Almost any small object can be glued onto a sheet of paper. Have children write the letter large enough to fill the page, or give them paper with the letter already on it. Have the children trace the letter with glue. Beans, cotton balls, popcorn, candy, pieces of torn scrap paper or tissue paper or any shape of noodle are inexpensive and easily glued onto paper. You can also have them trace the shape in glue and let them sprinkle colored sugar or glitter over the glue. Shake off the excess in empty plastic tubs.
Cut out letter shapes from construction paper or use foam or wooden cutout letters. Hide several letters in the room in a somewhat obvious place. Ask children to find them one letter at a time. To teach another skill, place the letters in proximity to things that begin with that letter. For extra fun, have the students line up facing a wall. Walk behind them, taping letters on their backs. Have the children find the student who has the right letter.
Have children paint the letters onto paper. Washable paint or finger paint are appropriate choices, but for less mess simply use water. If the weather is nice, have them paint with water on sidewalks.
If the class has access to an oven, roll out cookie dough and give them letter shapes to cut out from the dough. You could also use pretzel dough to make letter shapes. Bake them for an educational snack. If baking at school is not an option, make homemade craft dough to shape or bring treats to school and form the shape of the letter of the week for a special snack. Cookies, cupcakes, pretzel sticks and fruit pieces can easily be positioned into letter form.
Assign each child a letter. Have them write the letter or color a letter picture on a sheet of paper. Line the children up in random order. Have each child go down the row reading the letters and making the correct letter sound if appropriate. If they do not know the letter, they must ask, "What letter are you?" The student will then say his letter and make the sound: "I am a G and I say 'guh.'"
Or play alphabet bingo. Make simple cards or sheets of paper with letters arranged in rows as in a bingo card. The children put tokens, stamps or stickers on the letters as they are read. The one who fills up his card first, and correctly, wins.
Many schools celebrate special days when they dress up in costumes and participate in special activities. Incorporate letter lessons into these days. Cowboy Day can focus on the letter C, Fairy Tale Day can focus on the letter F, Hero Day can focus on the letter H, and so on.