Alphabet knowledge is a key predictor of children's later reading and writing outcomes, according to the National Institute for Literacy. Parents and other caregivers can help develop early literacy skills by teaching the alphabet. A variety of engaging ABC games offer a fun, motivating way to build some of the foundational skills successful readers need.
Alphabet Zoo
For this game, make or purchase pictures of animals whose names start with a variety of different letters. Provide each child with pictures of three animals that all start with a different letter. Ask the children to put their animals in alphabetical order. Try several rounds of this, and once they have it down, increase the number of animals to four or five.
ABC Bingo
Start with five-by-five grids, and create bingo cards with pictures of items that all begin with a different letter. Make each card different and leave a "free space" in the center if you like. Create letter cards A through Z. Place them in a box from which you can draw them one at a time. Hand out the bingo cards and tell children that when you call a letter they should mark the picture on their card if they have a picture that starts with that letter. For example, if you say "B" and they've got a picture of a ball, they'll mark the ball. Explain that the goal is to mark all the items in one row or column. The first person to do this says "Bingo." Check to confirm that the winner's card is marked correctly. Continue play if it is not.
Concentration
Help reinforce connections between uppercase and lowercase letters by making a set of alphabet cards, half with uppercase letters and half with the corresponding lowercase letters. Play the first round by selecting 15 letters and placing them face down in a five-by-six array. Children take turns flipping over two of the cards and let everyone see the letters on them. If the cards are a pair, the child gets to keep them, if not, she turns them back over. The next child turns over two cards, again letting everyone see them. Players keep any matching pairs they turn over, and turn back over any unmatched letters. The child with the most pairs when all the cards are gone wins the game.
Dot-to-Dot
Create a connect-the-dots activity by drawing an outline of a picture using a series of 26 dots. Label the dots sequentially with the letters of the alphabet so that when the dots are connected in alphabetical order, a picture is revealed. Distribute one copy of the dot-to-dot to each child. Allow them to connect the dots in alphabetical order to discover the picture. They may color the drawing after completing it.
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