No Time For Flash Cards

preschool activities, preschool crafts, and preschool books.

  • Blog
  • About
    • Terms Of Use
    • Disclaimer
    • Holiday Gift Guide For Kids
    • Advertise
    • In The Press
  • Contact
  • Privacy
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Bloglovin
  • Preschool Activities
  • crafts for kids
    Preschool Crafts
  • Preschool Books
  • sensory alphabet activity
    Letters & Numbers
  • For Teachers
  • Toddlers
  • Preschool
  • Kindergarten
  • Elementary

January 28, 2013 | 13 Comments

Letter Memory Game – Alphabet For Starters

heart shaped upper case & lowercase letter memory game

I am still calling this an alphabet for starters activity but really my little girls is graduating to just plain alphabet activities. Matching upper and lowercase letters is not really a beginner activity but the playful way to learn with a memory game still meets the goal of this series . Playful alphabet activities. This game would be a cinch to adjust for more novice learners. Simply stick to only one case of letters or scrap the memory game and try something more straight forward like my friend Jamie did a few days ago on Hands On As We Grow. To make it tougher skip using the scaffold of the matching colors and use only one color of hearts.  To see our other Alphabet for Starters activities see our list here.

  1. Gather your materials.  You will need a sharpie and some colorful foam hearts. I got both at the dollar store for a buck each.heart shaped letter memory game
  2. Write out letter pairs with one upper and one lowercase letter. I didn’t do the whole alphabet , I rarely do. I choose letters I know she knows ( M, A, J) and some I know she struggles with ( Q, G, ) and fill in the gaps randomly. Also each pair is done in the same color. When we played I told my daughter to find the same color. This made the game much more accessible for a 2 year old and gave her color recognition work to boot. heart shaped letter match game
  3. Lay out your hearts face down.heart letter memory game for learning
  4. Play. She was enthusiastic immediately. I demonstrated once and she was off. heart shaped letter memry and match gameWe left our letters face up in their own spaces when we matched them up. She was thrilled when her letter ( M) was flipped overheart shaped upper and lower case memory game and even happier when she made a match. heart letter memory gameThe first time we played she called the Q a “funny O” we tried to figure out what letter is was and I ended up labeling it for her and we kept playing. The next day ( we’ve played daily for 5 days in a row so far) she called it a Q and matched it to it’s lowercase letter without any prompting. No drill needed , just a fun game.
  5. Celebrate with each match heart letter match for valentine's dayand hoot and holler when you have completed the whole game!heart shaped letter match game for kids I often gets asked if I play against my kids for memory games. Sometime I do but usually I don’t. We play as a team . For my daughter with a game like this I will narrate with her after she identifies a letter unprompted I will say ” Hmm I wonder which heart the lowercase B is under ?” or some such thing. If she is having a hard time with a letter. I will try to ask questions to help her instead of just telling her. Like with the Q I said ” What letter do you have ?” and she answered ” A funny O.” then I said ” What makes it funny?” ” It has a tail Mama!” . To which I replied ” Do O’s have tails.” and she giggled  saying “No!” and I said ” That is a an uppercase Q.” Even at such a young age kids can help figure things out and when we engage them like this they learn to ask questions , answer others and not just guess at the right answer.

 

Filed Under: Age Preschool, Age: Toddlers, Alphabet activities, Alphabet For Starters, Heart, Letter Recognition, Letters & Numbers, Memory, Valentine's Day | 13 Comments

Like this post? Share it with a friend!

Become an Email Subscriber

Sign up above and receive all new No Time for Flashcards posts directly in your email inbox.

You may also like these posts

valentine's day activities for kidsname recognition activities
Next Post: Snake Craft – Chinese New Year
Previous Post: Kids Crafts Link Up { Add Your Post!}

13 Comments

  1. R says

    January 28, 2013 at 5:35 am

    Thanks for all of your excellent posts! I use a few of them every week with my 3 year old & 18 month old, and the kids really look forward to these engaging activities. Just noticed we have the same fabric on our sofa, ha ha!

    to R" aria-label='reply to this comment to R'>reply to this comment
  2. Jamie @ hands on : as we grow says

    January 28, 2013 at 5:45 am

    Ah thanks Allie for sharing out letter match too! I love the memory game addition to it, as well as the color matching part of it. That would work well for my 2 year old too.

