Creative and Playful Alphabet Activities

Mar 5, 2018 | 0 comments

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I adore that stage in a child’s life when the World of Letters starts to open up and the magic of the alphabet is discovered.
But how many times can you sing the ABC song before you want to stab yourself in the eye with a fork?!
(Just asking for a friend.)
If you’re looking for some creative and playful alphabet activities, you’ve come to the right place.

Over on Instagram, I co-host the weekly @get.creative.with challenge with the Little Button Diaries team.
Each week, we welcome a guest judge who chooses a theme for our community.
Last week, we welcomed Molly from @littleoneslearn. Molly challenged everybody to #getcreativewith the alphabet.
So much creative, alphabetty goodness!

Creative Alphabet Activities for Younger Kids

It feels good to be back! After what feels like an eternity of being ill, the glue gun is plugged in, the glitter and paint are out and we’re back to crafting! Hooray! Over on @get.creative.with our judge Molly from @littleoneslearn is challenging us to #getcreativewith the alphabet this week and we’re excited all from way from A – Z. To get us started we made this pipe cleaner alphabet fishing game we spied on @wonder.and.awe’s super duper feed ages ago. The Buttons loved it! Come and join in with our alphabet fun over on @get.creative.with. All you need to do is tag your pics @get.creative.with and #getcreativewith and be following @littleoneslearn, @ohcreativeday and us! Easy as A, B, C!

A post shared by Laura & Tia ✨ Crafters & Mamas (@littlebuttondiaries) on Feb 21, 2018 at 2:30am PST

The Little Button Diaries team created an alphabet fishing game out of pipe cleaners. Make a fishing rod out of some dowel, yarn and use a hot glue gun to stick a magnet at the end of the yarn.
Over on their site, they also have a tutorial on making your own felt alphabet with it’s own storage bag.

Little Button Diaries website / On Instagram

A post shared by Shannon👫👶🏻Mum Of 3🙋🏻Teacher 🇦🇺 (@ohcreativeday) on Feb 21, 2018 at 7:06pm PST

Oh hey!  That’s me on Instagram!
I wrote the alphabet in white oil pastels on paper.
The children then painted over the paper with liquid water colours to reveal the hidden alphabet.
You could also use watered-down food dye.

Using our alphabet charts, we then went on an alphabet hunt around the house.
We collected items beginning with the letters of the alphabet and made a design with the gathered items.
Finally, we played a game of good ol’ I-Spy using the items we had gathered.

2…ABC Animal Jamboree…. . A🐜B🐝C🐊A🐜B🐝C🐊A🐜B🐝C🐊A🐜B🐝C🐊 . Bb…Boa Constrictor. The Boa Constructor’s a slippery snake Who slithers and slides round his tree, And when tasty animals wander too close He squashes them slowly for tea! . . . A little homemade addition to this favourite ABC alphabet book. If you love ‘Rumble in the Jungle’ and all the other fab books by Giles Andreae & David Wojtowycz, then you’ll love this ensemble of their creations in alphabetical order. . This copy was one of my daughters favourites way back when she was little. So when @get.creative.with said ‘Alphabet’ I just had to get this book out! My initial idea was an animal painted pebble AND the letters to match, but I think the animals will be an ongoing project! Too many ideas…not enough time! . A week off school meant a trip to the beach, so pebbles were collected. Out came the chalk paint, then the stamps & ink pad, followed by the Posca pens…to make a tactile, multi-sensory resource…so nice to hold and and a little uppercase/lowercase, match the letter to the page game. Work in progress pics in my stories! . . ABC Animal Jamboree…Giles Andrea & David Wojtowycz , Orchard Books 2009. . A🐜B🐝C🐊A🐜B🐝C🐊A🐜B🐝C🐊A🐜B🐝C🐊 . . . . . . @get.creative.with @littleoneslearn #getcreativewith #alphabet #abc #animaljamboree #hobbycraft #gilesandreae #davidwojtowycz #paintedpebbles #hobbycraft #invitationtoplay #invitationtoread #kidlitpicks #kidartlit #kidsbooks #storystones #poscapens #kidsbookstagram #readingmatters #storybooks #getcreativewithbooks #kidsbookcrafts #crafternoon #waketomake #creativelife #oursensorykids #earlyyearslearning #creativechildhood #earlylearning101 #kidscrafts101 #tagfromtheheart #funcraftskids

