Are you teaching the alphabet to a preschooler? There are many engaging and hands-on alphabet activities to provide letter practice to young children. Free alphabet tracing printables are a great way to provide repeated practice with hands-on learning.
Another way is to assemble and form letters with a variety of materials. These Free Preschool Alphabet Tracing Playdough Mats: Food Themed are just the thing to get kids working on their letters. Your child will love molding and shaping dough into all of the letters of the alphabet!
Recommended Grade Level:
Food Theme Alphabet Play Dough Supplies:
- Printer/Ink
- Laminating Supplies
- Play Dough
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What Can Preschoolers Learn About the Alphabet?
LETTER RECOGNITION PRACTICE WITH PRESCHOOLERS
LETTER FORMATION ACTIVITIES LEADS TO A STRONG EARLY LITERACY FOUNDATION. WITH A STRONG FOUNDATION, LEARNING TO READ IS EASIER.
Fun alphabet activities and games engage our youngest learners. Soon the alphabet playdough mats become about much more than just play dough. Kids become curious about letter names, letter sounds, and how to write letters.
These free alphabet play dough mats include a fun food theme with a different food for each letter. A simple sentence goes along with each page for additional language practice. I’ve also included a picture with arrows for kids alphabet tracing.
Each page of the play dough mats contains:
- Uppercase alphabet tracing
- Steps for letter formation
- ABC strip at the top
- A simple sentence for early readers
- A fun picture
What Can Preschoolers Learn Through Letter Practice?
LEARNING AND WRITING LETTERS WITH PRESCHOOLERS
LEARNING LETTER NAMES IS JUST THE BEGINNING! PRESCHOOL TEACHERS ALSO FOCUS ON TEACHING BEGINNING SOUNDS, LETTER MATCHING UPPER/LOWERCASE, AND HOW TO WRITE LETTERS.
Students gain valuable skills writing and forming letters:
- Tracing each letter with their finger or a writing utensil gets students ready for writing letters from memory.
- Forming letters with play dough strengthens fine motor skills.
- Students learn letter sounds, allowing them to recognize initial sounds in words.
- Students will see patterns in how letters go together to form words.
Why Is It Important For Kids To Learn About The Alphabet?
Learning letter identification and sounds is the first step of success toward learning to read! It forms a crucial foundation for kids to build upon.
Hand-Eye Coordination
As they work to form each letter with play dough, preschoolers need to carefully shape the play dough to match the letter, which requires them to look back and forth a lot.
Spelling
Working with individual letters and their sounds, students will begin to see how they can put these letters together to make words.
Confidence
Kids who struggle using writing utensils can be successful making their letters with play dough. When learning activities build confidence, it transfers over to more positive social skills and interactions with peers.
Fine Motor
One of the greatest benefits of play dough for preschoolers’ small hands is the development of fine motor muscles. Children’s little fingers are hard at work shaping and molding the play dough into just the right shape.
Tools you’ll need
Don’t worry about making a special trip to the store. You can get all the supplies for this activity right here. Click the pictures above to get what you need.
Note: The clear baseplates are included in the set above, even though they are hard to see in the picture.
How to Make the Food Theme Alphabet Play Dough Mats
To Prep:
Print the alphabet play dough cards on cardstock and laminate.
To Use:
These alphabet play dough mats, free printables are so versatile and fun for kids and can be used as a beginning sound activity, penmanship practice, pre-spelling activity and more!
Provide dry erase markers for tracing practice. The alphabet tracing worksheets with arrows is specifically designed to support the teacher in showing the student the correct way to form their letters.
Using their dry erase marker (or finger!) follow the steps indicated by the arrows for each letter. Once students are confident in their letter formation, they can use the tracing mat as a guide to produce their own letters independently.
Children will use play dough to roll, shape and mold each letter to fit the outline on the play dough mat.
You can also provide loose parts for this alphabet letter activity for preschool! Loose parts are often found in early childhood settings and consist of items like themed-mini erasers, glass stones, and beads. Use loose parts to fill up the letter outline. Preschool alphabet printables that have these large outlines are the perfect size for a variety of pieces.
Our Favorite Alphabet Books:
We can’t live without these!
Once your child’s creativity is sparked with this fun letter tracing activity, take it a step further with these engaging resources:
The Alphabet’s Alphabet
LMNO Peas (The Peas Series)AlphaOops!: The Day Z Went FirstABCs of Art (Sabrina Hahn’s Art & Concepts for Kids)Alphabet EverywhereWhat About X? An Alphabet AdventureTouchThinkLearn: ABC (Baby Board Books, Baby Touch and Feel Books, Sensory Books for Toddlers)P Is for Pterodactyl: The Worst Alphabet Book EverThe Alphabet Tree (Dragonfly Books)
Consonant/Vowel
Sort the pages into vowel letters and consonant letters for an additional alphabet activity for your preschooler.
Scavenger Hunt
Find something that starts with the beginning letter on each mat. Have kids place their objects on the mats.
Guessing Game
Using a blank piece of paper, cover the picture, leaving just the ABC strip across the top. What letter will they be working on? What food do they think it will be?
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