Exposing children to letters is the first step toward teaching them to write, but posting letter shapes on the walls may not be enough to get their attention. Get children involved in creating the letter signs for your classroom. Trace each letter of the alphabet onto one sheet of construction paper, then pass the sheets out and have children cut them out. Once the shapes are cut out, let children decorate each shape with miniature versions of the letters, then hang them low on the classroom walls.
Learning to tell the difference between similar letters can be challenging for preschoolers. Encourage them to look closely at similar letters by writing letters onto small cards. Give each child a full set of alphabet cards and ask her to sort the letters into groups based on similarities. For instance, show children how "p" and "q" look alike and would go into the same group, while "h" and "k" might go into another group together. Once they've finished, ask them to name all the letters in each group.
Preschoolers enjoy experiencing new textures, so they'll be drawn to rough sandpaper letters. Cut the letters of the alphabet out of sandpaper and glue them to a piece of cardboard. Leave a few inches in between letters. If children are just learning about the alphabet, arrange the letters in order. If they're familiar with the alphabet, arrange the letters out of order. Give each child a piece of black paper and chalk. Have him place the paper over the first letter of his name and rub the chalk over it, leaving the impression of the letter on his paper. He can repeat this with each of the letters in his name.
Once children have learned the letters of the alphabet, challenge them to create those letters out of new materials. Put out a variety of pipe cleaners, wooden craft sticks, toothpicks, strips of cardboard or any other art supplies you have other than crayons or markers. Give each child a large sheet of paper and a bottle of glue. Ask children to use the materials on the table to see how many letters they can create and glue to their papers.