10 Creative Ways to Teach the Alphabet

Teaching the alphabet is something every parent thinks about. Every kid learns their letters differently. I have practiced the alphabet in many different, creative ways with my son. Only through repetition (and many different methods) has it begun to stick! My son learns best through play. We incorporated letters into all kind of play, including crafting.

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These are our 10 favorite ways to play while learning (and teaching) the alphabet.

Letter Stamping

This is a fun way to combine art and learning. Using large letter stamps, my son will create a beautiful piece of art. I give him the option of a few different letters and he picks which one to use by correctly identifying the letter. Then, he gets to paint onto the letter and stamp it onto the paper! This almost always turns into finger painting as well and always results in lots of fun.
Bonus: include picking paint colors to practice color identification!

Puzzles

All kids love puzzles. So while teaching the alphabet, why wouldn’t you do some puzzles? It’s great for letter matching and also learning words that start with each letter. We used Melissa and Doug’s alphabet puzzle and he loves it!

Books

Alphabet books are a great way to encourage a love of reading and reinforce what you’ve been teaching. They also help to build a child’s vocabulary by exposing them to different words that start with each letter. Check out my favorite alphabet books here!

Kids will also love to “read” to younger siblings if they have them. My oldest loves to show off his alphabet books to his baby brother.

It’s not just about alphabet books though, the more you read to your child, the bigger their vocabulary will be.

Singing The Alphabet

This may seem like an obvious one, but singing the alphabet song is a key part of kids learning their ABC’s. My son is always so proud of himself when he sings it correctly and loves to dance around singing. Knowing this song is an important beginning to a child’s literacy skills.

Play-doh

Playing with play-doh is a common activity in our house. It is great for fine motor development and provides lots of opportunities to learn through play. They make ABC stamps for play-doh and cookie cutters to cut out each letter. Toddlers delight in cutting or stamping the letter and then matching them to a sheet of the alphabet. Another fun play-doh activity is to mold the play-doh into the shapes of each letter. This is great for older preschoolers.

Alphabet Coloring Pages

Exposing your child to the letters as often as you can is how they will learn them best. So, when you break out the crayons, have them color in pages themed for different letters. For example, print out the outline of an apple and write “A is for Apple” on the top. Or you can just get a coloring book filled with ABC pages. I like this one that also encourages kids to trace as well as color.

Letter Blocks

Another thing that my son loves is building with blocks. To incorporate letters into this kind of play, we got alphabet blocks! While stacking, we recite the letters printed on the blocks to reinforce this knowledge in another way.

Alphabet Magnets

Magnetic letters are perfect for matching uppercase to lowercase. They also grow with a child as you can teach early spelling using letter magnets! These are a great toy filled with learning opportunities. Plus, it’s a great way to occupy a child in the kitchen while mommy cooks.

Another fun magnetic toy helps a child learn to trace letters! Using the magnetic “pencil” kids trace each letter. They are made for both uppercase and lowercase.

Memory Games

Learn to match upper and lowercase letters while playing a fun game and exercising memory! That’s a win-win in my book!

Body Letters

Get up and moving by forming the letters with your body! Demonstrate how to make a “P” with your body and then have your toddler do the same. This is a fun game to play to get some energy out while stuck indoors while learning the alphabet. For some of the letters (like “Q”) it isn’t so easy to use your body, so instead, you can use shoelaces, buttons, or toys to make the letter on the floor!

Those are our favorite 10 ways to learn the alphabet through play. Doing these activities immerse kids in the alphabet, making it easier for them to learn each letter. Point letters out in your daily life and have your children do the same. Learning through play, kids are guaranteed to gain new knowledge and have fun at the same time!