Recognizing Letters
Dance and clap along to celebrate the letter of the day...A!
- Watch the video together. Then, together with children, write letters A through Z on small slips of paper and put them in a small container. You might label the container “Letter of the Day.”
- Every day, ask kids to pull a letter out of the container—that’s your letter of the day. Celebrate that letter all day long:
- Point the letter out in signs, books, and labels all around you.
- Think of a classmate, family member, or fictional character whose name starts with the letter.
- Form the letter with your bodies as you stretch or exercise (some letters can be formed alone, others need a partner).
- Eat foods starting with the letter.
- Form the letter using blocks or other toys.
- Practice writing the letter in lowercase and uppercase forms.
- Choose a bedtime story that starts with the letter.
If you do this every day, you’ll be done in 26 days! But you can start all over again—kids will keep on learning.
Terry Crews Is an Artist
Terry Crews, Count, and Abby talk about the word “artist.”
Alphabet Art
Alphabet art is a fun, hands-on way to help kids recognize the shapes of letters. It can also provide an opportunity to layer in learning across subjects. Watch this video and think of ways you might incorporate letter crafts into your work with kids and families.
Abby’s Letter Garden
Prepare children for school success by exposing them to uppercase letters, helping them recognize them, and write them themselves.
I Know My Letters
A printable alphabet coloring page.
Building and Rebuilding Language Skills—and Community!
An article about building children’s language skills by enriching your interactions.
Creating Alphabet-Rich Environments
Alphabet recognition involves learning the names, shapes, and sounds of the letters in the alphabet, and it helps get kids ready for phonics learning. There are so many ways to introduce the alphabet to young children. Adding a little alphabet magic to your environment can be a great place to start.
Building a Reader
An interactive course that explores key literacy goals, strategies, and activities to support learning around language and literacy in children ages 2-5.
