For preschool with Riley, we have been focusing on uppercase and lowercase letters as well as letter sounds. As a way to introduce and review her letters, I have created some letter recognition activities. Give these a try with your preschooler or kindergartner as a way to review their letters.

Letter Match (tactile activity)

Use a wet erase marker to write one letter on each block. Focus on the letters you want to review rather than every letter. Make sure that you write both the uppercase letters and the lowercase letters. Have your child match the uppercase and lowercase letter blocks/tiles together.

Search and Find (sensory activity)

There are a few ways to create this activity. One way would be to take a sheet of paper and write letters all over it – a mix of uppercase and lower case letters. You could also use two sheets of paper—one for uppercase letters and the second for lowercase letters. Either way make sure you have the matching uppercase/lowercase letter for each letter that you want to focus on. Give your child stickers to place over the matching letters as you call them out. Peeling and sticking stickers is a great fine motor activity. Another way to create this activity would be to again take one or two pieces of paper and write letters all over them. Make sure you have the matching uppercase/lowercase letter for each letter that you want to focus on. Grab one or two gallon size zip close bags depending on the numbers of papers you have. If there is a label on the zip close bag, you will want to remove that with a cotton ball and rubbing alcohol. Fill the zip close bag with conditioner or another opaque liquid. You will want enough conditioner to spread and cover the whole bag when it is lying flat. I used conditioner that also had a color to it instead of adding food coloring. Seal the bag closed and remove as much air as you can. I like to tap the opening closed as an added precaution. Place the papers with the letters on a hard surface. Place the zip close bags over the paper horizontally and tape the zip close bag to the hard surface to keep it from shifting. Your child will use their fingers or a craft stick to push the conditioner around to find letters on the paper underneath. When they find a letter, they should then begin searching for the matching letter (upper/lowercase letter). You can also call out letters as well for your child to search for.

Play Memory or Match (fine motor and social activity)

Select a few letters that you want to focus on for the game of memory. Be sure you have both the uppercase and lowercase forms of each letter. Mix up the cards and lay them face down. Have your child flip over two cards at a time looking for letter matches. This is a game you can play with your child or your child can play independently. Encourage your child to try to remember where the cards are as they play. You can purchase a version of this game here

Letter Puzzles (fine motor activity)

This is another type of matching game where your child will match together the uppercase and lowercase letters. You may want to focus on a few select letters at a time rather than the whole alphabet at once. You can purchase a version of Letter Puzzles here

File Folder Games (fine motor activity)

File folder games are a great way to review concepts in game form while also not taking up a lot of space. You can purchase a Letter Recognition File Folder game here

Clip Cards (fine motor activity)

Clip cards are a great way to both review and assess how well your child knows a certain concept. They will take clothespins or other small manipulatives and place them on the matching letter. Using clothespins is a more challenging fine motor activity so you can also use small manipulatives like building bricks or pompoms. You can purchase Letter Recognition Clip Cards here

Flash Cards (gross motor activity)

You can easily make a set of Alphabet flashcards with index cards or use the letter puzzle or memory cards for this activity too. Lay matching uppercase and lowercase letters right next to each other and place the letters in a vertical line with space between each letter. Have your child jump to each letter and say the letter name as they go. You can also spread the uppercase and lowercase letters out and have your child name the letter and if it is an uppercase or lowercase letter.

Note: You can pick up the Letter Recognition Memory, Puzzles, File folder game, and clip cards in one bundle here. Letter Recognition Games Bundle

Benefits

• Fine motor skills
• Gross motor skills
• Social skills/taking turns (game play)
• Following Directions
• Memory development
• Listening
• Focus/attention
• Working independently on a task