Letter Games

Letter Games

Skills:  alphabet knowledge; social skills

Musical Letters – Write letters on paper plates.  You will need as many plates as there are students in your classroom.  Put the plates on the floor in a circle.  When the teacher starts the music, the children walk around the circle.  When the music stops, each child picks up the plate closest to her.   The teacher calls on different children to identify their letter.  If they don’t know their letter, they can “phone a friend” (hold up their hand by their ear and pretend to call someone) to ask for help.  Children put their plates back on the floor and the game continues when the music starts.

Boom!  Write letters on index cards.  Write the word “BOOM!” on several cards with a bright colored marker.  Shuffle up the cards.  Children call out the letters as you show them.  When “BOOM!” appears, they jump up and shout out, “Boom!”
*Change the word “boom” for a seasonal word or theme word.  For example, in November you could have a picture of a turkey, or a bunny in the spring.

Swat It!  Write letters on the chalkboard.  Give one child a fly swatter and call out a letter.  Can she “swat” the letter? 

Stomp!  Place letters on the floor.  Let the children take off their shoes.  Ask two or three children at a time to play the game.   Call out a letter.  Who can be the first to “stomp” on it?

Red Rover – Divide the class into two teams and have them stand 10-20 feet apart facing each other.  Give each child a letter to hold in her hands.  Let teams take turns saying, “Red rover, red rover, send letter right over.”  The child holding that letter walks to the other team.  Then the other team gets to call a letter over.

Show Me – Give each child 5 index cards with letters printed on them.  (You can use random letters, or give each child the same five letters.)  Children place the cards in front of them.  When the teacher says, “Show me letter,” children hold up that letter.  This is a quick, easy way to assess children’s letter recognition.  You might also say, “Show me the letter that makes the sound you hear at the beginning of ‘horse.’”

Snowballs – To make snowballs, write letters on scrap paper and wad them up.  Divide the class into two teams and pass out a snowball to each child.  Have the two teams stand in two lines about 25 feet apart.  When the teacher calls out, “Let it snow!” the children throw their snowballs at the opposite team.  Children pick up the snowballs, open them, identify the letter, then wad it back up and throw it at the other team.

Knock!  Knock!  Place letter cards in a pocket chart and turn them over.  Pretend to knock on one card at a time as you say, “Knock!  Knock!”  The children respond, “Who’s there?”  As you turn over the letter the children say, “It’s letter name.”

Letter Worm – Draw the face of a worm on an 8” circle similar to the one shown.  Cut out 26 five inch circles from construction paper and write letters on these.  Pass out letters to the children.  Place the worm’s head on the floor.  One at a time children come up, say their letter, and place it on the worm.  If they don’t know their letter they can “phone a friend.”

  • Challenge the children to place the letters in alphabetical order!
  • Who has A?  What comes next?

Twister – Write letters on paper plates and place 6-9 on the floor as shown.  Let one child at a time come up and follow the directions as you call them out.  For example:  Put your left hand on the “W.”  Put your right foot on “C.” 

  • Make directions increasingly complex.

Tisket, Tasket, Letters in My Basket – Place letter cards or magnetic letters in a basket.  Children sit in a circle on the floor.
One child is “it.”  “It” skips around the room with the basket full of letters as the children sing:
         A tisket, a tasket, there are letters in my basket.
         I’ll drop one behind a friend and see if they can name it.
“It” drops a letter behind one friend.  That child identifies the letter and then exchanges places with “it.”  If the child can’t name the letter, she can “ask the audience” to help her.

Letter Socks

Skills:  alphabet knowledge; visual matching; small motor skills
Cut socks out of construction paper using the attached pattern. Socks Write uppercase letters on some socks and lowercase letters on the other socks.  Place the socks in a box or basket.  Children find the socks that match and clip them together with a clothespin or paper clip.

Hint!  Adapt the number of socks to the ability of your students.  You might want to begin with 5 pairs and increase the number of pairs as children become more proficient.
*You can also tie a string between two chairs and ask children “hang up” the socks.

