Fun Ways to Teach Your Child the ABCs

One of the best things about sharing your life with a young child is the chance you get to introduce them to new things. Teaching a young child about the ABCs can be both a fun and rewarding experience. But do not worry that you will simply be stuck with the rote memorization of the alphabet. There are plenty of creative and enjoyable ways to teach (and learn) the alphabet. Here are a few ideas for fun ways to teach your child the ABCs-

• Make an Alphabet Photo collage-This is great idea no matter how old your child is but if your child is little older (ages four and up) then you may want to consider purchasing a disposable camera for your child. Then take a trip outside, to the park, zoo, or wherever you would like to go together. Spend your time looking for pictures of words that start with the letter A or B, or whichever letter you choose for that outing. When you get the photos developed you can then let your child cut them out and glue them onto a collage. Be sure to have your child write or trace the letter for your photo collage onto construction paper and glue the photos around. Since most children love taking pictures this can be a lot of fun!
• Play the Alphabet game-Whether or not you have played this game before it is fun for kids and can be fun for adults too. Keep in mind that if your child is young you can just play a simple game. Start with the letter A. “A is for apple”, “B is for banana”, “C is for cat”, and continue on with all the letters. If your child is older then you can play the game with a theme. For example, play let’s do the alphabet game with fruit or animals. Playing the game this way helps them to learn to sort animals or fruits and also practice their alphabet.
• Play Alphabet Bingo-You can make your own Bingo cards with construction paper. Write all of the letters of the alphabet on it. You can make this simple by making your Bingo cards more like a Tic-Tac-Toe game or you can make them like a traditional Bingo card. Then have some fun as you call out the letters and have your child mark them or put a Bingo chip on the letter. When your child wins they can yell out Bingo! You can purchase little prizes from the dollar store to make this even more fun.
• Alphabet finger painting-Young children especially love sensory experiences and often learn better when doing them. This makes Alphabet finger painting especially beneficial when teaching the ABC’s. Simply use poster board or construction paper and make a finger painting with different letters. Be sure to have your child paint the capital letter and lowercase letter. Encourage him to decorate the letters with the colors and effects that he or she likes to help strength and encourage creativity.
• Play the Alphabet Hide away game-Fill a bag with different objects that start with different letter sounds. For example, you could fill it with a car, a book, a marble, etc. Then show your child all the items in the bag. Put all the items back in the bag and have them find the items by touching them only. Say can you find something that starts with the letter C? Say what sound does the c make? Then see if they can find the toy car in your bag just by touching. This game is not only beneficial for learning letters and sounds but also helps them with using their senses and tactile skills.