Practice writing while also learning both upper and lowercase letters by using a tray of salt. (Teach Preschool)
9. 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!

1. 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.
2. Make an alphabet game to sort by beginning letter sounds.
3. 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!
4. Take learning outside with a sidewalk letter sound scavenger hunt like No Time for Flashcards.
5. Another version of this would be to spray the letter that makes the sound from Train Up a Child.
6. 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)
7. Simple. Kids love to pretend to ‘work’. Give them tees and a hammer and pound the sound idea from ABCs of Literacy.
8. 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.
9. Do a beginning letter sound toy wash!
10. Climb up the stairs when you get the right letter sound from A Mom with a Lesson Plan.
11. Make a collage from magazine cutouts for letter sounds. (Carrots are Orange)
12. Get active with a letter sound jumping game from The Imagination Tree.
13. A Run N Spell alphabet game from Having Fun At Home gets the kids moving and learning starting letter sounds.
14. “Baking” the Alphabet on a hot day from Not Just Cute. Hungry for a banana? Fill up the letter b-b-b-B!
15. Alphabet bowling with letter pins from Toddler Approved
16. 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)
17. 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!

• Alphabet Book (Farmyard Tales Books Series)
• Alphabet Rescue
• Alphabet Mystery
• Dr. Seuss’s ABC: An Amazing Alphabet Book!
• I Spy Letters

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!