How to Teach the Alphabet to Preschoolers
Is your preschooler ready to learn the alphabet? If so, this post is for you! Jam-packed with letter recognition activities designed to help you teach the alphabet, this post contains enough fun to keep your child busy for months!
Read on to discover more about this valuable pre-reading skill for young children, or scroll down to download eight of our free, top-quality letter recognition activities.
What Is Letter Recognition?
Letter recognition—also known as alphabet recognition—is the ability to:
- distinguish between the 26 letters of the alphabet
- say the letter name
If your child already knows “The Alphabet Song,” that is a great start! But there is more to letter recognition than being able to sing the ABCs. You want your child to be able to pick out the individual letters and name them, and that’s where the downloadable activities that follow really shine.
Advantages of Learning the Letter Names
Children who know the names of the letters have three major advantages:
- Kids who know letter names will learn the sounds of the letters much more easily. By contrast, children who don’t know the letter names often have tremendous difficulty in learning the sounds of the letters.
- Children who can easily name the letters of the alphabet have an easier time learning to read.
- As they learn the letter names, children tend to be more motivated to discover more about the letters and words around them.
So you know that teaching the letter names is important, but now you may be wondering…
Should Uppercase or Lowercase Letters Be Taught First?
Developmentally, it will be easier for your child to learn capital letters first. That’s because the visual form of the capital letters is more distinct. Take a look at this row of capital letters:
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
The only letters that could be flipped and mistaken for another letter are M/W.
Now take a look at this row of lowercase letters:
a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z
With the lowercase letters, there are several pairs of letters that could be flipped.
- b/d (flip on the vertical axis)
- b/p (flip on the horizontal axis)
- d/p (flip on the horizontal and vertical axis)
- p/q (flip on the vertical axis)
- n/u (flip on the horizontal and vertical axis)
So that’s why I recommend starting with the “easier” uppercase letters.
But what about the fact that most text is composed of lowercase letters? After all, this sentence has 57 letters, and only one of them is uppercase. Doesn’t it stand to reason that kids should learn the lowercase letters first?
The fact is that your child will learn all of the letters–uppercase and lowercase–before he learns to read. So why not start with the letter form that is easiest to learn?
Honestly though, it isn’t critical. If you want to teach lowercase letters first, that is fine. Just be aware that some kids do mix up those letters mentioned above. (And here’s help if your child already reverses similar letters such as “b” and “d”.) The most important thing is that your child has an enjoyable introduction to the alphabet, and that she can recognize the letters with confidence.
Now let’s dig in to the fun stuff!
Here Are 8 Free Letter Recognition Activities You Can Download!
Creating the Alphabet with Building Blocks
Creating the alphabet with colorful bricks is a fun way for preschoolers to become more familiar with letters and enjoy a favorite playtime activity—building!
ABC Playdough Mats
Crafting letters out of playdough allows children to feel the alphabet as they roll and bend the dough to form the letters. Your child may not even realize he’s learning!
ABC Caterpillar
As your child inches his way through the alphabet with this colorful caterpillar, he’ll get plenty of hands-on alphabet play, including putting letters in alphabetical order.
ABC Bracelets
Your little one will admire her “letter of the day” every time she glances at her wrist. And tomorrow she’ll get a brand new bracelet to “show off” to family and friends!
Tactile Letter Cards
Children learn about the world around them through their senses. Our tactile letter cards let children use their sense of touch to learn about uppercase and lowercase letters.
Make Your Own Fabric Alphabet
Playing with the alphabet is a great way to help your preschooler get ready to read. This easy-to-make, soft, and colorful alphabet turns learning letters into a tactile activity.
“Feed the Puppy” Alphabet Game
Our “Feed the Puppy” Alphabet Game lets kids practice the names of the letters in a super-fun way. After all, who doesn’t love learning with a cute puppy?
Alphabet Picture Books
Alphabet picture books are the perfect way to increase letter knowledge. No crafty mess required! All you need are books, a comfy couch, and a cuddly preschooler.
These activities will give your child hours and hours of fun while helping prepare him for formal reading instruction.
Keep Track of Which Letters Your Child Knows
When you are teaching letters to your child, make sure that you get to the end of the alphabet. This may seem obvious, but all too often, young children don’t master the last several letters. Be sure that your child knows U, V, and W as well as he knows A, B, and C!
To help you keep track of which letters have been learned, you can download this great little alphabet progress chart. Post it on your fridge or playroom wall.
Letter Knowledge Is One of the Big Five Skills
Did you know that there are five skills that your child should master before beginning formal reading instruction? We call them the “Big Five Skills” and these skills lay the foundation for learning to read. In fact, they’re so important that we cover all of them in the All About Reading Pre-reading program.
If you’re ready to tackle the rest of the Big Five Skills, be sure to check out the All About Reading Pre-reading program. Your student will enjoy special games, crafts, and story time read-alouds, and you will love the way your student effortlessly learns essential pre-reading skills.
Which of these letter recognition activities are you going to try out first? Let me know in the comments below!
Shanist
says:hi, im having some difficulties with my 4 year old son….. He doesn’t seem to memorize the alphabet or numbers in the right order, sometimes not at all? he also talks with the tip pf his tongue. he remembers big numbers but in no particular order. is it something that i could try to work with him? Do you have any other printable material i could try?
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceShanist,
What you describe isn’t uncommon for 4-year-old children. Learning things in order is difficult.
