Want to Start Teaching Your Toddler the ABC’s?

A lot of people assume that toddlers are too young to start learning letters. They think that early literacy skills like letter recognition are too “academic” for little ones. Or they think that two’s and three’s will get bored if you try to introduce the alphabet before they’re ready to read.

Not quite. 

As a longtime childcare pro, I’ve seen hundreds of toddlers happily and productively participate in early literacy activities – and then ask to play “again, again!” 

The trick is to keep literacy activities for toddlers:

• Simple
• Developmentally appropriate
• And fun!

Ready to get started?

Keep reading to discover some of my favorite early literacy activities for toddlers. This list has engaging activity ideas for toddlers of all ages – from lil ones who are just starting to explore the alphabet to bigger kids who are getting ready to read and write. Ready? Let’s go!

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1 | Sticky Note Letter Hunt

This is one of my favorite letter recognition activities for toddlers! It’s quick, easy, and perfect for those times when your little one needs something to do stat, but you don’t want to prep anything. First, write a few letters down on sticky notes. Next, hide the sticky notes throughout the room, reminding your toddler not to peek. Once the sticky notes are hidden, encourage your toddler to go find the letters!

Help your child identify each letter they find. “You found letter S!” If your little one already knows their letters (or most of them), have them tell you which letters they found!

PS. This activity is still fun, even if your toddler peeks.

You’ll Need:

2 | A Marker or Pen

Tips For Success:

• Start with letters your toddler is familiar with. If they’re new to learning letters, the letters in their name are a good place to start!
• Stick to just a few letters per game – think 3-5 – unless your child knows all or most of their letters
• Try using letters that look different from each other (i.e. avoid teaching P and B together)
• This activity can also help your child develop spatial vocabulary. Try to describe where each sticky note is using words like “close,” “far,” “under,” “next to,” and so on!

2 | Chalk Letter Trace & Erase Activity

I love how easy this activity is! Simply use chalk to write a letter (or your child’s name) on the blackboard. Then, give your toddler a wet paintbrush and encourage them to trace and erase the letter. Keep going until your toddler is ready to move on (or until your hand gets tired).

For another variation, you can also write letters on a whiteboard with a dry erase marker and, again, have your toddler “trace and erase” the letters with a wet paintbrush. Same idea, new activity!

You’ll Need:

4 | Water

Tips For Success:

• Name each letter out loud as you write it and then again while your child is tracing. This gives your toddler double the opportunities to match the letter image to its name
• Pre-wet the paintbrush for your toddler if they can’t be trusted with a whole cup of water!

3 | Sensory ABC Treasure Hunt

First, fill a clear bin or sensory table with your favorite sensory filler – rice and sand are always favorites. Then, bury some letter manipulatives in the bin. Once everything is set up, encourage your little pirate to dig and find the buried treasure – the letters! 

This one’s a super easy activity that combines letter recognition practice with a fun, sensory experience for your toddler. You can even provide small containers – or “treasure boxes” – so your toddler can store the letters they’ve already found while they continue to play and search for the rest of the treasure.

You’ll Need:

Optional: Small “Treasure Boxes”

Tips For Success:

• Help your toddler name the letters as they find them – “You found letter K!”
• Add scoops or tongs to the sensory bin to help your child strengthen and refine their fine motor skills as they play

4 | Giant Masking Tape Letters

All you need for this one is masking tape. Any kind will work, but the activity is more fun when you have multiple colors to work with. Simply, choose a letter – or ask your toddler to come up with one – and “draw” the letter with masking tape on the floor. Talk about each letter as you make it: “We’re making letter A. Letter A has 2 big lines and 1 little line in the middle!”

To make the activity as interactive as possible, make each letter big enough for your toddler to walk along and “trace” with their steps. This adaptation is great for teaching your child balance and coordination. You can even bring out the toy cars and encourage your little one to drive along the lines of each letter, tracing it with their car. Feel free to come up with your own variations, too!

You’ll Need:

Optional: Toy Vehicles (or other props)

Tips For Success:

• Keep this activity moving to keep your toddler engaged! Involve your toddler as much as possible – they can help choose which letters to make or even (try to) help you make the letters
• Don’t be afraid to add props to extend your toddler’s play. Seriously, kids love “tracing” tape letters with toy cars! What other extensions can you guys come up with?
• Let’s face it: Your toddler is going to rip the tape off the floor at some point (maybe immediately after you put it down). Embrace it. At the very least, pulling the tape off the floor counts as a fine motor activity!

