30+ Fun and Interactive Letter Recognition Activities for Preschoolers 

From hands-on activities and engaging online games and songs to free printable worksheets, you’ll find a treasure trove of ways to help your preschooler grow their letter recognition skills.

Before kids can learn to read, they need to be able to recognize and name the individual letters of the alphabet. These engaging letter recognition activities are perfect for preschoolers as they begin to master this foundational reading skill. 

Fun Hands-On Letter Recognition Activities 

Lines and Curves:

Sort letter beads, tiles, or magnets by their shape, creating piles of letters made up of only curves, only straight lines, or both. 

Alphabet Hunt:

Look for printed letters in the world around you. Try to find them in alphabetical order for a real challenge. 

Letter Hide-and-Seek:

Hide letter beads or blocks around the room. As your child finds each one, have them say the name of the letter and lay it in a line, working to get them all in alphabetical order. 

Playdough Letters:

Kids love playdough! Use it to make letter shapes or grab some letter stamps or beads and make letter impressions instead. 

Letter Match Puzzles:

Craft simple puzzles using notecards cut in half to help kids match uppercase and lowercase letters.

Alphabet Sensory Bins:

Bury letters in a bin of sand, beans, bubbles, shaving cream, or whatever you like. Kids will love diving in to find them! Learn more about alphabet sensory bins here.

Letter Collages:

Cut out letters from magazines or newspapers and create a collage page for each one. Be sure to include both upper and lowercase letters. 

Letter I Spy:

Say, “I spy with my little eye an uppercase letter B,” then see if your child can spot it too. 

Letter Swat:

Write letters on sticky notes and hang them on the wall. Give your child a flyswatter, then call out the letter names and let them swat the right one.

Fishing for Letters:

Add paperclips to letter flashcards and scatter them on the floor. Make a simple “fishing rod” with a pole or stick and a piece of string with a magnet on the end, then go fish! 

Letter Sort:

Mix up a variety of letter toys, like cards, beads, magnets, and blocks. Then have your child sort them into piles with one pile for each individual letter. 

Alphabet Memory:

Mix up pairs of alphabet cards and lay them face down in rows. Take turns flipping two cards, looking for a match. Make it more challenging with pairs of upper and lowercase letters. 

Letter Smash:

Write letters on a piece of paper, then roll balls of playdough and place one underneath each letter. Call out a letter, and let your child smash the letter, squishing the matching playdough ball flat! 

Alphabet Tic-Tac-Toe:

Traditional tic-tac-toe is a great way to practice Xs and Os, so why not try it with other letters too? For example, one player can be “K” while the other is “P.”

Letter Hop:

Write letters randomly on the sidewalk with chalk. Then, call out a letter and have your child hop onto the right one.  

Alphabet Bingo:

Make special bingo boards with letters in the squares instead of numbers. Drop your letter magnets or beads into a bag and draw them one by one to see who can get a full line first. 

Sticker Letters:

Use small stickers to make letter shapes on pieces of paper. (You can also try this with our free printable alphabet tracing pages.)

Alphabet Soup:

Fill a bin or bowl with water and float letter beads or magnets on top. Give kids a big spoon and ask them to scoop out the right letter as you call them out. Follow it up with a real bowl of alphabet soup for lunch or dinner.

Balloon Pop:

Ready for a little noise? Inflate some balloons and write a letter on each one. Call out a letter, and see how fast your child can find the right one, then sit on it to pop it! 

Alphabet Parking:

Use labels or a piece of masking or painter’s tape to label toy cars with uppercase letters. Draw a parking lot on a piece of paper, with each space labeled with a lowercase letter. Then–vroom!–have your child drive the cars into the matching spaces.

Online Letter Recognition Games 

Screen time can be learning time when you choose games designed by experts to expand your child’s learning. Online letter recognition activities keep children interested and engaged, building their enthusiasm for learning. Pair them with real-world activities to bring the learning to life. (Find even more ABC letter learning games here.) 

Letters on the Fence

As each lowercase letter is called, click or tap to select it on the fence. 

Alphabet Farm Maze

Guide a tractor through a maze by selecting the right letters of the alphabet. 

Farm Tile Flip

Match upper and lowercase letters, then complete a farm-themed puzzle in this simple game. 

Zoo Alphabet Pop and Peek

Pop the uppercase letter bubbles as requested to reveal a fun zoo scene. 

Letters on the Barn

Find the indicated letter, then trace it with your finger. 

Letter Recognition Activities Worksheets 

Engaging worksheets designed to help with letter recognition are a great way to bolster the learning your child is doing through the letter recognition activities and games listed above. These worksheets often incorporate games, puzzles, and creative exercises that are fun for young learners and reinforcing their knowledge of letters. In this section, you’ll discover a variety of effective worksheets that support letter recognition and can set the stage for reading and writing success.

Letter Tracing Worksheets for Kids

Free printable letter tracing worksheets help preschooler children practice writing uppercase and lowercase letters, enhancing their letter recognition and fine motor skills.

Tip: Slip these coloring pages into clear plastic sheet protectors, and kids can use dry erase markers to practice again and again! 

Color By Letter Worksheets

Color by letter worksheets for preschoolers combine the fun of coloring with the educational task of letter recognition.

Each section of the picture corresponds to a specific letter, helping children learn their letters in a creative way while also practicing color recognition and fine motor skills.

Preschool Alphabet Pictures Coloring Pages

Each of these fun coloring pages features a letter and an illustration of an object that starts with that letter, reinforcing letter-sound connections. You can work with your child to practice repeating the sound of the letter as they color the page.

Tip: Make a fun alphabet book with your child as they learn and color each page. Collect them in a binder or folder that your child can go back and look at for review.  

Letter Recognition Videos for Preschoolers 

Engaging, well-designed videos can boost a child’s interest and get them excited about learning the alphabet. To make the most of these videos and songs, watch them with your child and follow them up with more hands-on letter recognition activities. 

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