Alphabet Magnet Ideas for toddlers and preschool children

My mother in law got Rosa a gift certificate for Toys R Us this year.  We decided to buy these wonderful alphabet pieces since Rosa was taking such an interest in letters.   They are such a fun toy and very versatile.

Here are some fun ideas that you can use with this or other toys like it.

Use the pieces on the refrigerator, a magnetic white board or a cookie sheet.  You can also create a magnetic wall in your child's room with chalk board paint.  I also have seen one child care that bought a huge cookie sheet and screwed it into the wall at eye level to use for magnets.

The pieces can also be used on surfaces that are non-magnetic, they just won't stick.

Increasing letter recognition:

• have your child point to a letter and you will name it
• find an upper case letter and have your child locate the same letter in the lower case (they will be the same color) and vise versa
• you can point to a letter and have your child tell you what letter it is
• spell a word and have your child identify the letters in the word
• spell your child's name and have your child name the letters
• spell a word with upper case letters then have your child spell the word with lower case letters
• place the lower or upper case letters in order a through z
• sing the alphabet song while you point to each letter
• ask your child to find a specific letter

Colors and Math

• have your child sort the letters based on their color
• ask your child what color each letter is
• sort the letters into two group, vowels and consonants
• place a few letters out and count them
• spell your child's name and count the number of letters in their name
• spell a word, then count the letters
• count out five letters, then have your child take some of the letters while you hide your eyes, then "guess" how many letters your child took.  Have your child show you the letters they took and count them.  Switch roles.  You can also model different ways that you can figure out how many are missing.  
• place some of the letters in a glass jar and have your child guess how many there are in the jar, then count them
• have your child guess how many letters they can grab with one hand, then have them grab a handful of letters, count how many they can hold in one hand.  Repeat this activity with both hands.
• provide your child with a balance and the letters so they can explore 

Tracing the letter ideas

• trace the letters onto a piece of paper, then have your child identify the letters on the paper
• trace a word and have your child identify the letters
• trace their name and have your child identify the letters
• count the number of letters you have traced onto the paper
• have your child color the letters you have traced
• trace the letters onto a piece of paper in a pattern, then ask your child what letter will come next
• trace the letters, then have your child match the letters to the traced letters like a puzzle
• trace the letters onto index cards, one letter per card, then tape the cards to the floor in a circle.  You can play musical chairs with the cards.  It is best to have more cards than children.  Ask the children what letter they are on.
• trace the letters onto index cards, one letter per card, then tape the cards on the floor close enough that the children can hop from one letter to the next.  Ask the children to hop from one letter to the next and name the letters as they hop.