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 17, 2016 | 6 Comments

Hands-On Letter Sounds Activity

letter sounds activity for pre-kindergarten and kindergarten Learning the sounds that letters make is one of the building blocks for reading. While I don’t advocate rushing children to read early, I do advocate PLAYING with letters and letter sounds when they are preschoolers. As teachers and parents, we look at activities like this through an adult lens, and we may see it as an educational activity leaning towards a quiz even but if we put kid goggles on we will see a fun matching activity or perhaps a puzzle to solve. This activity could be done on a worksheet, but the dynamic aspect of this with manipulatives helps to make it a fun activity vs. something that feels like work. It’s all in how we as the guide approach the activity. Enthusiasm when we introduce activities like this matter.

Saying things like “Ooh I wonder if we can match each animal up to the right letter!” is really all I have ever needed to say – be there to help if they need it but even if they make a mistake let them be until they are ready for you to help or look it over. If they put the cat with a k, use it as an opportunity to learn instead of discouraging them.

That was a HUGE intro for an incredibly simple activity that I wasn’t going to blog about until I suggested this activity to another teacher who said: “I can’t believe I never thought of that!”

This post contains affiliate links.

letter sounds activity for kindergarten and preschool

Gather your materials. You will need some manipulative letters like these. I love them because they have upper and lowercase in the same box. You will also need some small plastic animals. I like using animals because they are easily recognizable for kids. Also, if your child is just starting to learn letter sounds if you include vowels stick to short vowel sounds first (e – elephant). You can also grab some baskets if you want.

letter sounds activity for kids in kindergarten

I like to have one letter for each animal vs. just giving the children the whole alphabet and a handful of animals, and I’ll tell you why. This is a scaffold for the learner; it helps them as they match the letters up. Say a child has a cat, and a kangaroo in the basket and initially puts a k with the cat, but after matching all the others letters up, they might get to the kangaroo with only a c left and stop and think.

learning letter sounds kindergarten

If they breeze through the activity, add more letters and more animals. If they breeze through that, remove the letters. Then give them a marker and have them try to write the correct letter. For beginners, I like to give them big pieces of paper. That way they have plenty of room to try to make the letters. We are focusing on learning not perfecting.

animal letter sounds matching game for kindergarten and pre-k

I have another fun early literacy activity similar to this one coming later this week. So if this was useful, you won’t want to miss my next one!

hands on letter sounds activity facebook picture

How do you work with your preschooler to get them familiar with their letter sounds? Share in the comments below or over on my Facebook page!

 

help your child learn to read

Filed Under: Age Preschool, Age: Kindergarten, Letter Sounds, Letters & Numbers, Preschool Activities, Reading Readiness | 6 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

spider activities for preschoolershow to teach letter sounds
Next Post: Shake Painting – Easy Valentine’s Day Project
Previous Post: Hot Glue & Watercolor Hearts for Valentine’s Day (or any day! )

6 Comments

  1. Chris says

    January 19, 2016 at 9:14 am

    Where did you find animals?

    to Chris" aria-label='reply to this comment to Chris'>reply to this comment
  2. Pam says

    January 20, 2016 at 1:19 pm

    Love this idea! Where did you get your manipulatives? Thanks!

    to Pam" aria-label='reply to this comment to Pam'>reply to this comment
  3. Cristy says

    January 20, 2016 at 1:51 pm

    Great activity! Where did you purchase those animals?

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

      January 27, 2016 at 1:17 am

      I have collected them over the years but I really like this set: ( affiliate link) http://shrsl.com/?~b7ig

      to Allison McDonald" aria-label='reply to this comment to Allison McDonald'>reply to this comment

Trackbacks

  1. 50 Incredible Alphabet Activities for Preschoolers says:
    July 13, 2017 at 12:40 pm

    […] Match toys to letters with this hands-on sound activity from No Time For Flash Cards […]

    to 50 Incredible Alphabet Activities for Preschoolers" aria-label='reply to this comment to 50 Incredible Alphabet Activities for Preschoolers'>reply to this comment
  2. 50 Incredible Alphabet Activities & Games for Preschoolers says:
    February 5, 2019 at 8:39 am

    […] Match toys to letters with this hands-on sound activity from No Time For Flash Cards […]

    to 50 Incredible Alphabet Activities & Games for Preschoolers" aria-label='reply to this comment to 50 Incredible Alphabet Activities & Games for Preschoolers'>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