Alphabet Sounds Chants

Actually, I Think He Has Great Potential!

The Build-the-Alphabet Game

This worked wonderfully on bad weather days when we couldn't go outside to run off that extra energy. 

Begin with dividing your class into two teams.

You'll need two decks of alphabet cards. It's important the two decks are different from each other, so that they're not accidentally mixed up. For a quick, inexpensive deck, you can print off Alex's Alphabet Cards on two different colored cardstocks.

Dump both decks in a box. Mix them up. Tell each team what their color is (ex: red deck for Team A, blue deck for Team B)

The first child in line grabs a card, runs to a table (I used the gutter underneath the white board), and sets up the card. That child runs back, grabs another card, hands it to the second child, who runs up to place it in "alphabetical order" next to the first card. Child 2 then runs back, grabs a third card to hand to the third child, etc. 

The children keep advancing to place a card in order on the gutter. As more cards are added, they'll have to move cards to fit theirs where it belongs.

The team that finishes correctly first wins!

A Teacher Would Understand

Ping Pong Alphabet Game

I bought a box of ping pong balls, which were relatively cheap. Using a Sharpie, I marked each of them with an alphabetical letter, then put them in a tub, along with a fish net.

The object is to scoop them up in the net in alphabetical order, and drop each ball into the egg carton in the slot with the corresponding letter. (Ex: I put upper case on the balls, and lower case in the cartons.) Note: They could not touch the ball with their fingers at any time. Net only!

What made this exciting for the children is they would time each other (using my timer) to see who could do it the fastest.

Alphabetical Memory Game

Here's a quick and easy memory game that reinforces alphabetical order. And all you need is 1 pack of alphabet cards you can get at any dollar store (be sure they have "blank" backs that don't give away what's on the other side. I've found some alphabet cards that have a picture on one side and the letter on the other, or upper case on one side, lower case on the other, etc.)

Short, sweet, and simple, first person turns over a card, looking for the letter A. When it's finally found, look for the letter B, and so forth until the cards have been placed in order. To make it more fun, if a child finds the next card in order, they get to keep the card and take a second turn. Person who finds the most cards wins!