Teaching letters and their sounds requires repetition and consistency for young children. Create an A to Z coloring book with zoo animal picture outlines. Beside a picture of an animal, draw the first letter of the animal's name. Below the outline of the animal, write the animal's name. Use the coloring book to teach children the sounds of the letters in each animal's name by having the child sound out the letters in the name with you. Place emphasis on the sound of the first letter. Once a child has mastered the letter sound, have him color in the outline of the animal. Add a few letters and animals to your lessons each day until the book is complete.
Draw each letter of the alphabet on a 3-by-5-inch index card. Then cut out pictures of zoo animals from magazines. Each animal's name that you select should begin with one of the letters of the alphabet, such as Ant Eater or Zebra. Lay the pictures out on a table, and discuss each zoo animal with children, including the sound of the animal's name. Then work with the children to match up the index card letters with the animals, asking the children to say the animal's name, as well as sound out the letter on the card to see if the first letter sounds match. Once a child has a sound match, have her place the card on the picture of the animal.
In conjunction with learning the alphabet and letter sounds at home, take children on an afternoon trip to the zoo. Outside of each animal exhibit, look at the posted information animal's name. Concentrate on the letters in each animal's name, having children sound out the letters as your make your way through the zoo. Ensure that you explore the sounds of each letter in the alphabet before the day is done.
Kindergarten teachers often focus their students on one letter in the alphabet each week. Plan your lessons for the week, each week concentrating on a zoo animal that has a name beginning with the letter you are working on. Have your child sound out that letter when the week begins, then sound out the letters in the rest of the animal's name. As the week progresses, use stories with the animal's name in them, make worksheets with the letters of the animal's name and make up songs about the animal. Each time the animal's name appears in a lesson, have your child sound out the letters in the name.