5 | Sensory Letter Tracing Fun

First, place a letter card in a sensory tray (a mini sheet pan works perfectly). Then, cover the letter card with a thin layer of play sand and encourage your toddler to trace the letter with their finger or a dry paintbrush. Be prepared to switch out letter cards once your toddler looks like they’re ready to move on!

This activity is perfect for toddlers new to learning their letters, as well as older toddlers working on pre-writing skills because it’s so easy to adapt to different levels. Whatever your child’s stage of development, engaging their senses is an awesome way to help them learn new concepts and skills.

You’ll Need:

4 | Paintbrush

Tips For Success:

• Use just enough sand to barely cover the letter. Any more and your precious little monkey will be tempted to dump all that sand out on your beloved hardwood floors
• Keep a toddler-friendly broom & dustpan nearby, anyway – just in case
• For a more challenging variation, keep the letter card out on the table next to your toddler’s sensory tray. Your child can practice writing the letter in the sand with the card as a reference. (Save this one until your toddler is developmentally ready, though!)
• Let your toddler choose which letter they want to work with to help increase their engagement (and enjoyment!)

6 | Giant Letter Matching

Start with a fully assembled alphabet floor puzzle and some letter manipulatives. Next, encourage your toddler to match the small letter manipulatives to the large letters on the floor puzzle. “You have letter L in your hand! Where is the big letter L?”

This game is great for active toddlers because they can walk around – or run, hop, or crawl – while they work on their letter recognition and matching skills.

You’ll Need:

2 | Letter Manipulatives (like these jumbo letter magnets)

Tips For Success:

• You might want to have the puzzle ready to go before you begin – unless your toddler is super patient. Most toddlers won’t have the attention span to put together a whole floor puzzle and then do another activity with the same materials
• This activity works best if your child is already familiar with several letters and has worked on matching games before. However, younger toddlers can still have fun exploring the letter toys, even if they can’t recognize or match all the letters yet

7 | Environmental Print Scavenger Hunt

Take a walk with your toddler and try to find as many letters as you can. Stop signs, historical plaques, building names, and more – environmental print is everywhere! Encourage your toddler to look for letters, and point out the letters you find too.

This activity is an awesome way to get yourself (and your little one) out of the house for a bit while strengthening your child’s letter recognition skills.

You’ll Need:

• Absolutely nothing! Just somewhere to walk around – the more environmental print, the better!

Tips For Success:

• Don’t freak out if your toddler gets distracted by something else on your walk – whether it’s a dog, an airplane, or your neighbor Judy. There’s no rule that says you can’t look for letters and check out all the other cool stuff going on outside at the same time!

8 | ABC Spray & Erase Activity

Start by writing a letter on the whiteboard. Then, give your little one the spray bottle and encourage them to spray the letter on the board and make it disappear! You can also write your child’s name or a sight word instead of a single letter to extend the fun.

This is a simple (sneaky) activity that helps your child develop letter recognition skills while they work on their fine motor strength and coordination. After all, using a spray bottle is hard work for most toddlers – but it’s a great workout for the small muscles in their fingers and hands! 

You’ll Need:

3 | Baby wipes for clean-up

Tips For Success:

• If your toddler is struggling too much with the spray bottle, you can also give them a wet paintbrush and encourage them to “trace” the letters
• Some older toddlers might be ready to write some of their own letters on the whiteboard independently. Yay! Go them! Feel free to hand over the spray bottle and the dry erase markers, and let them go to town
• That being said, you’ll definitely want to remind your toddler where water should be (on the whiteboard) and where it should not be (on the floor) during this activity. Have some towels on hand just in case, anyway!

Have Fun!

Introducing letter recognition activities and games to your toddler will help them develop pre-academic skills that will continue to benefit them in preschool and beyond. Plus, it’s so much fun to watch your toddler begin to explore their ABC’s for the first time!

I hope this list helped you find a few new literacy activities to try out at home. As always, remember to keep things simple, lighthearted, and flexible when you’re doing activities with your toddler. Children learn best when they’re having fun.

Until next time!

♥ Meg

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