L is for Letters: Themed Activities

Definitely Letters of the Alphabet! With the children I tutor, I often use the letters of the alphabet to challenge them to expand their vocabulary. I may ask for people, places, things, adjectives or verbs to be the category and then for each letter of the alphabet they are to write 1-3 words depending on the category. It is great for expanding their vocabulary. For example, with even one to two words, the child now has 26-52 adjectives to use to build up their storyline.

I use the letters of the alphabet to decide on my topics for the week.  There are endless options so narrowing the list down to a particular letter and then brainstorming my list based on a single letter is typically quite helpful.  Occasionally I am not as inspired by the topic I choose that particular week but once I get started the ideas usually flow and I trust they are interesting to those of you reading.

There are endless activities to do with the letters of the alphabet, some of which are listed below.

Reach inside a bag without looking and attempt to identify the letter you select before you remove it and check to see if you are right.

Trace a letter on someone's hand or back and have them guess what it is.

Arrange a line of blocks with letters on them to make a word.

Randomly select a letter and then see who can find an object that begins with that letter first.  You could see who can name an object first but it is more fun if you seek and find something in the environment.

Practice tracing the letters on a piece of paper and then following the lines with scissors to cut them out.

I have talked in other blogs about activities like these but it is the letters of the alphabet that are the building blocks to children's literacy so they are fundamental to what I write about. Continuously look for ways to build a child's knowledge of the letters, their sounds and the words that they create. 

Live, Learn and Love with the child(ren) in your life.