Practice counting objects every day. Make fun. Put up a chart that counts to 10. Point to each number as you count. Count jumps. Count hugs. Count crackers during snack time. Count, count, count. Start with counting to 10 and only when your child has that down well, move onto to counting to 20. Keep counting but don’t worry if it takes time for your child to be able to count in order alone. A couple of my kids couldn’t count past 20 well until they were 5 or 5 1/2. It takes time.
Do similar play with the alphabet. Get an ABC chart and point to each letter as you sing the alphabet sound. Do it every day. Make a fun pointer stick for your son to point with. Get Refrigerator Magnets and put them in order together, comparing to the chart. Practice and play with the alphabet again and again. In time, he will learn alphabetical order. But again, like counting, it will take time. Many children do not master alphabetical order until 6-years-old and some are even older.
I hope this helps. Keep up the great work. I’d love to hear how it goes over the next few weeks.
Liz Calderon
says:Thank you so much for the wonderful learning materials! I am going to start teaching my 4 year old the alphabet, in particular the Lego printouts. However, the Legos you recommended and used are no longer available. Do you know of what other Lego’s have the same shapes and sizes to do the printouts? Thank you for your help!
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceLiz,
We used Duplo blocks for our ABC Building Blocks activity. I see that the link in the download is no longer working, but Duplo blocks are still available. Here is a link to a set that would work. There are other brands of bricks that would work as well.
I will have our team look into correcting that link in the pdf. Thank you for letting us know.
Liz C.
says:Thank you so much! I appreciate you looking into a similar LEGO set. And again thank you for all the educational material.
Fatma
says:Each child learns differently..both my kids are different but I taught them uppercase and lowercase letters together. I would sing the following while pointing at the letters:
I am Mama ‘A’, i say “aaaa”.
I am baby ‘a’, I say “aaaa”.
And so on… my son started reading by age 3. My daughter is still learning. Singing it makes it enjoyable and sticks in the brain…we all know that songs are easy to learn and remember.
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceFatma,
I love that you make letter learning so social and fun! What a lovely way to learn together. Thank you for sharing this.
Shubhangi
says:Feed the puppy
Please tell me some more ideas how to progress alphabet teaching from scratch.
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceShubhangi,
This blog post has links to all of our letter learning blog posts and activities.
When you begin letter learning, start with capitals and introduce one at a time. Work with that one letter for at least a day or two, but for younger children or those that may have trouble with remembering names and such, spend 10 or so minutes a day for four or five days on that one letter. Then introduce the next letter, but keep the previous letter in review. Many find it best to teach letters in alphabetical order, as it allows you to make use of the “Alphabet Song”. Every day you can sing the “Alphabet Song” while pointing to the letters you have learned so far on a chart.
Once your student has mastered the capital letters, introduce the lower case ones, again one at a time. The activities, crafts, and games in this blog post will give you lots of options for reviewing letters as you introduce them.
Then you can go through the alphabet a third time, reviewing capital and lower case together, and adding in the most common sound for each letter. The first sound on our Phonogram Sounds App is the most common.
I hope this helps you get started with teaching the alphabet. Please let me know if you have any questions.
Moses
says:Awesome work. Many thanks for the help. Always!
Lytisha Cuff
says:I’m a preschool teacher & I love this!!!!
Shanist
says:what are some methods to help my son memorize his numbers and alphabet in the correct order?
Remie
says:I am in the Philippines and I am not sure if you ship here. Do you have downloadable / Online programs?
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceRemie,
Thank you for your interest!
Right now, only the All About Homophones book is available as a download. The All About Spelling and All About Reading programs are not available as downloads because there are too many components, making it impractical.
We ship directly to the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the UK. For other countries, we recommend using a freight forwarder located here in the U.S. Freight forwarders are pros when it comes to helping folks receive shipments from other countries in a timely and hassle-free manner. They can also help you save on overall shipping costs by combining your orders from many companies into fewer shipments. On our shipping page, we now provide a link to MyUS, a freight forwarder that many of our international customers have used with great success. Check out their video, How MyUS Works. (You are also free to use a different freight forwarder if you already have a favorite one.)
Another option is to order through a distributor:
Rainbow Resource carries All About Reading, All About Spelling, and All About Homophones, and they ship worldwide.
Sonlight Curriculum carries All About Spelling and they ship worldwide as well.
I hope you can find a way to make it work. Please let me know if you have additional questions.
Remie
says:Thank you Robin! I’lll check this out. :)
Lori
says:My two-year-old loves finding his initial!
MrsA
says:There’s never any harm in covering the basics differently.
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceWhat a great way to look at it, Mrs. A! Yes, there is no harm in covering concepts in different ways and there can be a lot of benefits.
Pamela Richardson
says:So many creative teaching ideas and helps!
Carrie Ward
says:Yes I have a 3 1/2 year old granddaughter and she’s gonna be starting Pre K August 20th. Is their ne thing I can do with her???? I’d really love to have her a lil ready. See both my boys had homebound where a teacher comes & works with kids, so yeah my boys were already when they started pre K
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceCarrie,
How exciting to be able to teach your granddaughter! Our Pre-reading level will be a great start. Go as slow as she needs to be able to have success with all the parts of each lesson and have lots of fun with it! The activities we have here and elsewhere on our blog can be nice add-ons as well.
You might also consider a fun, playful way to learn numbers as well. Look for something that has short lessons and lots of hands-on.
Read aloud to her daily. Reading aloud to her will increase her vocabulary and set her up for having success with reading comprehension when the time comes. 6 Great Reasons to Read Aloud to Your Kids
The most important thing is to keep it fun and light-hearted for her, so she develops a joy of learning.
