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!
Get your TEN free parking lots HERE.
P.S. Would you like to learn more about teaching the alphabet?
I’ve written a free e-mail series just for you!
You’ll learn
- The pros and cons of Letter of the Week
- 7 Tips for making Letter of the Week work for you
- Answers to common questions about teaching the alphabet
- What Letter of the Week should look like
- The best activities for learning letters and their sounds
Just click here or on the image below to sign up!
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Get links to the best alphabet activities – organized into a daily curriculum!
© 2015 – 2016, Anna G. All rights reserved.
Parking lot The link is not working..
It is, Tanishe. Please click on the image below the download to find a solution to your problem.
I am still unable to download the parking lot games.
Have you switched browsers, Tanishe? Or tried other possibilities in this post? https://www.themeasuredmom.com/how-to-download-free-files/
These are brilliant! Thank you!
That is a very high compliment coming from you, Liz – thank you!
These are brilliant!!!! Thanks so much!!!
You’re very welcome, Heather!
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.
You’re very welcome, Patricia – and thank you so much for your thoughtful comment!
You are so creative and generous for sharing. Thank you! My preschoolers and tutored students will love this!!!
Yay – so glad you can use them, Becca!
I love these! They are perfect for my little car-obsessed “three”. Thanks for sharing your awesome ideas and free printable!
Thanks so much, Lauren! My son loved these so much he made some of his own, ha!
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!
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. 😉
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!
I’m so glad you can use my resources with English language learners, Debbie! Thank you so much for your comment!
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
I’m so glad you can use them, Rachel!