Letter Activities for Toddlers
Letter activities help toddlers get a grasp of the alphabet. It’s also their stepping stone to reading and writing. Learning the alphabet is also crucial for them to communicate with others and express themselves. But teaching toddlers the alphabet is not always easy, more so if they are interested in other things like playing with toys.
The good thing about letter activities is that they make the learning process much easier and fun. They offer entertainment and learning without pushing young learners too hard, more so if the activities are highly engaging.
If your toddler is starting to get interested in learning the alphabet, we highly suggest you introduce alphabet activities for toddlers. It’s highly likely that they will enjoy learning their ABCs and will be able to pick them up quickly.
Letter activities are cost-effective, efficient, and useful. Teachers generally introduce letter activities to their students because they have been proven helpful in teaching learners about the alphabet.
This guide will discuss different letter activities for toddlers, their benefits, and the best educational app you can use to engage your toddler in letter activities.
Letter Activities for Toddlers
Not all kids enjoy learning the alphabet through flashcards. And, let’s admit it, flashcards are likely to be our last resort. They’re not always engaging, and many little ones enjoy learning through more playful activities.
We’ve collected our favorite letter activities for toddlers below:
Floating Letters
This simple letter activity will keep little hands occupied. This is also ideal for parents who don’t have the luxury of setting up massive learning projects for their little ones. Floating Letters is an indoor activity that takes less than a second to set up but can keep your toddlers occupied for so much longer.
What you need:
- Small spatula
- Bath letters
- Kitchen sink filled with water
How to set up:
- Dump the letters into a sink full of water. You can purchase bath letters online or in department stores. They’re typically colorful and pleasing to the eye, which are qualities that capture toddler’s attention.
- Ask your toddler to find the letters (or colors) that you call out using his spatula (i.e., “Find me the letter A,” or “Find me all the orange ones!”)
Toddlers may not immediately recognize the letters that you say. But the goal here is to help them familiarize themselves with the alphabet letters. You may use this activity to recognize colors, too.
Alternatively, you may change this activity to fit your family. You can replace the letters with any toys that float. Floating Letters lets you do household chores and other stuff you like while keeping your toddler engaged in a fun, learning activity.
Alphabet Construction Zone
If your toddler loves tractors and trucks, then they will surely enjoy this activity. Not only will they learn the alphabet but also improve their sensory skills (a.k.a. Your child’s ability to use their senses and scientific processes while they play, create, and explore). This letter activity is very simple and does not require much effort to set up.
What you need:
- Toy tractors or trucks
- Alphabet beads
- A small bin to store the materials
How to set up:
- Simply put all the alphabet beads and the tractor toys in the small bin.
- You may ask your toddlers to sort the colors or letters. Your toddler may ask what letters they got, so be ready to answer their questions.
What we really like about this activity is that toddlers can play this anytime. Plus, they can also play this anywhere inside the house—in their bedroom, the kitchen tabletop, or the playroom. And because all the toys are inside the bin, there’s not much to pick up on the floor (unless they decide to scatter them!)
As your toddler gets older, you can ask them to move from sorting letters or colors to spelling things out. Start with easy words like dog, cat, bird, etc.
Letter Hunt
Here’s one of the best letter activities for toddlers out there. This activity will build your toddler’s literacy skills and improve their sensory skills. Exposing little ones to the alphabet as early as possible will help them read and write sooner. And Letter Hunt will make the process much easier.
What you need:
- Storage tub or small bin
- Letters
- Cornmeal
- Answer key
How to set up:
- Dump all the cornmeal into the storage tub.
- Hid all the letters throughout the bin, making sure the cornmeal covers them.
- Create a simple answer key: on a sheet of paper, write the letters you hid under the cornmeal (make sure the letters have the same size as the plastic letter toys). Ask your toddler to match the letters on the answer key after they found them.
This letter activity encourages toddlers to use their hands to dug and find the alphabet letters. You’ll be glad to see how toddlers are so happy when they find letters. It will also keep them happily busy while playing and learning. What better combination could there be?
Use Zoolingo for Letter Activities for Toddlers
Zoolingo is an educational app for toddlers and preschoolers. It is loaded with hundreds of fun games and activities that are guaranteed to help your children become literate and knowledgeable in many subject areas.
In this modern age, developers continue to create educational apps to support home learning. Further, educational apps help learners excel in areas where they struggle by making these subjects easy and simple to learn.
We created Zoolingo to help little ones become literate—not only academic-wise but also in digital literacy.
Zoolingo has a wide range of learning activities, including letter activities that help toddlers and preschoolers learn the alphabet. We have three letter activities for toddlers:
Letter Tracing
Letter tracing sounds precisely what it sounds like it is—this activity asks toddlers to trace the letters using their hands. Before each round, they will see playful animation of the letter with its cheerful phonic song.
With arrows and a quick video guide, we help toddlers trace the letters on their screen. This activity stimulates not only their mind but also their hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills.
Our letter tracing game is available in 13 languages, which supports multilingualism. With just a tap, you can quickly change the alphabet language.
Letter Recognition
Our next letter activity helps toddlers recognize the letters they see on their screen. We ask them to select the letter being said, and they will have to select the letter that represents the sound.
This letter activity challenges them to recall what they have learned in the Letter Tracing game. Our cartooned letters serve as visual aids, and the sound button on each letter can be used to play the phonic sound, which serves as auditory clues for your toddler.
This letter recognition game stimulates your toddler’s mind as they continue to remember their alphabet knowledge. It’s an excellent game that will put your child’s knowledge to the test.
Letter recognition is not easy. Remember, alphabet letters are new to toddlers. They might not be able to identify all 26 letters, more so because there are uppercase and lowercase forms. This game aims to help your toddler to recognize letters through a fun activity.
Letter Sequencing
Zoolingo Letter Sequencing game helps little minds sequence letters in the right order. Kids must know not only the letter names and sounds but also their proper sequencing. Take note, there are 26 alphabet letters. Some kids may find them easy to memorize (and recognize), while others may struggle with them.
Sequencing, in general, serves a lot of benefits. A person who excels in sequencing can put events, ideas, and objects in a logical order. They also become very excellent at understanding the order in which the events occur.
That explains why sequencing must be introduced to children—and letter sequencing is a great place to start.
When toddlers can characterize letters and sound them out even when they are out of sequence, the sooner they can read and write. But remember: accuracy and automaticity are both critical.
That means your toddler must be able to be accurate and fast at determining letters at the same time. This skill cannot be achieved overnight. Letter activities make the process much faster, so make sure to encourage your child to always engage in these educational activities.
Download Zoolingo Now!
Zoolingo is a fun-filled educational app for young learners. It covers a wide range of learning activities that help children excel in various subjects. From alphabets to numbers, mathematics, shapes, vocabulary, spelling, art, and occupation, Zoolingo has it all.
This educational app for toddlers and preschoolers supports early home education, meaning it can help your child excel academically even before they attend school. And because this is a mobile app, your child can play it anytime and anywhere. Let your child explore the wonderful world of alphabets in the car on the way to grandma’s house or during playtime with their siblings or cousins.
Thousands of parents and teachers love Zoolingo. Download Zoolingo now on your iOS or Android device!