If you have any questions or need more ideas, please let me know.
Paige Talley
says:Thank you so much! This is a fantastic resource. I will definitely use most of this with my son.
Shannon
says:Thanks for all of the ideas. My 3rd little guys has no interest in letters yet so hopefully these will get him excited.
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceShannon,
It is easier to teach a child when you have his interest. Hopefully, one or more of these activities help get your little one interested. However, sometimes just waiting a bit is okay too. One of my kids had no interest in letters for a long while, then suddenly learned them all (upper and lower case) in a month when she was 5 and a half.
Carol
says:Very good advice. Thank you.
Shana
says:I’m going to try the tactile letter cards
Miha P.
says:This program helps me tremendously as I lead the children in learning spelling. We love it.
Kristina Whitaker
says:I like the bracelets. Thanks for some good ideas.
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceYou’re welcome, Kristina. Enjoy the bracelets!
Christy Pruett
says:I can’t wait to start teaching my preschooler! :)
susan
says:Great ideas to try with my littlest learner this year!
Diana
says:Looks good. The girls loved the games go along with the lessons.
Amanda
says:The feed the puppy game will work wonders with my daughter! Great idea!
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceAmanda,
Feeding the puppy is a great activity! And the blank “bones” in the download allows you to use it for all sorts of review, including math. Have lots of fun!
Jessica Thrall
says:Really cute blog! Love the thought behind this.
Patricia
says:Building with blocks looks like something that will really motivate my reluctant learner.
Katie
says:All the activities look great. My son was watching as I downloaded them and he is eager to try the letter building with the Duplos, so that will be our first.
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceKatie,
The Duplo letters is a great activity for young ones that love construction and building. Have lots of fun!
Kristin
says:Thank you for the wonderful downloads!
Rachel Gray
says:Thank you for the activities!
Tamara H
says:Thanks!
Jennifer Gatewood
says:great suggestions
Staci
says:These are wonderful! From Friday, I’m going to start teaching a 4 year old English once a week. I’m not sure how many letters she knows, if any. I think the feed the puppy game will be perfect for lessons if she doesn’t know her letters yet. Only problem is I don’t think her parents will be happy with the one letter a week approach. Anyway, thank you for these!
Sam
says:Thanks Robin! Quick question: would plastic letters on a felt letter board be a fun and useful tool with preschoolers? What about early grades like 1st and 2nd when they are recognizing words?
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceSam,
Yes, plastic letters on a felt board would be a great tool and fun toy for preschoolers! It would be similar to refrigerator magnets and we have a blog post about them, 8 Ways to Use Refrigerator Magnets. As the blog post shows, the plastic letters can also be helpful for beginning readers and spellers as well.
Great question! Let me know if you have any more.
Sam
says:Now I am thinking that maybe extra big letters would be great on the felt board. It could be a great car trip activity when no refrigerator is available!
Annie
says:I love these ideas! Especially the bracelet and the tactile cards. Definitely keeping these in mind for my 4 year old who is ready to start pre-reading. Thanks!
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceAnnie,
I’m glad you like these activities for learning the alphabet. You may also like our ABC animal crafts. It has a fun (and easy!) craft for every letter of the alphabet.
Dawn
says:I agree learning the uppercase letters first is easier for children. Thank you for all the helpful tools!
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceYou’re welcome, Dawn. I happy that you have found these tools helpful!
Tricia
says:I’m going to try the Creating the Alphabet with Building Blocks activity with my son! I know he will love it!
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceTricia,
It’s a great activity! We hope your son enjoys it as much as we have.
Lavanya
says:Hi
It was an awesome msg..
Pl let me know the teaching methodology for alphabet u
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceLavanya,
We recommend teaching the alphabet with a lot of play and fun activities. We have a lot of such activities for learning letters here. It is best to teach both the letter name and the sounds the letters make. In order to minimize confusion with young children, our Pre-reading program goes through the alphabet three times. Once learning the capital letters, once learning the lower case letters, and then learning letter sounds.
Please let us know if you have additional questions.
Trixie Sheffield
says:Pre-reading for tutoring a kindergarten student who is struggling. I believe she may be dyslexic, however I do not do dyslexia therapy on students until they are in 1st or 2nd grade..
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceTrixie,
Did you have any specific questions or concerns we can help you with?
It is often very helpful to start students with the reading readiness skills, especially phonological awareness, even if they are below 1st or 2nd grade.
Cynthia Preciado
says:When my oldest daughter was learning to read, I taught her that lower case b says “Bye-Bye” to his “Daddy B” while walking away and that lower case d says “Daddy, Daddy don’t leave!” while running back to his “Daddy D”. This helped her remember that b faces away from his dad as in Bb and that d faces his dad as in Dd. I could hear her say “bye-bye” and “Daddy, Daddy” while she spelled out words.
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceCynthia,
What a clever and memorable way to remember directionality of b and d! Thank you for sharing this.
Diana Contreras
says:this is absolutely amazing!
Beth C.
says:This is just what I needed! Great next steps for my preschooler. She knows the ABC song but love these simple activities I can do to help her in her recognition. Thank you!
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceYou are welcome, Beth. Have fun learning together!
Sheila
says:What a blessing you are to me and my classroom students. I am busy working with alphabets in the classroom. this will be a great help. Thank you ever so much.
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceSheila,
We are very happy to help you as you teach the alphabet to your classroom students!
Nancy
says:hi, I just want to thank you for your beautiful resources. Awesome!!!!!
