Today I’m sharing a set of free alphabet action cards – in two different versions!
(This post contains affiliate links.)
A few months ago, I finished teaching my Three the alphabet through our simple letter of the week activities.
She loved it, and is busy writing letters wherever she goes – as you can see in the above story about a “cweepy monster.” 🙂
One thing she hasn’t picked up on is letter sounds; she knows just a few of them. Her older siblings learned these relatively easily as we did our alphabet activities, so I realized that I needed to try something new.
The trick is that it needs to be something that feels like playing, because I am not going to drill my three-year-old on letter sounds.
(Not that it would work anyway.)
As I was studying my book Phonics They Use, by Pat Cunningham, she suggested creating a set of alphabet exercise cards. When you use them enough, children start associating particular letters with an action and eventually learn each letter’s sound.
So … I gave it a try!
There are two versions of cards. When you print this set front to back, you get the lowercase letter on the front …
And you get the action on the back of the card.
G is for go!
R is for read.
X is sort for for mix. (That tricky letter x!)
A is for apple.
I know, I know. Apple isn’t an action word. The only one I could come up with was act, and that wasn’t something my Three was going to understand. I had to get creative with some of the short vowels, but they do have an action associated with them.
A … eat an apple
O… get on something
U… get under something
We had fun using the cards outdoors on a beautiful summer day, but they’re simple enough that you can do them inside, too. This is the other set of cards. They’re single-sided.
You can even “go” in a messy playroom.
Here’s our letter o card. Another one of those tricky letters whose key word isn’t exactly an action. Blame the alphabet.
Getting “on” a box lid.
E is for exercise. That’s a fun one!
So are they working?
Well, we’re having fun. And my Three is getting more practice recognizing lower case letters. I can’t say that it’s helped her learn her letter sounds yet. One thing I do is emphasize the letter sound each time we use a card. “M! /m/, /m/, March!”
We’ll get there. All in good time!
Here are some other ways to use the cards:
- Laminate the cards, hole punch the upper left corner, and put them on a ring. Then go through the cards one by one just for fun.
- Let your child be the teacher. He/she can name each letter, and you do the action. (My Three loves this.)
- After you’ve been doing the cards a while, see if your child can remember the action word before turning the two-sided card over.
- If you really want to use these cards to teach letter sounds, it’s wise to do just a few at a time. Make a big deal about each new key word. Act it out with props. Get silly!
- Lay the cards in alphabetical order on the floor.
- Just let your little one have fun playing!
So how will you use these cards? Let us know in the comments!
P.S. Yes, they ˆ come in both color and black and white.
Have you seen our best-selling letter of the week curriculum?
© 2017 – 2018, Anna G. All rights reserved.
Marsha says
August 20, 2017 at 8:24 pmWhat a lovely set of alphabet cards-thanks for sharing. My kinesthetic learners will love these! I plan to use them in small groups for letter/letter sound review.
Anna G says
August 28, 2017 at 8:31 pmI hope they enjoy them, Marsha!
Aicha rifai says
October 19, 2017 at 12:53 amYes thank you so much
Lashon Rogers says
August 20, 2017 at 9:26 pmHello,
I’m a mom of year old twin and on a tight budget. Im about to purchase your letter of the week curriculum. What else would you reccomand to use as i try to homeschoolmy boys
Anna G says
August 28, 2017 at 8:32 pmHi Lashon! If you send me an email with more information about the ages of your boys and what they already know and do, I can point you in the right direction. 🙂 It’s anna(at)themeasuredmom(dot)com.
Genie B says
January 7, 2019 at 11:06 pmYoure so creative and inspire me on a daily. thank you for all the free goodies and your ideas!
Daniela says
August 20, 2017 at 9:42 pmI love these action alphabet cards!! They will be a hit with my Kinder class! Thank you so much!!! 🙂
Anna G says
August 28, 2017 at 8:32 pmI’m so glad to hear that, Daniela!
Rebekah says
August 21, 2017 at 12:14 amI plan to put these on a ring and flip through the letters of the week when we need a brain break in my kindergarten class.
Anna G says
August 28, 2017 at 8:32 pmLove that idea! 🙂
Beata Stephanus says
August 21, 2017 at 1:31 amThank you, Anna, your resources are always beneficial.
Regards
Beata
Anna G says
August 28, 2017 at 8:32 pmYou’re welcome, Beata!
Cindy says
August 21, 2017 at 1:56 amThank you very much for this great lesson, it will definitely help me homeschool my boy this holiday.
Anna G says
August 28, 2017 at 8:32 pmI’m so glad to hear that, Cindy!
Celeste says
August 21, 2017 at 3:05 amThank you so very much Anna. These resources are very useful , especially to our lower learners!
