Whether you are a parent, caregiver, cool aunt, or grandpops, these high-fun, high-impact activities will boost your preschooler or soon-to-be-kindergartner’s confidence and skills. 

Developed by expert early childhood educators, this Recipe for Readiness card collection considers how busy you are—and how young children deserve summertime delight. There is no dull skill-and-drill in the mix here—only engaging, focused experiences that you can fit into any day. With these activities, you can support development in the following key areas: 

• Listening and speaking  
• Learning to hear the sounds that make up words 
• Text or letter book familiarity 
• Alphabet knowledge and word-to-sound connections 
• Communication through writing and drawing 

Remember to...

Model: All people learn by seeing something demonstrated, doing it together with help, and practicing it independently until confident. Just like talking, walking, and riding a bicycle, the same is true for learning to read and write! 

Make time: 60–90 minutes throughout the day, depending on the child’s stamina. 

Download the full Recipe Card to use with your children at home.

The Learning Benefit of Knowing the Alphabet

It’s all about the alphabet! When children know each letter's name, shape, and sounds, they can better grasp that letters stand for sound and that we use these letter sounds to read and spell words.  

Learning the lowercase letters is most essential to reading because most of the letters in print are lowercase letters.  

The easiest letters to learn are Cc, Oo, Ss, Uu, Vv, Ww, Xx, and Zz because upper-case and lower-case are identical. 

Alphabet Knowledge Activities to Try

Sing "The Alphabet Song"

Sing the tune of “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, " and point to the letters of the alphabet as you sing it together.  

Use printed materials such as magazines or newspapers along with a pencil or highlighter and give directions: 

“Circle all the Tt’s?” 

“Color all the Ss’s!” 

“Underline all the Rr’s.” 

“Put an x on all the Nn’s.”  

When doing a letter hunt, start with the letters in their name or in other words they know.  

Match Game (Pair of cards)

This game involves laying cards out on a table in rows, face down. Players take turns turning over two cards at a time, looking for matching pairs, such as the letters “A” and “a,” or matching a letter to a picture, like “apple.” If they find a pair, they keep it.  

Say It/Show It/Know It 

Children learn the alphabet through active exploring of its characteristics. So, talk about what you notice often! 

“That’s an A. Here’s a big B and a little b.” 

“I see a T!”  

“M looks like a mountain!” 

“d says /d/ like dog!” 

Letter Basics

Children may feel they will never learn to say, read, and write 26 different letters!  As you explore the alphabet together, help them to see what letters have in common, including: 

• Each letter has an upper case and a lower case (Aa, Bb, Cc, and so on) 
• Most letter names provide clues to the sounds they represent (M = /moo, P = /pat/) 
• Letters share similar shapes, and we can write them using up-and-down motions, lines, and circular shapes 

Some Favorite Alphabet Resources

Books: 

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr. 

Eating the Alphabet by Lois Ehlert 

The Ocean Alphabet Book by Jerry Palotta (ABC series) 

Firefighters A to Z by Chris L. Demarest 

Songs and Chants:

"Teach Me How to Read" by Mohawk Jones (YouTube rap song) 

"B-I-N-G-O Song" 

"ABC Rock" by Greg & Steve 

"ABC Phonics Song" by Rock ‘N Learn (YouTube) 

Poems and Rhymes: 

"Big" by Dorothy Aldis 

"M Was Once a Little Mouse" by Edward Lear 

Note: There are tons of ABC books on a wide variety of topics, easily found in any library. Follow the child’s interests and develop new interests!