Kathy
says:Thank you for this article. My daughter has been asking for help with information and activities for her preschool child. I have offered her help from my own experience and resources, but I am sending her this and a couple other articles and links you provide. I have used, and appreciated, your apps for my tutoring students. Thank you.
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceYou are welcome, Kathy. I hope your daughter and her child enjoy these activities!
Lauren
says:Thanks a mil for these great resources. My 7 year old is in Level 3 and my 4 year old and (2 year old) have started the Pre-Reading level. The caterpillar is fantastic! I printed and laminated it and after they finish their lesson, they work on putting the caterpillar together. We also love the bracelets. Such fun things to help cement their learning! 😀
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceLauren,
Thank you for letting us know the caterpillar and bracelets are enjoyed by your children! It’s always great to hear that the activities we come up with are being enjoyed as much as we hoped.
Crystal
says:great ideas!
Victoria
says:Amazing resources….thank you so much!!!!
Kay D.
says:I will make these letters for my 2-year-old grandson. Do you have lower case letter and number templates? I would like to make them also. Thank you for all the work that you do and for sharing it with us. It is much appreciated.
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceKay,
We don’t have a ready-made template for making fabric lower case letters and numbers, but we do explain the process for making your own template at the bottom of our fabric letter blog post.
Hadley Coble
says:Thank you, Robin, for suggesting these for my daughter who is struggling to remember her letters. She is going to have so much fun with these!
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceYou are welcome, Hadley!
Joan Lorenzen
says:Great!
Cathy
says:Even with 15 years of homeschooling under my belt, this will be my first time doing preschool!!! I used All about Spelling with my youngest son 10 years ago and it helped him greatly!! Can’t wait to start again with my granddaughter!!
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceCathy,
You are going to love it! Everything is new to preschoolers, so everything is exciting.
Betsy
says:I have a 3 year old who will be starting pre-school in the fall… He LOVES his building blocks so I can’t wait to use the building block cards!!!! 😊
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceBetsy,
The building block cards are a big hit!
Heather
says:Thank you so much for the free resources!
Britnee Harrop
says:Play dough! So excited!
Amanda McArthur
says:What is considered a normal age for kids to be reading? What age should they be reading at?
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceAmanda,
Most children begin to learn letter names, letter sounds, and phonological awareness at age 4 or 5. All these readiness skills are covered in our Pre-reading level. After mastering these reading readiness skills, children then move on to beginning reading typically at age 5 or 6. There is a lot of variation in the age that children read, although being somewhat older is more common than being somewhat younger.
I hope this helps. Please let me know if you have further questions or concerns.
Lauren
says:Interesting, I’ve heard the sounds are more important than the letter names so now I’m wondering if there are any sources to look into this more.
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceLauren,
Learning letter names is equally as important as letter sounds. However, Marie, the author of All About Reading and All About Spelling, did extensive research on the importance of learning letter names and she found that research shows that children that know letter names will learn the sounds of the letters much more easily. Children who don’t know the letter names often have difficulty in learning the sounds of the letters. Research also shows that children who can easily name the letters of the alphabet have an easier time learning to read and as they learn the letter names, children tend to be more motivated to discover more about the letters and words around them.
If you would like to receive the list of books and educational journal articles that Marie found on this topic, please email us at support@allaboutlearningpress.com. It is an extensive list.
Sara
says:Excellent I information and downloadable resources.
Joyce
says:These are great downloads. Thank you!
Amanda Ritter
says:Thank you for the resources! Added a bunch of books to our library holds!
Melissa
says:thank you so much, My developmentally delayed foster kids will love feed the dog
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceYou are welcome, Melissa. We have a “Feed the Monster” activity that they may enjoy as well.
Melissa
says:thank you so much
Rose
says:Love these resources. Thank you.
Amy
says:When my eldest was in first grade, I helped out a lot in her classroom. Many children were still struggling with the alphabet, and we worked and worked with them. Eventually they got them. Then, they would read cat as see ay tee. *frown* what’s a seeaytee? Wouldn’t it make more sense to teach them the primary sound, then link it to the name?
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceAmy,
Teaching only the letter sounds seems logical, but the research doesn’t uphold the idea. Rather, research into reading shows clearly that children that know letter names and are very familiar with the alphabet have less difficulties learning to read than those that learn only letter sounds.
However, children do need to be taught letter sounds in addition to letter names. Our Pre-reading level goes through the alphabet three times. First the capital letters, learning the names. Then the lower case letters, matching them to the capital and reinforcing the names. Then, finally, learning the most common sound for each letter. Then All About Reading 1 builds upon that, reteaching the most common sound for three or four letters at a time and then having the student read words formed from letters they have learned.
In this way, children move into reading /k/-/ă/-/t/ with no problems.
Lily Butler
says:These are so wonderful! Thank you for such great free resources!
Kate
says:My little one is so eager to follow his sisters in reading so these tools have been a great way to have him involved!!! Thank you.
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceYou are welcome, Kate. I was just telling someone this week how I sometimes wish I had a preschooler so I could use these wonderful printables!
Patrick McLaughlin
says:So thankful for these! I’ve only made the dog box so far, but the kids just love it!
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceYou’re welcome, Patrick. That “Feed the Dog” activity seems to be the most popular one we have!
Mary S
says:Thanks for the free printables! My kids loved making their puppies
melissa m.
says:Thank you so much for how to teach preschooler activities cant wait to start teaching my little one. I do have a question would it be best to do a letter a week or what would be the best approach? Thank you.