A post shared by Julie Curtin (@juliecurtin14) on Feb 24, 2018 at 3:47pm PST

Julie Curtin is the kind of Kindy teacher of our dreams. Her classroom looks like such a fun, creative space.
Julie paired her activity with an alphabet book and made letter pebbles. Click on the picture for the full process.

Julie on Instagram

A post shared by Cara + Kinley (5) (@raising.kinley) on Jul 21, 2017 at 10:09pm PDT

Dig out the fidget spinners! Create a line of letters and get that spinner spinning!
The aim is for your child to name the letter as the spinner moves past it. Extra points if they can provide the corresponding sound!

Raising Kinley website / On Instagram

Thank you so much for the insta-birthday love you gorgeous souls 💗 Over the next week we are going to share some of our very first activities that got this insta party started 🎈kept the toddler occupied and the coffee drunk while it was hot! ☕ . Toddlers love magnets ✔ Toddlers love puzzles ✔ A quick and easy activity to set up… trace around magnetic alphabet letters on a piece of white paper and then use a couple of magnets to pin it to the fridge. . A fun way to help with letter recognition 👍 #busytoddler #peacefultimes #letthemplay

A post shared by B L B – Holistic Living (@busylittlebodies) on Feb 19, 2018 at 4:49pm PST

I love how simple this set up is. Trace around some magnetic letters and then have your little learner match the letter to the traced shape.
Or you could use stickers and add in some fine motor practice!

Busy Little Bodies on Instagram

POM POM LETTER RACE! I used different versions of this game when I was a classroom teacher. Roll the lowercase letter dice (made using stickers from @kmartaus) and keep track of how many times letters have been rolled by using different coloured pom poms! Chance/data, colour and letter recognition…check! I’ve marked the egg carton with uppercase stickers to match to lower case 🙂 Over at @earlylearning101 this week our theme is LETTERS. Check out #earlylearning101 for more letter play inspiration! Happy Tuesday 🙂 #Playfullearningco #earlylearning101 #playfullearningco_literacy

A post shared by Amy • Mum of 4 💗💛💚💙 + Teacher (@playfullittlelearners) on Jun 27, 2016 at 8:57pm PDT

My friend Amy is the Queen of literacy activities. She’s a bit of a phonemic awareness nerd.
Use stickers on a dice to create a letter dice. Learners keep track of how many times letters have been rolled by using coloured pom poms.
It’s letter identification meets chance and date.

Playful Little Learners website / On Instagram

A post shared by Sydney Arts Kids🎨Artsplorers (@artsplorers_au) on Feb 24, 2018 at 4:33pm PST

We have these bath foam letters at our place and they drive us nuts. They appear all over the house.
I love how Cristin and her little learner used the letters to create animals beginning with that letter.

Artsplorers website / On Instagram

Just one of my weekend projects (thanks for the idea @youclevermonkey) … Children need to match the capital letter to the lower case (I made them in the same colour DUPLO bricks to make it easier) and then try to place them in alphabetical order. Can’t wait to try this in class! #earlylearning #earlychildhood #earlychildhoodeducation #ece #learningthroughplay #legoDUPLO #DUPLO #alphabet #learnthealphabet #teachermum #teacherlife #teachertribe #teachertypes #aussieteachers #aussieteachertribe #earlyliteracy #learningthroughplay #playmatters

A post shared by Lauren Hunt (@teacher_types) on Feb 10, 2018 at 4:54pm PST

Such a genius way to use Duplo with this lower case to capital matching game! And what a great way to build the strength in little fingers through play.

