Letters, phonics, and Word Building Activities for Kindergarten Literacy Centers

3/20/2021

Alphabet Letter Tubs

These letter tubs are an absolute MUST for a kindergarten classroom!
Our favorite game goes like this:
-We pull each object out of the tub, stating what it is, and placing it below the projector.
-I say, “Heads down, little clowns.” The kids hide their eyes and put their heads down on their tables.
-I take one object away, and say, “Heads up, buttercups!”
-The students raise their hands to guess which object I took away. They are completely engaged!
- Once all objects have been removed (and then placed back), the final challenge is to name something that starts with the letter of the week. The biggest challenge...they cannot repeat another student’s answer. When they complete the challenge, they earn the coveted letter stamps on their hands!

Alphabet letter Toys

Our favorite letter manipulatives include letter acorns, letter robots, and letter locks! What I love about these is that the kids enjoy just playing with them at the beginning of the year, and by the end of the year, they are using them with intention!

Letter Tiles and Word Building

I love to give the kids open-ended opportunities to work with letter manipulatives! Seeing them come up with their own differentiated activities makes me one proud teacher!
Here are a few of their ideas:
-match letters
-build names (their own names, along with using their locker tags to build peers' names)
-sight words (using the classroom word wall)
-build the alphabet
-put letters in alphabetical order
-write words in shaving cream

My favorite resource for teaching sight words are these mini books. Students really enjoy hunting and color coding our sight words! As a bonus, they align with beginning sounds, too! The first few books, the ones you see below, are used during our alphabet book camp, where a new beginning sound is introduced for the first 26 days of school!

Emergent Readers for Alphabet, Sight Words, Print Awareness for the Full Year

$33.00 $16.50

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Mini Erasers and Word Building in Kindergarten

You guys, I have an obsession. These mini erasers are everything. As an avid eraser collector in my youth, this is something I am so excited I get to continue in my adult life, AND with a purpose!

Our mini erasers are used SO much in our classroom, and here's just ONE of the ways! Build names and words!

Alphatales Books

I can't possibly do a post about our favorite kindergarten literacy activities without mentioning the AlphaTales books! We create a letter anchor chart that we refer to throughout our week of studying each letter. At the end of the week, the kiddos do an amazing job with connecting these books to our chart. Each time an object on the chart is mentioned, they raise their hands. This keeps them really listening throughout the entire book. At the end of each book, there is a picture hunt for items that start with the noted beginning sounds. Because of the repetition and practice, students do an awesome job! I project the pages on the board, and students take turns coming to the board to circle the objects with a dry-erase marker. They love it! AND it's SUCH simple prep! You can see below that I keep our letter and sight word books together, in order, in crates made from pallet wood! This organization makes pulling the next set out super simple!

Kindergarten Alphabet Activities

We offer a variety of alphabet activities in our store, too! Engage those little ones with some hands-on opportunities to practice letters and sounds! There are FREE previews available for you to download and try out with your class right now!

Alligator Letter A Craft and Vocabulary Pack for Beginning Sounds Center

$3.50 $0.00

Alphabet, Handwriting, Beginning Sounds, Sight Words, Print Awareness Bundle

$192.50 $100.00

Letter A Alphabet Kindergarten Arts and Crafts Writing Lesson Activity: The Ants Go Marching

$3.50 $0.00

Alphabet Crafts, Beginning Sound Activities Bundle for the Full Year

$91.00 $44.00

Letter A Craft Activity Pack

$0.00

Alphabet Activities with Crafts, Hats, and Drawing Prompts for Literacy Centers

$87.50 $43.75

Letter Poster, Handwriting Worksheet, and Phonics for Kindergarten: Letter M

$0.00

Alphabet Poems, Handwriting & Letter Posters (Distance Learning, Back to School) for Preschool and Kindergarten Kids

$16.00 $10.00

Kindergarten Phonics ULTIMATE Bundle: Rhyme, Word Families, CVC & Compound Words

$123.00 $65.00

Looking for More Ideas?!

We'd love to share more ways to add MAGIC to your classroom! Subscribe with us to get links and ideas, along with FREEBIES, delivered straight to your inbox just when you need them throughout the year!

Resources for Teaching Letters and Sounds

Math Organization

MAGICal Number of the Day Routine

Transitional Kindergarten Resources

Setting Up a Kindergarten Classroom

Behavior Management Strategies for Kindergarten