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Learning Games for Alphabet Identification

Learning their ABCs represents an important developmental step for young children. According to ̶0;Reading Games for Young Children̶1; by Jackie Silberg, an essential building block of reading is letter recognition. You can familiarize children between 3 to 6 years old with the alphabet and help them identify different letters by playing games. Teachers and parents alike can organize alphabet identification games using household objects or store-bought games.

Flash Cards
- Gather 26 blank index cards and write an alphabet letter on each one. Shuffle the cards and have your child pick a random card. See if she can identify the alphabet letter on her card. Take turns having your child and yourself pick and identify a letter. Another idea is to have your child write her name on a piece of paper. Show your child each alphabet flash card. When she recognizes a flash card with a letter that is in her name, she must cross out the letter using a marker on her piece of paper. The goal is to have her cross out all the letters in her name.
Group Games
- Write letters in different colors and sizes on a large piece of white butcher paper and tape the paper to a wall. Have children form a line and one at a time approach the paper. Ask a child to close his eyes and place his index finger randomly on the paper. He must open his eyes and say aloud the letter his finger landed on. A different game is to write 10 alphabet letters on a whiteboard. One at a time, ask a child to identify a letter. If the child identifies it correctly, have him erase the letter and pass the eraser to the next child whose turn it is. Continue the game until all letters are erased. Provide hints if children are stumped on their letter.
Matching
- Scatter a cup of alphabet-lettered cereal on the table. Ask your child to choose a letter and identify it. Have her find another letter that is identical to her first letter. You can work together with your child to identify cereal letters and make matching letter pairs. Let your child eat the pairs when you are done. For a different matching game, cut out five individual letters from magazines using scissors. Place the letters on the table in front of your child to identify. Have her flip through her favorite book and point out letters that match the cutout letters.
Game Products
- Consider purchasing different games to help your child learn the alphabet. For example, Learning Resources has a game called POP for Letters for children 4 to 6 years old (See Resources). The game contains a box of upper and lowercase alphabet letters printed on popcorn cards that your child can pull out and identify. A second game is Alphabet Bingo by TREND Enterprises (See Resources). Children from pre-kindergarten to first grade can learn upper and lowercase letters by playing bingo with classmates.

Kids Games