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April 22, 2013 | 12 Comments

Alphabet Road – Letter Sorting

letter craft alphabet activity no time for flash cards by Allison McDonald

Last week we played with our Alphabet Garden and a commenter asked how I could make it for children who loved cars and trucks. This is the letter sorting game that I came up with for cars and trucks. You could do it as a magnet activity like we did or put it all on a sheet of contact paper like our alphabet garden, whatever best fits your child. This activity is part of our Alphabet for Starters series that is focused on making playing with letters fun and dynamic. This can be adapted to any level. For children just beginning to notice letters they can simply put the letters on the road. Don’t worry about sorting into cases. For older children use the letters to spell. Write words with a missing letter and have your older child fill in the blank. Here is what we did for my daughter who is familiar with both upper and lowercase letters and enjoys sorting them.

  1. Gather your materials. You will need some black construction paper, green construction paper ( scraps would work great), clear contact paper , pictures of cars and trucks ( mine come from wrapping paper) , self adhesive magnetic sheets, a white crayon, scissors, a marker and a cookie sheet from the dollar store.alphabet sorting with cars and trucks
  2. Start by making your cars and trucks. Cut the cars out.alphabet sorting for preschool with cars and trucks Add the letters. I didn’t do every letter in both upper and lowercase. I chose letters that my daughter has trouble with mixed in with some sure fire bets so she would be challenged but confident in her ability.alphabet uppercase and lowercase sorting with car theme
  3. Lay a large sheet of contact paper down sticky side up and lay the cars face down.alphabet letter sorting for preschool Place another sheet on top to sandwich the cars inside. Or laminate if you have access to a laminator. I am very jealous if you do. Nothing gets a teacher ( even a former teacher) more excited than laminating something. Cut into individual cars and trucks. alphabet for starters car theme
  4. Add the magnets. alphabet activity car lettersNow if you have a child who is well past the putting things in their mouth stage cut little squares and stick them on the back of the cars. If you want you could also lay the whole laminated car on the sticky back magnet sheet and then cut .alphabet magnet This will make it harder for the to peel any small piece off. Please always remember that all our activities are designed for children to do with a parent within arms reach and only if they are ready for the activity. You don’t have to make the pieces magnetic for the kids to have fun, it’s just a bonus.
  5. Make a simple road and some signs saying UPPERCASE ROAD and lowercase road . These give visual cues even for kids that aren’t reading independently . You can add magnets to these if you want too. Painter’s tape is a great choice if you are skipping the magnets but want these pieces to stay in place temporarily.car and truck alphabet activity
  6. Ready to play! This is what it would look like if I handed it to my 6 year old.alphabet game For my almost 3 year old it looked like this. She ended up sorting all the letters but I gave  them to her in bite size pieces so she wasn’t overwhelmed.alphabet game for kids
  7. She loves cars and trucks right now ( well really bulldozers are the best) so she was all into it. After the first few were put on she asked me for more. Remember to label what your child is doing and to sit back. If they ask for help be ready to support but don’t take over.alphabet game for preschool
  8. The trickiest part for her were letters like w and o.alphabet activity kids She thought for a long time before placing them down. She just kept piling them on. alphabet activity with cars and trucksAnd was insistent that she show it off at the end. I was impressed with how many magnets piled together still stayed in place.alphabet road activity

Alphabet Book

alphabeep

Alphabeep!: A Zipping, Zooming ABC by Debora Pearson is a great book for older toddlers and preschoolers. The transportation themed book uses rhymes and colorful illustrations to go from A to Z. The text was a bit long for my young toddler but I shortened it and he was able to enjoy the book , children 2 and up will love it just the way it is! This is on my must buy list. Edited for 2013 : My daughter also loved this book and had me read it twice at the library which is a glowing review.

For more Alphabet Books check out our list of 50 Alphabet Books We Love

This book review includes an affiliate link.

Filed Under: Age Preschool, Age: Toddlers, Alphabet activities, Alphabet Books, Alphabet For Starters, Cars, Letter Recognition, Letters & Numbers, Sorting, Transportation, Trucks | 12 Comments

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12 Comments

  1. Shilpi says

    April 22, 2013 at 8:33 am

    I love love love your idea. Thank you so much Allison! I cannot wait to try it. I am sure my son will be very excited. I will let you know how it went 🙂

    to Shilpi" aria-label='reply to this comment to Shilpi'>reply to this comment
  2. Stephanie says

    April 22, 2013 at 11:34 am

    This is so adorable. I’m going to make this for my twin boys who love cars & still help with the lowercase letters. Thanks for sharing.

    to Stephanie" aria-label='reply to this comment to Stephanie'>reply to this comment
  3. kristina says

    April 24, 2013 at 11:20 am

    My daughter is going to LOVE this! Adding this to our to do list this week.

    to kristina" aria-label='reply to this comment to kristina'>reply to this comment
  4. kewkew says

    April 29, 2013 at 8:12 am

    This is just so adorable and creative. What a great way to help learn upper and lower case letters.
    Thanks for sharing.

    to kewkew" aria-label='reply to this comment to kewkew'>reply to this comment
  5. Katherine Collmer says

    May 4, 2013 at 2:54 pm

    Allison, I love this idea! After the initial work, it will last a long time. Good for us clinicians:) And, I do agree, as a former teacher – I LOVE my laminator! Thanks for sharing. Will do the same.

    to Katherine Collmer" aria-label='reply to this comment to Katherine Collmer'>reply to this comment
  6. Jeanine says

    September 11, 2014 at 11:21 am

    You are too good … Wow… This is perfect! I must learn to read your blog FIRST thing in the morning. Then, write shopping list, walk to store, create a ton of fun learning activities for “Homeschool After School” I call it. Or just Play Learning! I love your blog. If I was forced to chose just one–it would be yours 😀 Happy
    Back to School ! Thank you again

    to Jeanine" aria-label='reply to this comment to Jeanine'>reply to this comment

Trackbacks

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    April 23, 2014 at 5:00 am

    […] Alphabet Road Letter Sorting Game | No Time For Flash Cards […]

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  3. FREE Alphabet Sorting Activity | My Blog says:
    August 16, 2014 at 1:07 pm

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