Puzzle Pairs

Skills:  alphabet knowledge; phonological awareness
You will need paper plates to make this game.  Write a letter on one side of the plate and glue a picture of an object that begins with that sound on the other side.  Cut a puzzle design in the middle as shown.  Children mix up the puzzle pieces and then try to match beginning sounds and objects.  This is a self-check game that insures successful repetition.

  • Cut paper plates into thirds. 
  • Write the uppercase letter in one section, the lowercase letter in another section, and a picture that begins with the letter in the third.

Egg Match

Skills:  alphabet knowledge; print knowledge
You will need plastic eggs and a permanent marker for this game.  Write an uppercase letter on one half of the egg and the lowercase letter on the other half.  Take the eggs apart and place them in a basket or box.  Children try to match up the letters as they put the eggs together.
*Have children place pictures of objects that begin with letters inside the eggs.

Fishing for Letters

Skills:  alphabet knowledge; motor skills

Fishing

 

  • Cut fish out of construction paper or fun foam using the attached pattern. 
  • Write letters on the fish.  Attach a paper clip to the mouth of each fish. 
  • Next, make a fishing pole from a wooden dowel or cardboard roller from a pants hanger.  Tie a 24” piece of string to the end of the stick, and then tie a horseshoe magnet to the other end of the string. 
  • Scatter the fish on the floor.  Children take the fishing pole and try to “catch” a fish. 
  • They can keep the fish if they can identify the letter on it.

Good Dog!

Skills:  alphabet knowledge; social skills

You will need a plastic dog dish or bowl to make this game.  You will also need a sheet of poster board.  First, cut out 25 bones from the poster board using the attached pattern.  Write letters on 20 of the bones.  Write “Good Dog!” on two of the bones and “Woof!” on the other three bones.  Mix up the bones and put them face down in the dish.  Have the children sit in a circle and pass the bowl around.  Each child draws a bone names the letter.  (Let them “phone a friend” if they need some help.)  If they select “Good dog!” they pat their head and say, “Good dog!”  If they select “Woof!  Woof!” they get down on the floor and bark like a dog.  

  • Adapt the number of letters and bones to the ability of your students. 
  • You could also ask them to make the sound of the letter or think of a word that starts with that sound.

Hint!  Use an empty box of dog biscuits instead of the dog dish.

Alphabet Books from A to Z

Skills:  alphabet knowledge, print knowledge, motivation to read
The Alphabet in My Mouth - Use the words to “I’ve Got the Alphabet in My Mouth” to make this book.  First, take a close up digital photo of each child with their mouth wide open.  Next, cut letters out of construction paper and glue to the tongue on their picture.  Write words for each page to go with the picture, such as “I’ve got D /d//d/ in my mouth.” 
Hint!  Use the principal, school secretary and other helpers if you need more mouths.

Alpha-Body Book - Let children make letters with their bodies.Alpha Body  Divide children into groups of 3 or 4 and let them lay on the floor to create different letters. Take pictures.  Put the letters together to make a book.

 

Letter Art - Write large letters of the alphabet on paper.  Give each child a letter and challenge Letter Artthem to create a picture around their letter.  “What does your letter look like?  Does it remind you of something?  Can you use your crayons to turn it into that object?”

 

 

Eat from A to Z - Assign each child a letter of the alphabet and a day to bring snack.  On her day she should bring a food that begins with her sound.  For example:  A/apples, B/bananas, C/carrots, D/dill pickles, etc.
• Take a photograph of the child with her snack and make an ABC book for your classroom similar to the one below.

Themes - Make alphabet books that relate to different themes, seasons, holidays, or concepts you are working on.  For example:
Pets                              Foods                            We Like
Insects                         Friends                          Oceans
Transportation               Scary Things                  Sparkle Words
Things We Love              ABC’s of Spring              Our Country

  • You could also involve families in making an alphabet book.  Give each family a sheet of paper with a letter on it. 
  • Have them cut out words or pictures of things that begin with the letter. 
  • Put their pages together to make a book for your class.

 

 

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