Today I’m sharing a set of free cards to help young learners build letter knowledge and vocabulary.
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We have a very busy 2-year-old who is interested in many things.
The biggies include playing with our marble run, listening to his favorite board books, doing simple crafts (and by that I mean dripping glue all over the page), and playing in the sandbox.
One thing that he hasn’t shown much interest in, is the alphabet.
Now, judging from the reactions I get on Facebook when I share my “How to teach the alphabet to your 2-year-old” series, many people will say, “Of course not! He’s TWO!”
But here’s the thing. Many 2-year-olds are very interested in letters and sounds. My oldest knew them all before she was two. She was just wired that way. And our fifth child (our other daughter) begged for alphabet activities as a young two-year-old. Their three brothers also showed an interest in the alphabet at this age.
My long-winded point?
IT. IS. OKAY. to introduce the alphabet to your toddler. Please do! Just take it easy, take it slow, and don’t push it.
With that in mind, I created these “Cover It” cards to introduce the alphabet to my Two. My other big goal is to build his vocabulary. He’s been a slow talker, and I don’t read to him as often as I did to his older siblings. (Because, life.)
I created a set of 26 cards. Each card features a letter and three pictures that begin with that letter.
A poker chip is the perfect size to cover the circles.
To play, I show my toddler a card. We talk about the pictures. He names them if he can (usually he can’t). Then I ask him to cover something. “Can you cover the bear? Cover the ball!” And so on.
Sometimes I name the pictures and cover them for him.
He was very excited when I first introduced the cards. Still, as you might guess, we played for just a few minutes (under five). His attention span may be super long when it comes to the marble run (sometimes an hour!), but it’s quite short when it comes to structured learning.
No surprise! And no problem.
My ultimate goal with these cards is not to help my Two recognize and name each letter. My goal, instead, is to help him become familiar with letter names. I want to help him see that letters have a distinct look. And I want to build his vocabulary as he reviews the cards with me.
Is he always excited about doing these cards with me?
Um, no. As of this post we’ve done them about 3 or 4 times. Each time lasts just a couple of minutes. Sometimes it takes a little convincing. Usually if I offer them to his four-year-old big sister, he is suddenly interested. “No, ME!”
This is his favorite card, because he knows the names of all the pictures. And he can even name the letter B!
Or at least he did today.
Once.
It’s a start. 😉
Ways to use these cards
- Use them to introduce the alphabet to your toddler, as I did.
- Use them as review for an older preschooler or kindergartener. Put the cards on a ring, and have him/her first point to the letter and name it. Then name all the pictures before flipping to a new card.
- Use them to help English language learners develop alphabet knowledge and build vocabulary.
Teaching prompts
- “Let’s look at this card! This is the letter B. /b/,/b/, B. Can you say “B”?
- “Point to the B! Now let’s cover it with a chip.”
- “Can you show me the balloon? Let’s cover it.”
- “Show me the letter on this card.”
- “Let’s name this picture and then its beginning sound. Ready? Ball. /b/ /b/ ball.”
You get the idea! Do you have other ideas for using these cards? Let us know in the comments!
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Courtney
I’m just curious in your opinion, do you recommend starting to teach letters with uppercase, lowercase or both? Thanks 🙂
Anna G
For very young learners I recommend teaching uppercase first because they’re easier to recognize, but for kids who are older (as in kindergarten) I would do both at the same time with an emphasis on lowercase, since the goal is to have them start learning to read.
Elena
I intend to use the cards to teach my kids Spanish. We will need to pick new pictures, but the layout is perfect. Thanks!
karen
The Measured Mom strikes again!! Such a basic idea that is a terrific tool for students who continue to struggle with identifying the initial sounds in words, while reinforcing their sounds and letters of the alphabet. As always you have outdone yourself. Cheers and much happiness to you and yours throughout the holidays and the coming New Year.
Anna G
Thank you so much for your kind comment, Karen! Have a wonderful new year!
Karen Cox
These will be great for some of my MTSS (RTI) kids in Pre-K! Thanks!
Anna G
Yay – I’m so glad you can use them, Karen!! 🙂
Bint sami
my daughter, not too as yet, she ll turn two in june. she knows de letter sounds till de letter “m”. like u sd her attention span is v low wen it comes to structured learning to she learns jus one letter a day. we always under estimate kids dat dey r too small to learn. NO ! if fact dese little brains r fast learners. thnx ssooouxh for ur cards. i cn gauge how much exactly she has learnt.
God bless
Anna G
I’m so glad these will work for your daughter! 🙂
Nanette
Good morning, I love all that you’re doing. These resources have great impact on my teaching. Thank you so much!
Anna G
You’re very welcome, Nanette!
R
RHobbs says
These are great for my students with ASD. I love this freebies!
Thank you
Anna G
You’re welcome!
Teri
I have my 22 month old granddaughter’s name in magnets on the frig. She loves manipulating the letters and saying them (sometimes she’s correct!). Now I need to find the rest of the letters as she’s asking for us to spell grandpa, grandma, etc. The cards you have shared will be awesome to add to our activities. And I think they will be great with some of my Title kids at school! Thank you for this activity, and all your wonderful activities!
Anna G
What a bright little granddaughter you have, Teri! I hope you find many useful resources on my site to use with her and your students. 🙂
Harvinder Kaur
Really like your awesome ideas! Keep going!
Anna G
Thank you for your encouragement, Harvinder!
Tej
Wonderful idea !Thanks for your resources.I even liked your teaching prompts!
Anna G
You’re very welcome, Tej!