Looking for an activity to help your preschooler master those beginning letter sounds? My three-year-old loves this one!
Our fourth child is a busy, bright 3 1/2 year old who loves all things cars. When he was two, he would stand at the couch all by himself and drive them along the cushions. And he would be very upset if someone else decided that a couch was for sitting on!
Unlike his older siblings, my Three has taken a bit longer to master letters and sounds. That’s why I began doing letter of the week with him on his third birthday. With our hands-on curriculum, he quickly mastered letter recognition and can name the sounds of most letters.
But hearing the beginning sound in a word is a bit tougher.
These are so low-prep and so much fun! I simply print one of the parking lots and label eight toy cars with the letters listed at the top of the page. I used white label stickers for these images, but I usually use painter’s tape because it goes on and off so well.
Then my Three says each picture’s name and finds the correct car to park on it.
He loves this and does the whole page in just a few minutes.
Some children would be able to do this on their own, but my Three needs some support. At first he put the “c” on the picture of a net.
“What sound does “c” make?”
“/k/,/k/,/k/.”
“Does it go on the net?”
“Net. /k/, /k/, net.” (smiling) “No.”
“Can you find another picture that starts with /c/? What’s this a picture of?” (I pointed to the cow.)
“Moo.”
“What’s the name of the animal?”
“Pig?”
“Noooo…. what animal says moo?”
“A cow!”
“Yes. What sound do you hear in COW?”
“/k/, /k/, cow. Yes!”
It’s interesting to us that we often get comments on how clear his speech is and how well spoken he is for a three-year-old. But he mixes up a cow and a pig! (We’ll be starting theme units this fall to help him with his vocabulary challenges.)
He likes driving the cars up the middle of the page to their parking spots.
We hope you know someone who will enjoy these as much as we do!
P.S. I’ve written a free e-mail series just for you!
Have you seen our free clip cards?
Get links to the best alphabet activities – organized into a daily curriculum!
© 2015 – 2018, Anna G. All rights reserved.
Tanishe says
Parking lot The link is not working..
Anna Geiger says
It is, Tanishe. Please click on the image below the download to find a solution to your problem.
Tanishe says
I am still unable to download the parking lot games.
Anna Geiger says
Have you switched browsers, Tanishe? Or tried other possibilities in this post? https://www.themeasuredmom.com/how-to-download-free-files/
Liz says
These are brilliant! Thank you!
Anna Geiger says
That is a very high compliment coming from you, Liz – thank you!
Heather says
These are brilliant!!!! Thanks so much!!!
Anna Geiger says
You’re very welcome, Heather!
Patricia says
These are awesome! Thank you so much. I truly appreciate the work you put into all of your educational (with a fun approach) lessons! I love when a child learns through play. I have used a lot of your ideas and printed numerous hands on activities from your site. Thank you again for sharing, for the free printables, and the time you take to share with us.
Anna Geiger says
You’re very welcome, Patricia – and thank you so much for your thoughtful comment!
Becca says
You are so creative and generous for sharing. Thank you! My preschoolers and tutored students will love this!!!
Anna Geiger says
Yay – so glad you can use them, Becca!
Lauren says
I love these! They are perfect for my little car-obsessed “three”. Thanks for sharing your awesome ideas and free printable!
Anna Geiger says
Thanks so much, Lauren! My son loved these so much he made some of his own, ha!
Jeannie says
Anna, you are truly amazing! I taught kindergarten for many years. Now I am retired and teaching pre k…loving it! You have been a blessing to me and my students. I can hardly wait to try all of your ideas. I have especially enjoyed your email courses! Thank you!
Anna Geiger says
Thank you so much for your encouragement, Jeannie! I’m so glad you’re enjoying the ecourses. I hope to create one a month this year… we’ll see. 😉
Debbie Sanders says
I retired and am now teaching PreK ELL students. I use so many of your materials with them. They are very helpful! Thank you for your hard work and generosity with your creations!
Anna Geiger says
I’m so glad you can use my resources with English language learners, Debbie! Thank you so much for your comment!
Rachel says
thank you for these resources. I teach in a special school and needs lots of hands on ideas. These are fantastic for consolidating these basic skills in yet another way.
Rachel
Anna Geiger says
I’m so glad you can use them, Rachel!
Samantha says
This is so brilliant! My 3yo also LOVES cars and knows all his letter sounds but really struggles with phonemic awareness/phoneme isolation! I know he’ll love this activity! Thank you
Anna G says
Yay – I’m so glad you can use these, Samantha!
Margaret says
Just downloaded the Parking Lot pages for our 3 1/2 grandson. What a super idea.
Can hardly wait to make and put together for him.
Thank you!
Anna G says
I hope your grandson likes it, Margaret!
Bonnie says
This is the first “beginning sounds” project my son has been excited about. He asked to do more and more, over and over! Cannot thank you enough!
Anna G says
That makes me SO happy to hear, Bonnie! Yay!
susan says
Love these!!!
Anna G says
I’m so glad, Susan!
Mary Westerlind says
Can’t wait to use these for our ‘Transportation’ unit next year, they’ll be a huge ‘hit! Thanks for sharing your amazingly creative work!
Anna G says
You’re welcome, Mary!
Rosh says
Thank you so much for all your hard work that makes our life easy….you have some amazing resourses…thank you
Anna G says
You’re very welcome!
Krista Lynn Diamond says
These parking lots are the best! Thank you so much. I am a new homeschooling mom and have to help my 3rd grader learn to read since he didn’t at school. Thank for making so many kid friendly printables! And free! I go thru my orton-gillingham book for lessons then go to your sight to find a few games to do with our lessons. The orton-gillingham games are boring but the ones you have made are fun. Thank you!
Anna G says
This is wonderful to hear, Krista! Thank you!
Wei says
Thank you for this great activity!
Just wondering do you happen to have the key words to each of the parking lots?
Anna G says
I’m sorry, I don’t think I have that available at this time.