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 free beginning sound parking lots!
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Wei
Thank you for this great activity!
Just wondering do you happen to have the key words to each of the parking lots?
Anna G
I’m sorry, I don’t think I have that available at this time.
Krista Lynn Diamond
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
This is wonderful to hear, Krista! Thank you!
Rosh
Thank you so much for all your hard work that makes our life easy….you have some amazing resourses…thank you
Anna G
You’re very welcome!
Mary Westerlind
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
You’re welcome, Mary!
susan
Love these!!!
Anna G
I’m so glad, Susan!
Bonnie
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
That makes me SO happy to hear, Bonnie! Yay!
Margaret
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
I hope your grandson likes it, Margaret!
Samantha
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
Yay – I’m so glad you can use these, Samantha!
Rachel
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
I’m so glad you can use them, Rachel!
Debbie Sanders
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
I’m so glad you can use my resources with English language learners, Debbie! Thank you so much for your comment!
Jeannie
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
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. 😉
Lauren
I love these! They are perfect for my little car-obsessed “three”. Thanks for sharing your awesome ideas and free printable!
Anna Geiger
Thanks so much, Lauren! My son loved these so much he made some of his own, ha!
Becca
You are so creative and generous for sharing. Thank you! My preschoolers and tutored students will love this!!!
Anna Geiger
Yay – so glad you can use them, Becca!
Patricia
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
You’re very welcome, Patricia – and thank you so much for your thoughtful comment!
Heather
These are brilliant!!!! Thanks so much!!!
Anna Geiger
You’re very welcome, Heather!
Liz
These are brilliant! Thank you!
Anna Geiger
That is a very high compliment coming from you, Liz – thank you!
Tanishe
I am still unable to download the parking lot games.
Anna Geiger
Have you switched browsers, Tanishe? Or tried other possibilities in this post? https://www.themeasuredmom.com/how-to-download-free-files/
Tanishe
Parking lot The link is not working..
Anna Geiger
It is, Tanishe. Please click on the image below the download to find a solution to your problem.