Anna G says
August 28, 2017 at 8:32 pmThat’s great to hear, Celeste!
elena says
August 21, 2017 at 6:01 amIt’s awesome. Thanks a lot!
Anna G says
August 28, 2017 at 8:33 pmYou’re welcome, Elena!
Donna says
August 21, 2017 at 8:32 amThese are awesome for preschoolers when they need to exercise or move around from sitting too long. With school starting soon they will be very helpful and I like the idea of putting them on a card and ring. Very helpful
Anna G says
August 28, 2017 at 8:33 pmI’m glad you can use these, Donna!
Dana says
August 21, 2017 at 9:03 amThese are great cards to use for outside movement activities. Thanks for sharing!
Anna G says
August 28, 2017 at 8:33 pmYou’re welcome, Dana!
Katherine says
August 21, 2017 at 12:59 pmWhat a way to learn while moving. l love it! Thanks
Anna G says
August 28, 2017 at 8:33 pmI hope you get a chance to use them, Katherine!
Sharyl says
August 21, 2017 at 1:33 pmI love that these cards have the lowercase letters on them. Most of the cards available for youngers are uppercase. The clipart is adorable, and since I’m a big fan of multi-sensory teaching, I love having the picture, the word, and a motion all on one card! Thank you!!
Anna G says
August 28, 2017 at 8:33 pmYay – I’m glad you like them, Sharyl!
JG says
August 21, 2017 at 4:07 pmLove the alphabet card activities.
Anna G says
August 28, 2017 at 8:33 pmI’m happy to hear it! 🙂
Jennnifer Franklin says
August 21, 2017 at 4:41 pmThanks again, Anna! Yet one more resource that I can pull out for alphabet review. I will probably use these whole-group and we will just do the motions you provide in your pictures.
I have some teeny tiny abc exercise cards in black and white that my kids have loved, but yours are larger and more colorful and therefore more attention-grabbing.
THANKS SO MUCH FOR ALL YOU DO.
Anna G says
August 28, 2017 at 8:34 pmThank you so much for your feedback, Jennifer! I hope your learners enjoy these! 🙂
Joan Boardman says
August 23, 2017 at 4:06 pmThey are brilliant cards my grand children are picking up the Alphabet quicker then the normal way of teaching. I have printed out both the colour and black and white as I thought the black and white would come in handy as a useful colouring activity. Brilliant cards I love them
Anna G says
August 28, 2017 at 8:34 pmI’m thrilled you can use them, Joan!
maria says
September 24, 2017 at 11:49 pmThank you so much. My students will love it.
Anna G says
September 25, 2017 at 5:48 amYou’re very welcome, Maria!
Christine says
September 28, 2017 at 1:49 amLove the cards for my kinder class. I did change a few of the actions and pictures that suited my style better. A for astronaut (float on moon). C for clap. F for fly I like fall as well. G for giggle. H for hide but I like hop as well. L for lay down. R for run in place. T for tap foot. For z I switched to zip up a jacket.
Anna G says
September 28, 2017 at 10:26 amThanks for sharing those! I am often limited as to the clip art that I can find. 🙂
Sunday says
October 20, 2017 at 9:50 amThese cards are excellent!! Thank you so much for your time and talent in putting these together!
Anna G says
October 21, 2017 at 7:42 amYou’re very welcome!
Susana says
November 9, 2017 at 9:28 amYou’re the best! I printed these out and laminated them! I just have to get a metal ring to put them all together. So many great rescources here! Thanks for all you do!!!
Anna G says
November 10, 2017 at 7:14 amI’m so glad you can use them, Susana!
Deborah says
January 4, 2018 at 12:03 pmI like to pass the cards around and have students act out their card while classmates try and guess the letter and or the sound the letter makes. Those more advanced can name an object that starts or ends with the sound too. You can do whole group or divide the class into groups of 4 or 5 and using your assessments group them according to the specific letters they have not yet learned for extra repetitive practice.
Anna G says
January 4, 2018 at 8:47 pmThank you so much for passing along these wonderful ideas, Deborah!
Erica Lasham says
January 14, 2018 at 4:04 pmThank you for this wonderful resource. I’m going to use it with a student with special learning needs, she will love acting out all the actions to each letter. Thank you
Sidike Buayixiamu says
May 6, 2018 at 2:19 amThank you so much! I have found the perfect source that I was looking for. I downloaded these to print out. I am excited to teach my kids. I believe that there would be good result.
Anna G says
May 6, 2018 at 7:57 amYou’re welcome, Sidike!
JRP says
May 23, 2018 at 10:39 amThese look great! May I suggest for A “applause” – I know it’s a long word but kids know clap- so it might just work. If you happen to be looking- no pressure. These are all wonderful resources. God bless! Thank you for sharing your wealth.
