12 Simple, Cost-Effective Activities to Help Your Toddler or Preschooler Learn the Alphabet - Free Letter Tracing Pages!
I taught for four years in a public school before leaving to be at home with my daughter, and do you know what I noticed? A large number of students were below reading level. It’s SO hard for students to succeed as they reach higher grades if they do not have the literacy skills to keep up. Too many times have I seen students in 4th or 5th grade on a 1st or 2nd grade reading level, and it’s so hard for them to learn on the level they need to. They simply struggle, and it’s difficult for everyone around. (I’m not referring to the students with underlying issues such as dyslexia or some other learning disability, of course - those circumstances are different.)
Most of this issue is seen because students are not learning what they need to in younger grades, for various reasons. If they come to school behind, it can be so hard to catch up, until it just compounds and they’re 10 years old reading on a Kindergarten level.
“These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.”
The truth? Most of it starts at home. Call me controversial, but your child’s preschool teacher should not be the one to teach your child the alphabet. As a parent, we are our child’s first teacher!
Deuteronomy 6:6–7 says: "These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up."
Though in context this is referring to knowing the Ten Commandments, I think it can certainly be applied to teaching our children. Learning should be constant! Read to your child, talk to them about concepts such as the alphabet, and keep them curious and their mind active all throughout the day - before you go to sleep and when you wake up!
This is why I’m going to give you some great ideas to start your child on their literacy journey so they can start off on the right foot! Don’t let your child go to school underprepared. Early literacy skills, such as knowing the alphabet, is foundational and should not be overlooked.
This list is not comprehensive, but is a jumping off point to get you started and give you some great ideas!
Keep reading to learn more and get a free download to help you in your journey. OR click here to jump directly to the freebie!
Start with Playful Exposure
Read alphabet books together.
I’ve said it once and I’ll say it 1,000 times - read to your child!!!!!! Early exposure to literacy is key to learning how to read. Alphabet books are a great way to expose your child to the letters. Even if the letter representations aren’t the best (‘xylophone’ for ‘x’? ugh), I would say any book is better than no book.
Sing the ABC song.
This option is great because it literally costs nothing. Just your voice! I sang this song to my baby every single day during her bath time for months and now, at not even 2.5 years old, she knows all her letters and their sounds (I mean, I wasn’t just singing the song, but I think it helped for sure). Include hand motions, clapping, or even little alphabet letter manipulatives for added fun! I got those little foam letters from Target’s Dollar Spot and most are still hanging on even a year later. (Have we lost half of them and chewed through the other half? Yes. But, at least she had fun.)
Point out letters in everyday places.
Cereal boxes, street signs, store logos - you name it! These things are known as environmental print and are a GREAT way to get your preschool “reading” before they’re actually ready to read. Basically, it helps your child understand that letters make words, and these words have meaning and represent real objects. “The yellow ‘M’ means ‘McDonald’s’ and we can get food there!”
I’ve seen lots of resources online for free environmental print flashcards and whatnot, especially on Teachers Pay Teachers! I’d check it out and print them if you can.
Hands-On Alphabet Games
Use letter magnets or flashcards for matching games.
I have personally purchased little magnetic letters and have made/purchased little alphabet flashcards for my child, but if all you have is paper and a marker to make you own flashcards, go for it!! It doesn’t have to look cute to be functional. I mean, you could draw pictures on them if you wanted to… But it would still serve the same purpose! If you’re interested, I made some Bible alphabet flashcards! You could totally get these and print them out for your little ones. AND they have the correct letter sounds so you know you’re teaching them properly.
Hide letters around the house for an “alphabet hunt.”
Those letters you made and/or purchased? Hide them around the house! Get your kiddo up and moving! You could let them find them on their own accord or ask them to find a certain letter. And, if they don’t understand the concept of “hide and seek” yet, you could put them on the ground and ask for certain letters. Tons of fun without a ton of preparation. My kind of activity.
Build letters with Play-Doh, LEGOs, or pipe cleaners.
This idea IS GREAAT because it gets your kiddos working with their hands and building their little finger muscles! Make sure you show them how to do it first, then have them go at it! If they don’t do it “right”, don’t stress. They’re still building fine motor skills even if they aren’t doing what you imagined. To make it easier, you could find some play-dough mats online and print them out. I’ve seen tons of free ones on Teachers Pay Teachers. I’m sure they’re elsewhere, as well - I just love TPT (but maybe I’m bias).
Sensory Writing
Trace letters in sand, rice trays, or shaving cream.
