When I was pregnant with my oldest, I always said we’d delay reading. I’d read enough about the benefits of delaying formal education and wanted my kids to play for their first several years. However, my son had different ideas. When he was about a year old, he was suddenly obsessed with letters! So, here are the pre-reading activities I used to introduce letters to my toddler.
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First of all, I introduced just one letter at a time. I thought it would be way too overwhelming to introduce all 26 letters at once. As a music teacher, I really love the first 7 letters of the alphabet (these make up the musical alphabet), so I introduced those first. The letters in your kiddo’s name are also good to start with. Vowels are another popular starting place. Or you can just introduce letters in order.
As I introduced each letter, I brought out each of these toys featuring that letter. Sometimes, he’d get the hang of that new letter quickly, in just a couple of days. Other times, we spent a week or even two on the new addition. We just went at his pace and had fun with it.
Toys we purchased
Most alphabet books have the entire alphabet, which really is too much for a little one. These Bob Book pre-readers introduce just 2 or 3 letters in a book, so they were perfect! When my son got the hang of the featured letters in the book, we’d then read the book together. Both of my kids really loved these books.
We had a few different sets of magnetic letters for the fridge. These are easy to find nearly anywhere and super popular, plus, you can use them for spelling practice later on.
This Melissa and Doug set was a huge hit and we used it for years!
I found these wood blocks that were compatible with Duplo blocks. My kids, especially my son, have always loved LEGO, so these were an awesome win. Plus, I could use them once we started reading! Unfortunately, they’re apparently no longer available. This is what they were called: Dream Blocks ABCs Building Set – 28 Fun and Educational Wooden Blocks that are Duplo* compatible. You might try these ones, instead.
These foam letters were so much fun in the bathtub! We loved playing with them and saying the sounds each letter made.
I had a set like these when I was a kid, and my kids got to play with them, too! The simplicity of wood blocks can never be over-valued.
DIY Options for pre-reading activities
I put up a rectangle of felt on the wall, about 1’x2’. Maybe a little bigger. Then I cut letters out of felt. I just free-handed it, but there are also lots of patterns online. I cut out both lower and upper case, and later cut out numbers, too.
My kids loved little toys that were in a set together, like these Little People toys. So I thought that if I could create something similar, but featuring letters, they might enjoy that, and I was right! I made plushy letters out of felt and embroidery floss (I actually stuffed them with alpaca fiber because that’s what I had on hand, but you could use anything you have in abundance, even dog hair!). In order to do this, I first created a pattern from an index card. Once the felt was cut out, my son got the paper letter to play with, and he loved it, too! I think I aimed for each letter to be about an inch thick, but it was a lot of trial and error.
If you want something a little less DIY (I had a lot of time on my hands as a stay-at-home mom of just one toddler, but I know you might be busier), these look fun!
I hope you can see how, with just a few toys and some ingenuity, you can introduce your kiddo to letters and their sounds! This is a really magical time, so have some fun with it!