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceMelissa,
The best way to approach learning letters is the way that works best for your student. Many preschoolers find a letter-a-week pace to be ideal. It allows to do a lot of activities with the letter, and allows them the time they need to learn each one. However, occasionally a preschooler is ready and able to move faster, maybe as fast as a letter every other day.
We recommend moving at the pace that seems most appropriate for your unique child, although a letter a week is a safe pace to begin with. Keep in mind that with preschoolers it is okay to go slower, even if they are capable of a faster pace, as long as they are having fun.
I hope this helps. Let us know if you have further questions.
Jessica Wong
says:Thanks for the ideas! My 3 year old is very keen on learning his letters now, so these would be great for him!
Kathy
says:Thanks so much for this. I so appreciate these little blips to help us out. I am a customer and will be again, but I love that these are offered just to help. Thank you!
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceYou are welcome, Kathy. We are happy to be a help.
Sara
says:Looks like fun!
Natasha
says:I think these are fun ideas! I really want to try the pre reading program with my preschooler!
Launa R
says:Thank you! My 3 year old got the capital letters down and now we’re working through the lower case letters. She keeps asking why she can’t read yet but she’ll get there one step at a time.
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceLauna,
I had one that was that impatient too. He learned three or four letters and wanted to know why he wasn’t reading yet. It’s cute and sweet.
Sandra
says:We love AAR! We’ve done levels 1 and 2 and it’s been my daughters favorite subject. I am SO glad another mom recommended this program to me. Now I’m trying to get ideas for my toddler.
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceSandra,
We love to hear that AAR is a student’s favorite subject! Thank you.
Jerusha
says:This is such great and useful info! I can’t wait to use several of these ideas.
Shawnelle Davis
says:Looks like a great program!
Rebekah Amador
says:Thanks for the free activities! I’m looking forward to doing many of them with my 3 soon to be 4 year old! She’s eager to learn more letters & their sounds!
Ruth
says:Love the activities especially the fabric letters, building blocks, and play doh letters. Excited to try them with my child.
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceI hope your little one finds these activities as exciting as you think they will be, Ruth!
Meghan
says:My fourth is struggling with learning letters, so I am excited to try some of these activities. Hopefully it will make the task more fun!
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceMeghan,
These activities should help. However, children that struggle to learn letters do well to focus on just 3 or 4 at a time. Use these activities and play other games with just those 3 or 4 letters. Only once your child has mastered those well, add 3 more but keep the first 3 or 4 in regular review. I hope this helps. Let us know if you have questions.
Naomi C
says:I just printed these and cannot wait to do them with my girls :)
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceHave fun, Naomi!
Nikki Howell
says:Struggling teaching my son letters. Will definitely be trying out these games!
Erica
says:I definitely want to try the Feed the Puppy game with my daughter.
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceErica,
The Feed the Puppy activity seems to be the most popular with everyone!
Kelly
says:Cute ideas
Mia
says:These are some great ideas. Thanks.
Marci
says:These resources have been so helpful, as we teach our 3yr old the alphabet!
Rebecca Harris
says:I’m definitely going to try the playdough alphabet idea tomorrow! I have also found alphabet pasta (in a mac & cheese box) which is fun for little learners!! Love all of y’all’s ideas! I’m using AAR1 with my 2nd child and she’s LOVING it!!
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceRebecca,
If you like alphabet food, try Junior Scrabble Cheese-Its. A few times a year we use them for spelling review, with each student getting to eat the words he or she spells correctly. It’s a lot of fun.
Elissa Hardy
says:These are great ideas!
Kristen
says:We can’t wait to begin this program next year! All great ideas!
Laura
says:Love all these ideas!
Katie Waller
says:Thanks for the great resources! I’m looking forward to teaching my almost 3 year old in the next year or two!
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceKatie,
Have fun. Preschool age is one of my favorite ages!
Sara H.
says:We made the puppy/cereal box project this week, and my 4 year old loved it! I intend to use it again with lots of variations (matching upper and lower case, having her select by sound, etc).
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceSara,
Thank you for letting us know the “Feed the Puppy” game was such a hit!
Mindy H
says:I printed these activities for my daughter and I honestly don’t know who was more excited, her or I! Thank you for such great ideas.
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceMindy,
A teacher’s honest enthusiasm is often very “catchy” to students!
Cindy Ontrop
says:Love these ideas!
Yvette
says:I can’t wait to try this with my littlest!
Rebecca
says:I love that AAR encourages parents to mix up the cards when reviewing any concept. When I used to teach Kinder, I would have to remind some parents to mix up the flash cards when reviewing letters (or numbers, words, etc) at home because I noticed some students could recognize the letters in alphabetical order, but not when shown randomly. My middle son is currently in AAR pre-reading, and it’s been working great for him!
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceRebecca,
Yes, mixed review is very important; you can’t ensure mastery without it. Thanks for bring that up.
Sarah Phillips
says:I like the use of blocks to teach the alphabet. Both of my boys really like playing with Legos.
Julie
says:I can’t wait to use this curriculum. I started AAR with my daughter in first grade and we did level 1. What grade would you recommend starting this one? Pre-K or K?
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceJulie,
Our Pre-reading level is appropriate for Pre-K or K students, it just depends on the student and his or her needs. We have a placement test for it to determine if your student is ready.
Lorraine Holmen
says:After lots of research I’m anxious to uses this program with my grandson.
Tracy
says:I feel soooooo much better about teaching the capitals first. Makes sense. Thanks!
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceYou’re welcome, Tracy!
Sarah
says:Great suggestions!
