Letter Recognition Games for Toddlers

Coloring Games

• Your toddler can color and paint pictures using "Alpha Pig's Paint By Letter," a game on the PBS Kids' Super Why Web site. Ask your toddler to select the picture she wants to paint and hold her hand on the mouse to click a letter on the paint palette. She can then use the paint brush to color areas of the picture that show that letter. In the game, she may also use crayons to doodle.

  In "Coloring Book Fun," a coloring game on Kaboose Funschool Web site, your toddler can drag colors to a paint-by-letter canvas. After clicking a letter on the paint palette, she can move the mouse to the area of the picture that has that letter. The area then fills with that color.

Matching Games

• You can challenge your toddler to find matching letters using a concentration game. After writing six uppercase or lowercase letters that the toddler recognizes on blank cards, lay the cards face down randomly on a table or play area. Take turns flipping the cards over one at a time to make matches.

  Create a letter matching game using a clothesline and clothespins. Tie the ends of a rope to the tops of two small chairs to create a small clothesline and write a different letter on each of 10 clothespins. After snapping the clothespins onto the line, you can write matching letters on clothing cutouts made from construction paper and place them into a basket. Ask your toddler to pick clothing cutouts from the basket and match them to the clothespins with the same letters written on them. Alternately, you can ask your toddler to serve as a mail carrier and place envelopes marked with capital letters in boxes marked with matching letters.

Spelling Games

• Reading skills do not usually enter a child's life until the post-toddler years; however, the ability to recognize letters can help them to spell words in "Lost Letters," a game on the KOL Jr. Web site. Ask your toddler to type the letters she sees on the screen; the letters then form a word. She scores points by typing the correct letter and loses points for typing the wrong letter.

  A musical worm band challenges your toddler to type the correct letter in "Musical Words Spelling," another game on the KOL Jr. Web site. In the first level, the letters appear in faded colors above the blank spaces. Your toddler can click letters to fill in the blanks and spell the word. When she correctly spells a word, the band will perform a song.

Words-That-Start-With Games

• You can test your toddler's ability to associate letters with pictures in "The ABC Game," a game on the Primary Games Web site. Ask your toddler to click the object that starts with the given letter.

  Pilar and other barn animals will challenge your toddler to pick out words that start with a particular letter in "Learn Your Letters," a game on the KOL Jr. Web site. After selecting the correct words in this game, your toddler can move the mouse to help the cow collect objects beginning with that particular letter.

  Your toddler will associate letters with animals in "Sunnie's Letters," a game on the Sheppard Software Web site. Once she familiarizes herself with letters in this game, she can choose the animal whose name starts with the prompted letter. To access letters beyond "A to E," you can click a letter range above the game screen.