Letter Recognition Activity

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Want a fun and simple letter recognition activity for toddlers or preschoolers?

This letter recognition activity is great for toddlers or preschoolers and also great for working on fine motor skills, especially the pincer grip (which helps with writing later on).

This simple letter activity can also be differentiated depending on your child’s skill level.

Since I’ll be staying home with my 3 year olds toddlers this fall (and trying to work at home at the same time), I need simple learning activities to set up for them.

This letter recognition activity takes minutes to set up and is engaging! 

All you need for this activity are some alphabet letters, an empty oatmeal tub or something similar, and a shallow tub. 

Any type of letters will do (foam, magnet, etc.).  We used magnet letters for these since that’s what we had!

Related: Preschool Shape Matching Activity

How To Set Up This ABC Activity:

• Place letters in a shallow tub and spread them out.
• Cut a slit in an empty tub (I used an oatmeal container).
• Add in spoons, big magnets, tweezers, etc. (optional)
• Have your toddler pick up letters, scoop, use tweezers, etc. and place them in the container.  You can say the name of the letter or have them say them if they know them.

Related:  Penny and Trucks STEM Toddler Activity

My toddlers scooped these letters up and put them into a slotted hole I cut into the empty oatmeal container. 

Since I used magnet letters, one of my toddlers used a stainless steel pot to pick up the letters (a big magnet would also work well for this!).

I helped my toddlers identify what the letter was before they put it in the container.  For the letters they knew, they said the name and put it in the container.

For a child who can already name all or most of the letters in the alphabet, you can ask what sound that letter makes or a word that starts with that letter.  Or they could spell sight words, and then add them into the container. 

Really though, this activity is open-ended, and they can play with it however they choose and they are still getting letter exposure.  My boys were eager to fill this tub to the top with all the letters!  Your child may play with it in a completely different way – and that works, too!

We also had numbers in the mix of letters so we worked on number recognition, too!

Use what you have!

You can add in spoons, tongs, tweezers, or whatever other tools you have for your toddler to scoop up the letters.  Or they can just use their hands.

Since my twins just turned 3 I’m in no rush to teach them their letters.  But repetition and exposure are important when it comes to learning for kids, so I talk about letters when we get the chance.  I talk about them in books, on signs, and anywhere we see them!

I also decided to make this activity for them because it was so simple to set up and I already had the stuff to make it.  You really don’t need fancy alphabet learning toys for your child to learn their ABC’s!

Supervise closely with this activity, especially if using magnets (make sure they don’t go in their mouth).  The magnets in the letters can slip out.

Will you try this letter recognition activity with your toddler or preschooler?