Scoop and Dump the Alphabet Activity!

Ready for an alphabet activity that will knock it out of the park with your preschooler? If you have a little one who loves diggers, trucks, and all things construction, this is THE alphabet activity for you.

I recently sent out a survey to those who are on my email subscriber list. I learned so much from your responses!

One thing that I learned was that you were needing activities that were good for multiple levels or ages.

Whether you are in the classroom or home with your little ones, you need activities that work for ALL! 

Secondly, you are also in need of easy, low prep, yet stellar resources. Things that make learning fun for your little ones without needing to search endlessly on Pinterest.

Finally, many of you are needing support with helping your little ones, both in the classroom and at home, handle those BIG emotions and many, let’s just say, undesirable behaviours. 

I am going to be focusing my posts on these things in 2020.

I thought I would start our New Year off with a fun and easy alphabet activity your little ones are sure to love! This activity is easily modified to make it engaging for those just learning their letters, as my nephew Carter is, as well as those who are already readers!

Carter is just starting to learn his letters. As his Auntie, I get to share some of my favourite learning activities with him to start him on his literacy journey.

Well, that doesn’t sound very magical … and learning letters and reading is magical.

So, not literacy journey. On his once in a lifetime magical alphabet quest. Better.

Since Carter is at the very beginning of his quest, we are starting with his name letters. To find out exactly why we do this, and to find out the letter order that is best to introduce to children, please check out my post on Teaching Letter Recognition.

This fun alphabet activity is so simple to set up.

I took some small rocks and wrote his name letters on them. I took 5 rocks and wrote the letter “C”, then 5 rocks and wrote the letter “a”, etc.

I also had some small wooden blocks from the dollarstore, so I added his name letters to those too and included them in this activity.

Any small items work well. Whatever you have on hand.

I then wrote out Carter’s name on 2 pieces of paper. One for him to look at and use for reference, and one I chopped into individual letters.

That’s it!

My sister then put the rocks in a pile and spread the paper name letters out around the room.

Carter then used his diggers and dump trucks to deliver each of the letter rocks to their proper paper letter.

He was scooping with the lifters and tractors and dumping with his trucks as well as differentiating between the letters, recognising them, and saying them aloud as well!

This was a great activity to get Carter familiar with his name letters.

If you have little one’s beyond this step, you can add in the letters s a t i p n, or whichever letters are currently being practised.

This would also make a great sight word activity. Sight words could be written on paper and little one’s need to find the correct letters and build the word.

Siblings can work alongside each other while still being challenged appropriately.

If you are in a Preschool classroom and have many different children, I would suggest colour coding the letters. Each name could be written in a different colour which corresponds to the colour on the rock. For example, Evelyn could be written in red and her letter rocks would have her letters E-v-e-l-y-n also written in red. Joseph could be written in blue and his letter rocks would also be written in blue.

This way each child would begin by finding all of their “coloured rocks” and then they could build their name. Or they might choose a friends name to build! A wonderful activity for a sand table!

I hope you like this alphabet activity! Perhaps it will be the very first activity that sparks a little one to undertake his very own once in a lifetime magical alphabet quest! 

Thank you so much for reading friends. Happy New Year!

xo

Sarah

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