Teacher Types website / On Instagram

• Artsy Alphabet • Molly from @littleoneslearn is hosting GCW this week and she is asking us to #getcreativewith …THE ALPHABET! • This little art invitation is super easy to set up and it is BIG on fun! Pop over to our stories to see the process in action and click the link in our bio for the full how-to + materials list.

A post shared by ART CAMP – Los Angeles (@artcampla) on Feb 22, 2018 at 1:40pm PST

 

I love that this art invitation is adaptable to younger and older learners. This would be a cool way to make some personalised, alphabetty art for a bedroom or playroom.
Check out the tutorial here.

Art Camp La website / On Instagram

Creative Alphabet Activities for Older Kids

A post shared by Joanna (@thebluebarn) on Feb 24, 2018 at 11:38am PST

Joanna has 4 children and this activity appealed to all of them. Such a great activity for elementary students.
Using pencils and sharpies, the children designed their own letters and incorporated zentangles into their designs.

The Blue Barn website / On Instagram

A post shared by themamajuggleisreal (@themamajuggleisreal) on Feb 18, 2018 at 3:44pm PST

I love the process behind this alphabet art. A grid was drawn on some water color paper with pencil. One letter per square, each having upper and lower case letters. Once the letters were written in black oil pastel, the entire page was wet watercolored.  Wet water coloring is when you dip the entire page in water, making sure the entire page gets wet then add your pigment. Such a cool result!

The Mama Juggle is Real on Instagram

It’s been raining nonstop here, reminding me of all the indoor recesses I spent hanging in a corner with my friends making up our own handwriting. Do the kids still do that these days, or am I just a billion years old? 👵🏼 I happened to see that this week’s @getcreativewith challenge from @littleoneslearn is the alphabet, and I just had to join in and share my love for the (lost?) art of handwriting… . A few years ago I saw a beautiful interactive video installation by the artist Xu Bing about the history of Chinese Characters. Did you know that the strokes used to make the symbols were originally styled after bird tracks and shadows cast by trees? Such a striking way to honor nature, no? Xu created an insanely fun calligraphy lesson that used Chinese calligraphic principles to write English. Using brushes and ink to make expressive marks, he wrote English words in squares, writing left to right, top to bottom and outside to inside. . Today I tried using his techniques and it was so much fun! Like a beautiful code, this is a fun experiment in mark-making for older kids, and a whole different way to write and read the English alphabet. Using different kinds of ink and brushes produces a huge variety of results, and is a great reminder that every letter is a work of art. Thanks for the challenge @littleoneslearn! (PS – we also had fun making this “aged” paper with coffee and coffee grounds! A quick pop in the oven and an ironing dries it out in 15 minutes and gives it this beautiful effect!) . . . #getcreativewith #alphabet #kidart #playmatters #learningthroughplay #teachersofinstagram

A post shared by barley & birch (@barleyandbirch) on Feb 22, 2018 at 10:04am PST

Amanda was inspired by the work of conceptual artist Xu Bing who created a lesson using Chinese calligraphic principles to write English.What a super fun way to explore mark-making and art materials with older learners.

Barley and Birch website / On Instagram

C is for Caticorn 🦄🐱 so excited to share our new Unicorn Alphabet print. This idea literally arose from a conversation with my kids in the car when we started naming our favorite animals as unicorns! A playful print in any kids’ room, nursery or play space. Learning your ABC’s just got more magical 🦄💫 Print comes in 5 sizes – head over to @sendaunicorn_now to purchase. Which is your favorite? 🦄🐱🐰🐯

A post shared by hello, Wonderful (@hellowonderful_co) on Feb 21, 2018 at 1:30pm PST

My friend Agnes developed this super cute Unicorn Alphabet poster after a conversation in the car with her kids.
It’d look so sweet in a nursery!
You can purchase your copy here.

I also adore these personalised napkin rings! Bringing together fine motor skills with nature and playing with letters. Darling!

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