Give preschoolers an overview of the alphabet by reading them books that focus on the letters of the alphabet. A few classic options include "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom," "Dr. Seuss' Alphabet Book," "A is for Angry" and "Eric Carle's ABC." When they learn the alphabet through a variety of books, preschoolers understand more easily that there are many words that start with each letter. For example, "A" is not just at the beginning of apple, but also anteater, alligator and angry.
For each letter of the alphabet, introduce the sound that the letter makes and have preschoolers create a collage with pictures of items that use that sound. Cut out the images and glue them in an outline of the letter on a piece of paper. For example, when studying the letter "D," kids can find images of dogs, dolls, doors, daisies and ducks to glue in the shape of the letter "D."
After learning a letter, lead preschoolers in a few activities that relate to the letter. The teacher can reference the letter during the activities to help solidify the learning and apply it to new areas. For example, after learning the letter "F," preschoolers can color a picture of a firefighter and talk about fire safety. After learning "P," cut potatoes in half and dip them in paint to use as stamps for an art project.
Play an alphabet game in the car with a preschooler who has learned the whole alphabet. Starting with the letter "A," challenge the child to find the letter somewhere outside the car. It can be on a billboard, road sign, storefront, license plate of another car or anywhere else. After finding one letter, the child moves on to the next. Continue the game the next time in the car from where the child left off to make sure the child gets to all the letters, not just the first few. For the more obscure letters, such as "X" or "Q," the child could describe what it looks for and think of a word that includes the letter instead of finding it. Parents can also play this game to reinforce what the children learned at preschool.