Learning is always more impactful when you can mix up the senses, as it activates more parts of the brain. Sand, rice, or shaving cream trays are a great way to practice writing letters! Just make sure to model, model, model - which means to show your child what to do!
Use chalk on the driveway or sidewalk.
I personally hate chalk with a burning passion, but my daughter loves it. I guess it’s free exposure therapy or something, I don’t know. Tracing letters in chalk on the sidewalk is also an AMAZING way to build gross motor skills (particularly the arms!), which is super important when it comes to writing, just like fine motor skills.
Finger paint letters.
Listen, sometimes you have to be okay with a mess. So, get out that paint and some paper and let your kiddo use their fingers to write letters! You can write letters on paper first, if you want, then they can trace over the with their paint.
Get Moving with Letters
Alphabet hopscotch.
Using your body to learn is a way to practice whole body learning. The name is self-explanatory - you use your whole body to learn (even your 5 senses)! Make a hopscotch board on the ground with your chalk, write some letters in each box, and go nuts! You could have your child toss a small rock onto the squares and jump to it, or you could just tell your child, “Jump to the letter ‘A’.”
Jump or run to letters taped to the floor.
This is kind of the same concept as the one above, but is great for a rainy day. You can ask questions like, “Can you hop to the letter ‘J’?” or “Skip to the letter that makes the ‘/m/’ sound!” If you don’t have tape, maybe just put your letters directly on the floor. Your child can pick them up and bring it back to you!
Dance to alphabet songs.
My daughter LOVES music. If you’re able, play some alphabet songs on your phone to dance along to! If you’re wanting to make sure your kiddo understands proper letter sounds, you can search for creators such as Jack Hartmann! Miss Amy on YouTube also has some great learning videos AND her videos are Christian-based!
Tracing & Early Writing Practice
Though some people may not agree, I believe that letter tracing with paper and pencil is SUCH a good way to practice writing! Some people are against it because they say children learn best through play and that you shouldn’t make your child sit down and work in workbooks. Both of these points are true.
HOWEVER.
I personally don’t see anything wrong with allowing your child to practice holding pencils and other writing utensils or working in workbooks or tracing on little worksheets as long as it’s not the ONLY thing you are doing. How can we expect our children to learn how to write if they never have any practice? As a preschool-aged child (and even older toddlers) tracing with a simple paper and pencil is a great way to build fine motor skills and get ready to learn how to write when they are older (and ready).
So, by all means, let your child practice tracing letters, lines, shapes, and numbers with paper and pencils! If they lose interest, don’t push it. Keep any sessions you have working with paper and pencil short and positive. And, hey, it might become their new favorite thing and they’ll always ask you for some paper and pencil. That’s totally okay, too! I believe it’s all up to your child and their personality.
Fill out the boxes below to get immediate access to two FREE letter tracing pages! Print them out and let your child go wild! If you laminate them (or put them in a sheet protector) and get a dry-erase marker, you can have them do it over and over again for endless fun.
These two pages come straight out of my personalized Preschool Bible Learning Workbook, which is filled with pages to help your child learn preschool essentials WHILE learning about the Word of God! It is personalized, spiral-bound, and shipped right to your door!
Is your interest piqued? Check out the workbook on Etsy by clicking here or head over to the “Workbook” section of my website for more information on my workbooks in general.
Learning the Essentials with God’s Word
If you’re a Christian parent like me, you take every opportunity you can to talk to your child about God. That’s why I created my Preschool Bible Learning Workbooks, so I didn’t have to pick and choose! I didn’t see many options out there for dry-erase, reusable workbooks that taught the essentials while teaching about God, so I made my own.
It is a culmination of learning activities, from math (like numbers, patterns, and shapes), to phonics, and even tracing! Every single page has a Bible verse, so you can talk to your child about God and connect what they’re learning to the Christian faith.
The best part? There are FOUR customizable pages so your child can take ownership over their learning!
Keep it Fun & Encouraging!
Overall, make sure to have FUN! If you stress, your child will stress, which will set a negative precedent over learning. Don’t push and don’t rush; let your child take the lead. Learning the alphabet doesn’t have to be complicated, and it doesn’t have to cost a ton of money! What’s most important is that you spend time with your kiddo and have fun with them.
Don’t forget to download your free alphabet tracing page by clicking here, and if you’d like more activities like this, check out my full workbook!
Questions, comments, or concerns? Drop any of those below, or tag me on TikTok, Instagram, or Pinterest! My handle is @teachandachieve on all platforms. You can also fill out a form on the FAQ Page. I’ll get back to you as quickly as possible.
Until next time!
-Aimee ♡