Anna G says
May 23, 2018 at 2:16 pmThat’s a great word! The reason I wouldn’t use it, though, is because it doesn’t have the clear short a sound. For this set of cards I wanted to make sure that the letter’s main sound (as in the short vowel sound or the more common consonant sound) was easy to distinguish.
Kathleen says
May 28, 2018 at 10:15 pmHello, my name is Kathleen and I’m a Babysitter Grandma to 3 of my 4 grand babies. I’ve been working with my 4 yr old since birth and he is more than ready for preschool, which he started just 5 months before he turned 4. I’ve grabbed everything free off the internet to teach him with, and I’ve compiled a notebook full off pages and am beginning to use these tools on my next little boy. When I saw your site with the community pages I had to grab them and put them in my book. I’m excited to see what else I can use of yours to teach him and his new little sister with.
Anna G says
June 2, 2018 at 1:44 pmHi Kathleen! It’s wonderful to hear what an active role you’re taking in their education. I think you’ll find many useful resources on my site. 🙂
Jennifer says
June 7, 2018 at 7:08 pmFor your letter actions might I suggest A-choo! For /a/, Ouch! For /o/ or Open. Also I think X marks the spot look for treasure.
Anna G says
June 23, 2018 at 6:42 amThanks for the suggestions! For each featured picture I do want its beginning sound to match the most common sound of the letter (short vowel sound, /k/ for letter c, etc.) – so that makes it tricky.
Liz Callarman says
October 22, 2018 at 10:28 amThis is just the thing I was looking for! My kinder kiddos will love this!
Anna G says
October 24, 2018 at 4:49 pmI’m glad this worked for you, Liz!
Alina says
December 2, 2018 at 2:58 amWhat a lovely set of alphabet cards-thanks for sharing. Thank you so much! I have found the perfect source that I was looking for. I downloaded these to print out. I am excited to teach my pupils. I believe that there would be a good result.
Reply
Anna G says
December 2, 2018 at 8:03 amYou’re welcome, Alina!
Nomsa says
January 3, 2019 at 10:59 pmHi Anna
Thank yo so much.My grade 1 will definitely enjoy the alphabet.
Anna G says
January 12, 2019 at 11:56 amYou’re welcome, Nomsa!
Libby says
January 4, 2019 at 12:34 amHi Mrs Anna
Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful ideas. I work with children in the crèche(6mths-1yr9mths) and I have printed some of your printable works for my kids, they love the colorful letters of the alphabets. I will love to use this too with them.
Anna G says
January 12, 2019 at 11:56 amYou’re very welcome, Libby!
Angela says
January 4, 2019 at 12:45 pmThanks so much~will use these will all my Kindergarten kids, but especially to help those kinesthetic learners!
Anna G says
January 12, 2019 at 11:55 amYou’re welcome, Angela!
Judith Finger says
January 8, 2019 at 7:58 amThank you for the idea!!!
I love the photos ideas with the letters.
I have students who are part of the LIFE Skills program and teaching them the letters with no visuals is a struggle! This way I can get them up and moving instead of just sitting to learn the letters. I am taking this idea and taking actual photos of the students doing the action for each letters in hope that it will motivate them to see their photos to letters!
Thanks Again!!
Judy
Deon says
January 8, 2019 at 8:14 pmI really am in love with your resources, they are so interesting and fun. These actions are great, i can’t wait to use them with my kids. thanks a million 🙂
Anna G says
January 14, 2019 at 4:50 pmYou’re very welcome, Deon!
Marta Hawk says
January 11, 2019 at 12:23 pmThank you so MUCH! I really appreciate you sharing these games with us! God bless you!
Anna G says
January 12, 2019 at 11:53 amYou’re very welcome, Marta!
Ashley says
March 7, 2019 at 9:17 amI just have to say your site is by far the best one I have seen! I’ve been looking at quite a few sites for ideas and material to teach my preschooler at home. I have bought workbooks for him to do, but he gets bored quickly. I can’t wait to try some of the ideas you suggest. Thank you so much!
Anna G says
March 17, 2019 at 7:13 amThank you for your kind words, Ashley!
sonia says
May 5, 2019 at 7:37 pmana.
muchas gracias por el alfabeto,al fin lo puedo ver, es muy entretenido, Maximiliano (nieto)lee muy bien español ahora tiene 5 años, esta actividad me servirá para introducirlo al ingles , conoce los nombres de los colores, y los números (0-10) en ingles desde 1año a 5 años, hice los libros mudos. voy a impimir las tarjetas , buscare la prunciacion .
gracias Ana.