Jana
says:I had wondered about teaching upper or lowercase first, but that makes sense. Thanks!
Kayla
says:Thank you for putting these resources all in one spot. My youngest has an interest in letters and now I have some resources. My older kids love the AAR and AAS. Thanks!
Aimee
says:My five year old is doing the Pre-reading book now. He will love creating the alphabet with building blocks! He wants to read so that he doesn’t have to wait for mom or dad to read a book to him!
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceAimee,
“Motivation to Read”, check! He has at least one of the Top 5 Reading Readiness Skills down. :D
Tesha
says:Thanks so much for all these ideas! I love the Lego and Feed the Puppy activities. I hope we can try them soon!
Tesha
says:Thanks so much for all these ideas! I love the Lego and Feed the Puppy activities.
Lauren
says:I love the Alphabet Progress Chart! So cute. We are past that for this child but never know for the future! And I didn’t know there was a pre-reading set in AAS! That is a GREAT addition! I love how you distinguished between upper and lowercase letter mistakes as a way to teach capitals first. Thank you! Lauren
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceLauren,
Our Pre-reading level is for All About Reading, but as we recommend students be reading on a beginning level before starting All About Spelling, you could say the Pre-reading level is for All About Spelling too.
Temalesi
says:I need your songs and rhymes that will help me along with teaching alphabets too.
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceTemalesi,
We do not have songs and rhymes in our program. The only song we use is the ABC song, and we play with rhymes and rhyming to develop phonological awareness, but we don’t use songs and rhymes for rules or teaching.
Marie Greenhalgh
says:My 2 year old loves feeding the puppy her letters. She knows most of them!
anne Jetton
says:I cant wait to use all about reading/ spelling as I have heard so many good things about the program!
Kara
says:Absolutely thrilled with these resources for my four year old! It is so wonderful to have materials to work with based on the Orton-Gillingham method at the pretending level!! Thank you so much for sharing!
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceYou are welcome, Kara! I love how you put it, “the pretending level.”
Anya McFarland
says:These are beautiful resources that allow for a properly multisensory learning! I am looking forward to using them with my almost three year old while we prepare our order and wait for it to be delivered here (Northern Ireland).
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceAnya,
Have fun!
Temalesi
says:I like this method of teaching alphabets alot, it really help
Miranda W
says:I love the resources you have included here. They will be easy to incorporate into things we are already using.
Heather
says:What about teaching cursive first to prevent letter flipping?
Corie
says:Thanks so much for this post! We love this program!
Lisa
says:Thank you so much for all the free printables and ideas! My kids love them!
Jamie Clausing
says:I can get behind a curriculum that makes learning a game for kids. Boys and girls alike respond well, and I can’t wait to use this with my almost 4 year old and eventually my other children too!
Renee Brown
says:Thank you so much for this post! I am teaching my 4 year old his letters and we have been getting quite frustrated!! I hope these tips will help us. My daughter has had great success with the AAR and AAS levels 1 & 2.
Alyssa
says:I was referred by a passionate friend to this program, and it’s been everything she promised! Easy, fun, and follows the Orton-gillingham approach, which I need for my four year old! I love AAR, no gaps like the program I used for my son! :)
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceAlyssa,
I have always felt that a friends referral is the highest praise. I am happy to hear our program lived up to your friend’s promise!
Catalina H
says:I have a handful of students with dyslexia every year. Your activities and suggestions are so welcome. I am always looking for good resources.
Kelly
says:We use “feed the puppy” with my 3 year old and she loves it! It’s been a great learning tool with the letter sounds too. I have your app open while we play it so she can hear the letter sound after she says it out loud. I’m excited to see the alphabet progress chart and do agree that those end letters don’t get reviewed as much as needed. That was a great reminder to brush up on those! I’m also going to start the Play doh work…great ideas! Thank you!
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceYou are welcome, Kelly! Thanks for letting us know that what we have hear are enjoyable and effective for your 3 year old.
Temalesi
says:Great, it really helps my children
Kristy
says:Great tips!
Melissa
says:Thanks! These will be great additions to our pre-reading work!
Lori
says:I have used Levels 1-3 with my older ones but think my youngest could use a little extra help from the pre-reading program.
Heather B
says:I would love the preschool products for my 3 year old. Easy button! We use reading and spelling with the 1st, 3rd, and 5th graders. Ok so part of my motivation is so that the 5th grader can easily work with her little brother while I nurse the baby:). Haven’t taken the plunge ever though and purchased your preschool stuff.
Julie Roberts
says:These ideas were so helpful as I work on teaching my preschooler the alphabet. We don’t get to it on a daily basis, but we will work our way thru.
Sarah M.
says:My 3-1/2 year old said with a pout today “All the big kids can read and I can’t. When do I get to read?” Well, little one, how about today? Printing the playdough mats, bracelets, and Feed the Puppy. We already have Pre-Reading, just needed a new student book, so we’ll be excited for that to show up at our door soon!
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceSarah,
This made me smile! Thanks for sharing it.
Abby
says:Can’t wait to use the alphabet building blocks and bracelet downloads to help my preschoolers learn their letters!
Rachel
says:This article was very helpful, along with the freebies (thank you!). My husband and I have 3 preschool aged children at home and will be able to use these tips and tools as we help them prepare for school!
Leah
says:Great information – thanks for the printables!!
Maria
says:I like these fantastic ideas and suggestions for the teachers. I will share them with my colleagues.
Yamel
says:These are great. I’ve used the “Feed The Puppy”. My kids loved it!
Jess
says:Awesome tips! AAR has made our learning so much easier!
