Teaching preschoolers the alphabet can be a dynamic experience. Get the kids on their feet. Show them how to make the letters of the alphabet with their bodies. They will learn from saying the letters and by forming them--while also having a great time.
Children learn more than the three Rs. Teach preschoolers how to see themselves and others. The website Kids Chalkboard suggests ways to introduce preschoolers to differences in facial features and voices. In one activity, blindfold a child and ask her to feel the other kids' faces and hair. Teach children to recognize voices. Record each child during another activity. Play the voices back, and ask the children to identify the voices they hear. Make it extra fun by adding animal sounds they can identify.
Playing matching games can teach children basic number recognition skills. Kids Chalkboard provides instructions for a numbers activity. Write the numbers 1 through-10, one each on large cards. Line the cards along the whiteboard rail in numerical order. Make a few sets of smaller cards, each with the same numbers as the large cards. Mix up the small cards, and hand out cards to every child. Ask each child to place his card on its matching number along the board. When a child correctly matches her number, say the number out loud. Tell the kids to repeat the number and clap their hands as many times as the number.