6 Easy Ways to Teach the Alphabet to Preschoolers

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Here are 6 easy ways to teach the alphabet to preschoolers. Teaching your child the alphabet is one of those fundamental skills every parent understands is necessary. But if you aren’t a teacher you may not know where or how to start. This post will help guide you on some of my favourite ways to teach the alphabet as well as give you ideas to do at home or in the classroom with your child or students.

Ways to Teach the Alphabet

As a mother of twins I am keenly aware that every child learns at their own pace. Some children will pick up on letters immediately while others require more repetition and practice. However your child learns there is a lot you can do at home to help them on this important journey.

As a guide here are a few things regarding letters your preschooler should learn before learning how to read.

Recognize lower case letters.
Recognize upper case letters.
Be able to match lower to upper case letters.
Identify upper and lower case letters sounds.
Attempt to write some letters.

Even if your child is starting kindergarten and is still a little shaky on their letters, especially after a summer of fun in the sun, now is the perfect time to teach the alphabet to them.

6 Easy Ways to Teach the Alphabet to Preschoolers

1. Begin with Their Name to Teach the Alphabet

Teach the alphabet by starting with their name. The most important letters that your preschooler will learn are the letters of their own name. They are the easiest letters to learn and the most important to recognize from the very first days in preschool. I also found that my kids had the most interest in learning these letters because it was all about them. You can also use this opportunity to expand and teach them the letters of your name, mom and dad or even a sibling’s name.

Here are so easy name recognition activities for preschoolers to help teach the alphabet to them:

TP Name Sort Activity for Preschoolers

DIY Twist-Off Your Name Board: Fine Motor Activity

Cotton Ball Snowball Names

If you are looking for more name recognition ideas, check out this post with 50+ Name Recognition Activities for Kids.

2. Alphabet Sensory Bins

Teach the alphabet by using sensory play. One of my favourite ways to learn the alphabet is through sensory play. I am firm believer that sensory play is one of the best ways to learn just about anything at this age. If you can combine it will sensory play, the connections made in the brain are far more solid than without. I also like sensory play because it’s easy to set up with multiple kids (I’m a twin mom if you didn’t know, so when it comes to setting up activities I have to do things in double).

Here are some of my favourite alphabet sensory bins for preschoolers.

Moon Rock Letters

Sponge Letter Match

Icy Letters: A Literacy Sensory Bin

If you are looking for more name recognition ideas, check out this post with 26+ Alphabet Sensory Bins for Kids.

3. Read Books to Teach the Alphabet

Teach the alphabet using books. You are already probably doing this activity which is amazing and it’s something that you should continue to do until they have learned their letters cold!! Read, read and read some more! Reading any book is great for learning letters but if you can find books that just focus on letters and their sounds that would be fantastic as well.

Here are my favourite books about letters:

4. Use Toys & Puzzles to Teach the Alphabet

Teach the alphabet using toys. Help your little one learn their letters by incorporating letter toys and puzzles into their play. I recently purged some of our puzzles as we are moving and the kids are getter bigger but the puzzles that I kept are all the ones with letters and numbers. They are great for practicing letter recognition and letter sounds. Grabing a puzzle with both upper and lower case letters is also a great investment.

Here are some of my favourite alphabet toys and puzzles:

Alphabet Puzzle for Toddlers Chunky Lowercase & Uppercase Letters

6 Easy Ways to Teach the Alphabet to Preschoolers

Melissa & Doug ABC Picture Boards

Wooden Lacing Cards With Double-Sided Panels and Matching Laces

Alphabet Soup Sorters

Alpha Pops – 26 Double Sided Pieces

5. Hands-on Alphabet Activities

Teach the alphabet using activities. I can’t have a list of ways to teach the alphabet without including some hands-on letter recognition activities. These ideas are similar to the name recognition activities except they incorporate any letters of the alphabet. I like to keep my ideas simple, engaging and fun. I also use items from around the house to create activities as well as some toys.

Here are my favourite hands-on alphabet activities:

Alphabet Matching Activity

Cactus Letter Matching & Fine Motor Activity

Snowball Letter Unwrap

Dinosaur Letter Hunt

If you are looking for more name recognition ideas check out this post with 50+ Easy Alphabet Activities for Preschoolers.

6. Alphabet Art

Teach the alphabet by using art. I can’t leave this list without throwing in a little art. If I could I would just do sensory and crafts with my kids all day long! Adding a little art with your letter learning can really go a long way to mixing things up. One of my favourite ways to craft letters is to use sticky walls! If you don’t have sticky paper (contact paper), no worries, you can easily adapt these crafts to regular construction paper and glue. Check out the letters we have done so far:

Letter Aa Sticky Wall Craft

Letter Bb Sticky Wall Craft

Letter C Sticky Wall Craft

Check out My Books, TV Show & Play Kits!

Book: Exciting Sensory Bins for Curious Kids

Did you know I wrote a book of sensory bins? Click here for more information Exciting Sensory Bin for Curious Kids. Or grab your copy at Amazon.

Boring afternoons are made exciting with awesome animal-based bins, like Salty Shark Bay or Yarn Farm. Pretend play bins like Birthday Cake Sensory Play or Bubble Tea Party encourage creativity and imagination. And your kids will have so much fun they won’t even know they’re getting smarter with STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math) activities like Sink or Float Soup, Magnetic Letter Hunt or Ice Cream Scoop and Count.

Book: Super STEAM Activity Book for Kids

Learning all about science, technology, engineering, art, and math sets kids up for scholastic success―and it can be so much fun! Watch kids enjoy building STEAM skills as they color friendly fish, help water find its way to tree roots, solve math problems with mazes, and more.

Find out more and grab your copy here.

Book: Big Book of Riddles for Kids – Pre-order now!! Coming out October 18, 2022

Boost brainpower with fun riddles for kids ages 6 to 9

Riddle me this: What’s an exciting way to practice critical thinking while having a blast? The Big Riddle Book for Kids, of course! From hilarious puns to tough brain teasers, kids can build problem-solving skills with hundreds of riddles that show them how to think outside the box.

350 riddles for kids—Have hours of fun with riddles, puns and jokes, and math and logic puzzles that’ll get their wheels turning!
Level up their skills—Riddles get trickier as kids progress through the book, challenging them as they get better at solving puzzles!
Double-check their work—Kids can check their answers in the back of the book with a handy answer key.

Help children expand their minds while having fun with this puzzle book for kids!

Book: STEAM Crafts for Kids – coming out November 29, 2022

TV Show: Curious Crafting

I’m so excited to finally share my new crafting TV show Curious Crafting on TVOkids and TVOkids YouTube!

This show is all about fun and easy crafts for toddlers and preschoolers.

Set in the ultimate crafting space, Curious Crafting is a short form pre-school age series about the joy of making crafts. I lead a rotating cast of adorable little preschoolers (including my own) making magic out of common household objects.

In each episode we transform recycled items into magical crafts like a milk carton school bus, paper bag puppet or cotton pad turtle. The crafters learn and laugh their way through each activity while demonstrating what their young imaginations can create.

Curious Crafting shares the adventure and joy of making art with takeaway lessons for creating crafts at home.

The Best Sensory Play Kits for Kids

Play is at the core of learning during the early years and it can take many forms. One of the most important of these is sensory play because it engages all of a child’s senses (taste, touch, smell, sight and hearing) and has a enoumous positive impact on brain development.

Our Sensory Play Kits are some fun and easy ways to keep your child engaged while at the same time using sensory play to nurture their mind!