Preschool Craft: Animate Your Alphabet

Learning to recognize letters is a key skill developed in Preschool. Not only does letter recognition help your child learn about speech patterns, it also gives them a head start on reading. In this month’s Preschool Craft Activity, we discuss making a personalized set of Letter Flash Cards that will get your preschooler thinking about the alphabet while helping your child identify individual letters and sounds.

Supplies Needed:

• 26 Index Cards – White or Colored
• Thick Black Marker
• Stickers or Crayons

Directions:

1) Use the thick black market to write one letter of the alphabet on both sides of each index card. Using black will help distinguish the letter from any doodles that could confuse little learners.

2) On one side of the index card, have your child “animate” the letter by adding eyes, a nose, mouth, tongue, ears, teeth, hair, etc. with the art supplies.

3) Once your preschooler has finished their animated letter, help them come up with a name that starts with the same letter. For example, Abbey or Alfred for the letter “A”. Write each letter’s name on the card.

4) Next, help your child decorate the card with 2-3 things that start with each letter. Whether they draw a dog or use a Dinosaur sticker for the letter “D”, let your child be creative and come up with something fun that will help them remember the letter. Give your preschooler ideas if they have trouble thinking of things on their own.

5) Label each picture (or sticker) with its name.

After all of the Animated Alphabet index cards are complete, help your preschooler learn the alphabet by showing them the side with just the letter on it and asking him/her what it is. If they have trouble identifying the letter, give them hints from the other side of the card such as the “name” of the animated letter or pictures that start with that letter.