This game can be played in a couple of different ways depending upon your resources and what works best for your preschoolers. Gather an assortment of items from a room, or tear pages from old magazines with easy-to-recognize items. Hold up an item or a picture and ask the kids what you’re holding in your hand. As you sound out the name of the object, emphasize its beginning letter and ask the kids to tell the beginning letter for the object. To make this even more interactive, try writing the letters on a chalkboard or a piece of paper if doing this at home. Then, when the child identifies the beginning letter, have him or her erase the letter from the chalkboard or circle it on the paper.
Even though it may be a while before some preschoolers are writing both uppercase and lowercase letters, it’s never too early to teach them that there’s a difference. Help them to understand this concept in an easy pairing game. Make a set of letters, one uppercase and the other lowercase. Give the child a lowercase letter and tell him or her that the baby letter needs to find its mommy. Tell the child the name of the lowercase letter if they do not recognize it, and it should be rather easy for them to find its uppercase match.
Put a fun twist on the game musical chairs and try musical alphabet. Arrange the letters of the alphabet in a circle on the floor. Explain to your child or children that they will walk around the circle while music is playing, but they must stop when the music stops. They must then pick up the letter that is in front of them and tell what it is. Continue the process until all of the letters are identified.
Line up the alphabet in random order on the floor. If playing with one child, call out the letter and let him or her race to find it and return to the starting position. Repeat until all of the letters are found. Depending on the child’s level of recognition, it may help to re-arrange the letters as fewer remain. If playing this game with a group of children, divide them into two teams. When a letter is called out, one person from each team will run to look for the letter. The person who finds it takes it back to their team. The team with the most letters wins.