    to Jamie @ hands on : as we grow" aria-label='reply to this comment to Jamie @ hands on : as we grow'>reply to this comment
  3. Heather Stillufsen says

    January 28, 2013 at 8:44 am

    cute idea!

    to Heather Stillufsen" aria-label='reply to this comment to Heather Stillufsen'>reply to this comment
  4. Kids Stop Press says

    January 28, 2013 at 11:18 pm

    Absolutely love this idea and shared it with my readers too! Super Cute 🙂

    to Kids Stop Press" aria-label='reply to this comment to Kids Stop Press'>reply to this comment
  5. Emily Ollerhead says

    April 21, 2015 at 2:31 am

    What a great idea! I am an EFL teacher in Greece and have a lot of nursery aged students. Your craft ideas are wonderful and the kids love them! I ‘ve been playing different versions of memory for years but never thought to do it with the alphabet. Thank you for all your inspirational ideas!

    to Emily Ollerhead" aria-label='reply to this comment to Emily Ollerhead'>reply to this comment
  6. Helen Vogel says

    February 12, 2017 at 3:09 pm

    Research has shown that children the letter O, X, A and S first so I would start with those and then the first letter of each child in my class.

    to Helen Vogel" aria-label='reply to this comment to Helen Vogel'>reply to this comment
    • Allison McDonald says

      February 13, 2017 at 12:54 pm

      The research is mixed, I have read various suggestions from different approaches – in my book we talk about starting to write X and O first but for recognition having a meaningful attachment to the letter is still how I would suggest. Ultimately I don’t think there is only one way. If you fee comfortable with your system, that’s great.

      to Allison McDonald" aria-label='reply to this comment to Allison McDonald'>reply to this comment
  7. Lalitha says

    July 27, 2017 at 12:11 pm

    The activities are very interesting for my kids.

    to Lalitha" aria-label='reply to this comment to Lalitha'>reply to this comment
  8. Colleen says

    September 14, 2018 at 1:04 am

    Thanks so much for these exciting, super cute & fun ways to teach our kids without them knowing that we are teaching them! My 5yr old is a little behind on recognizing all of her letters and numbers due to having to switch pre schools half way through & starting over with a new teacher, kids & curriculum. It was really tough on her. And as her mom it breaks my heart & naturally I want to help her of coarse. So I’m excited to try this activity along with a few others I’ve seen on here in hopes I can help her catch up and have fun while doing so! Any suggestions please let me know! Would very much appreciate it Thanks again!!!

    to Colleen" aria-label='reply to this comment to Colleen'>reply to this comment
  9. Mansi Rana says

    December 5, 2019 at 1:21 am

    this type activities very good for kids. Keep sharing more ideas.

    to Mansi Rana" aria-label='reply to this comment to Mansi Rana'>reply to this comment

Trackbacks

  1. 15 activitats creatives per treballar les lletres | Educació i les TIC says:
    January 27, 2014 at 1:34 am

    […] Font: https://www.notimeforflashcards.com/2013/01/letter-memory-game-alphabet-for-starters.html […]

    to 15 activitats creatives per treballar les lletres | Educació i les TIC" aria-label='reply to this comment to 15 activitats creatives per treballar les lletres | Educació i les TIC'>reply to this comment
  2. Manualidades infantiles para aprender las letras | Pequecordoba says:
    August 3, 2015 at 4:17 am

    […] Fuente: No Time fot Flash Cards […]

    to Manualidades infantiles para aprender las letras | Pequecordoba" aria-label='reply to this comment to Manualidades infantiles para aprender las letras | Pequecordoba'>reply to this comment
  3. Easy Valentine Letter Activities For Valentine’s Day - Fun with Mama says:
    January 15, 2018 at 7:31 am

    […] Print out both the upper and lower case hearts and play a letter memory game […]

    to Easy Valentine Letter Activities For Valentine’s Day - Fun with Mama" aria-label='reply to this comment to Easy Valentine Letter Activities For Valentine’s Day - Fun with Mama'>reply to this comment

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Search For Activities

Now In Paperback!

Buy NOW

All Activities

Become an Email Subscriber

Sign up above and receive all new No Time for Flash Cards posts directly in your email inbox.

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Bloglovin

Copyright © 2008-2023 • No Time For Flash Cards - ACM Media LLC • Site Design by Emily White Designs