Jill Baker-Isom
says:WE love all the resources and free resources that help support your AAR programs! We are thankful and blessed by this curriculum!
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceYou are welcome, Jill!
Dee Neal
says:Love AAR
Brenda
says:Thank you so much for the free resources! My dyslexic son and preschooler are really enjoying learning with the great games. We made the duck pond game a fishing game with paper clips and a magnet “fishing pole” to capture the runaway ducks. They love it! I can’t wait to play feed the dog and caterpillar with my preschooler! Thanks for being the support we need!
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceBrenda,
Your duck pond game sounds great! How much fun!
grace greenwell
says:I am going to try the alphabet bracelets and the caterpillar. They look super fun. I am teaching my 4 year old prek’er this year.
Dana
says:So many great ideas!!
georgia
says:My son struggles with switching letters. Thanks for these tips.
MaryAnne
says:I love using Ziggy with my four year old. She makes teaching letters fun!
georgia
says:Love this idea about the Lego letters! Thank you!
I’m not a user of your program but I wish I had used it with my older children. This program really could’ve helped with my third child who struggled with auditory processing and decoding.
Joan Connelly
says:My students and I love this program!
Ashley B.
says:wonderful program
Kandis Posey
says:I will be using the Lego activity today durning school!! I can’t believe I’ve never thought of it before. Thanks!
Melinda
says:You do amazing work for children with difficulties.
Ally
says:I’ve been using AAR 1 and 2 with my older soon, I’m excited to start the pre reading with my younger sons next year.
michelle Miller
says:great post
Christie
says:My 2.5 year old loves her blocks and is just beginning to recognize letters, so building the ABCs sounds like a great combination of the two!
Liz
says:What a great list of activities ! I would never have thought about the fabric letters! It is hard to know which one to start with, but I have building blocks on hand so I will probably begin there. Definitely saving and sharing this article!!
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceLiz,
Have fun with the building blocks! I have found if you want the cards to match up to regular size Lego bricks that printing the cards at 60% of full size works.
Donna
says:This is interesting. I have children with learning disabilities. If I teach them the letter names, they cannot make the leap to letter sounds. For example, H. If they know the name of the letter H, they will then tell me the sound is ch. I have to teach letter sounds first. Knowing the names and sounds is too much information for them. In addition, they cannot learn numerals until letters are mastered. It’s just too confusing for them. I’m struggling with a 7 year old right now. She just cannot remember the letters. Has anyone else experienced this, letter names getting in the way of learning letter sounds?
Karen Fan
says:My 8 y.o. is experiencing this too. After years of practice, she knew the letter sounds very well. Then, while pursuing help through vision therapy for the past 6 months, she has been required to say the letter names. Now it seems she has lost most of the letter sounds. It’s like too much information for her to keep in her mind at once. And for the record, she struggles with additional capital letter reversals: C/U L/J V/N/A. We’ve done 4 out of these five ideas listed (all but the building blocks). Nice to have one more idea to try. We’re persevering, but are far from automaticity.
Donna
says:Thanks for your comment. As a homeschool parent of 5 who struggle to learn, it can feel like Im the only one! My friends all have brilliant children who read at high school levels in elementary! They cannot begin to understand what it is like to spend years on one seemingly simple thing…letters. Forget numerals, forget writing… little brains that can only hold one bit of information. I would insist in vision therapy that they allow letter sounds from your 8 year old. Its not helpful if she forgets the sounds! My daughter couldnt have an eye exam for years because she could not learn the alphabet and they wouldn’t take her until she knew it!
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceDonna,
We are not suggesting that the letter name alone allows a child to get the letter sound. As you showed with your H example, some letter names do not sound like their sound. However, lots of research has shown that students that know letter names first do better learning letter sounds later.
Many children will have confusion when trying to learn letter names and letter sounds together at once. That is why Pre-reading level teaches capital letter names, then the lower case letter names, and only then teaches letter sounds. The Pre-reading level goes through the alphabet three times, each time taking as long as it takes for the child to master. Some children need a week per letter to master just the names of the capitals, with ongoing review throughout. Others can master them at the pace of a letter per day. Either is “right” if it is right for the child.
With a child that is struggling to learn letters, it is important to teach just 3 or 4 new letters at a time, and to not add any more until those 3 or 4 are fully mastered. Equally important is to review for a few minutes a day at least 5 days per week. If you find your daughter struggles to remember letters on Monday that she knew on Friday, consider adding in a quick 2 minute Saturday and maybe even Sunday review. Short, but very consistent, daily reviews are the key. Keep reviewing previously mastered letters as well.
We have a report on Helping Your Child’s Memory that you might find helpful.
Please let us know if you have any questions or further comments.
Donna
says:Hi Robin, Thank you for your response. My daughter went to a private school for Kindergarten. She was unable to learn what Kindergarteners learn. I regret putting her in school because she cannot handle two bits of information about a letter…name and sound. Names don’t relate to reading, sounds do. For a child with questionable intellect, it can take years to learn the alphabet. My 12 year old took 4 years to learn letter sounds. I think I will purchase your pre reading program for my 7 year old, take it back to basics, and see if I can have success in less than 4 years with her. I love AAS, so Im sure I will love AAR too!
Lebo
says:Very creative indeed. I love the feeding of the puppy and dough activities. Great ideas.
Carrie m.
says:I’m thinking my son is ready to begin letter recognition and these are some amazing tools to use!
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceHave fun, Carrie!
Mary
says:I really like the variety of assignments.
Peggy
says:Wonderful resources!
Amy Charbonneau
says:Looking forward to using these ideas :). Thanks for sharing!
Sandra
says:I absolutely love this post. My almost 4yo is already learning so much but these tips and activities will help us even more. Thank you!
Karis
says:Thank you for the ideas. My 3 year old is keeping me on my toes.
Meg
says:These are wonderful ideas! Thank you!
Sarah Wensley
says:Thanks for the free tools!
Julie
says:What fun ideas! Thank you!
Lori H
says:These tips are helpful as I have a little one learning his letters😊
Megan Thomas
says:Thank you for the creative ideas! I’ll be using several of these with my children.
Carolynn Slocum
says:AAS has not disappointed me yet! I have children at home ranging in age from 2 to 18, and they all benefit from things learned or overheard in AAS! Thank you for an amazing program that really works!
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceCarolynn,
I love how you mentioned “overheard”. It does work that way sometimes too.
Christine Wadleigh
says:Just absolutely love both, All About Spelling and All About Reading. Have children in K, 3rd and 5th grades and they all, despite their different personalities, thrive with these programs. Love it.
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceChristine,
Yes! All About Reading and All About Spelling well to so many learning styles and needs.
Angela Dobson
says:These are great ideas. We have just started the pre reading program and so far we love it. These extra printables will really help I ha creased his learning. Thanks!!
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceAngela,
Yes! These activities would blend very well with our Pre-reading program.
asma
says:love the system! everything at the tip of finger..thank you
Patricia
says:Enjoyed the fun ideas you shared. Look forward to trying them with my own preschooler!
Becky Huddleston
says:Just ordered “All About Reading” for my 3rd grader. We have just started homeschooling and I’m excited to use this program to help my son gain confidence and finally begin to love reading as much as I do!
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceBecky,
Congratulations on beginning homeschooling! It’s a wonderful experience!
Let us know if you have any questions or need anything.
annette anderson
says:I never thought of teaching the easier capital letters first, but this is a great idea!
Thanks,
Annette
Bethany Eskro
says:Awesome tips! Thank you so much
Emily
says:Such a helpful article!
Amanda
says:Thanks for all the fun ways to learn the alphabet! My boys will love this!
Jessica
says:My six year old still gets her b&d mixed up in reading. Great article.
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceJessica,
Letter reversals before the age of 8 or so is completely normal and part of the learning process. However, we do have a blog post with tips and activities that may help you help her Solve Letter Reversals.
Michelle
says:Great article! Thank you for the freebies.
Michelle
says:Great article! Thank you for the link.
Beth
says:My son at 4 1/2 has taken off reading, thanks to your products! They are awesome!
Tamara H.
says:Thanks for the free printables!
Susanne Osborn
says:These look so fun! Makes me wish I had another little one to start teaching letters to. =)
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceI’ve had the exact same thought, Susanne! These make me want to borrow a preschooler from a friend. :D
Jodie
says:Thank you for this. I have just started one of my kids on the Pre-Reading programme (the first time I have used it) and I was wondering about the upper vs lower case thing. Especially since when my other children were at school they learnt lower case and sound first and at the same time. In the end I decided to follow your lead, there’s no rush. I’m glad to have read about your reasoning behind it though.
What does intrigue me though, is the simplicity of the AAR programme at all levels, yet my children really enjoy it and I have no hassles getting them to work. I started Level 1 with my very reluctant seven year old in February and now he can read – and actually will read. Plus I know the learning is thorough. I’m very grateful for AAR. Jodie in New Zealand.
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceJodie,
Thank you for taking the time to let us know how our reading program has been working with your children! I was especially happy to read that your reluctant seven year old is doing so well. I’ll be sharing this with the entire AALP team!
Amanda B
says:What a great post!! Just what I need for my preschooler. Perfect timing. =)
Melissa
says:We just recently got the pre-reading program and I am shocked at how fast my three-year-old has learned the letters of the alphabet! I had tried so many other different methods but nothing was working with him up until all about reading !
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceMelissa,
Thank you so much for taking the time to tell us this! How wonderful that he could have such success with our Pre-reading level!
LeeAnn Day
says:Thanks for such awesome products and ideas!
Kezia
says:Great resources – thank you!
Holly
says:Love the play dough letters idea!
Shelby K
says:My 4 year old daughter will love making the playdough letters! Thanks for the freebies– I love AAS and AAR!
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceYou’re welcome, Shelby! Have fun.
Bridget Meyer
says:I’ve always liked teaching capital letters first. Nice to see my instinct was right
Nichole
says:I’m looking forward to using building blocks to make letters with my little guy as a letter activity for AAR Pre-Reading. Thank you!
Any idea why the letter recognition chart doesn’t seem to print? I’m getting a memory issue error message on my printer. I was able to print a page for the building block letters without difficulty.
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceNichole,
We tried on two different computers and two different printers, and we had no trouble printing the Alphabet Progress Chart. If you haven’t been successful already, you may try restarting your computer and printer. If that doesn’t solve the problem, you may need to google your printer model and the exact wording of the error message you are receiving.
I’m sorry we weren’t able to help more with this difficulty.
Ashley
says:Im really excited to try the game where the kids feed the puppy letters! It will help my 3 year old learn the names and help my almost 5 year old practice sounds and reading words! So versatile!
Jenn A
says:My daughter will love these – especially “Feed the Puppy”! Thank you for the variety of ideas!
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceJenn,
The “Feed the Puppy” one does seem to be especially fun for young learners!
Erica eich
says:Lots of great information! 💕