Do your kids love snow as much as mine do? The squeals that come from the window when they see even just a few flakes falling always makes me smile. Choosing snowballs as a theme for preschool alphabet activities is an easy choice in our house, one that is always a winner. Kids who love snow will especially love this FREE snow themed alphabet activity.
Teaching the alphabet requires lots of repetition and fun learning activities for kids to explore letters in many different ways. The Free Winter Alphabet Activity for Uppercase and Lowercase letters fits into any winter theme for preschool while keeping little hands active. Just print all 26 letter mats (color or black and white), print and cut the snowballs (3 lowercase/3 uppercase for each letter), and have some alphabet fun!
Recommended Grade Level:
Winter Alphabet Sort Supplies:
- Printer/Ink
- Laminating Supplies
- Paper Cutter
- Velcro Dots (optional)
More from our Shop
Find even more engaging activities in the Life Over C’s shop!
Learning to Match Uppercase and Lowercase Letters in Preschool
FREE PRINTABLE ALPHABET ACTIVITIES FOR PRESCHOOLERS
REGARDLESS OF THE PRESCHOOL THEME, YOU CAN INCORPORATE VALUABLE ALPHABET ACTIVITIES ALL YEAR LONG.
As with so many educational strategies, there’s a bit of controversy when it comes to teaching the alphabet. While some teachers believe it’s easier to teach the uppercase letters first, still others think it makes sense to introduce them as letter pairs right away.
While I’m not here to settle any educational debates, I will say that this activity can work within your lesson plans whichever way you feel is best for your students.
This snowball themed activity is versatile because you can use the alphabet uppercase or lowercase letters as you see fit.
The alphabet sort is perfect for children who are either just learning the alphabet or students that need review of the ABCs.
Students can work individually, or in small groups. You can easily accommodate all levels by introducing as many or as few of the letters to match as your individual learners are ready for.
- What is the letter name/sound?
- How do the uppercase/lowercase letters look alike/different?
- When do we use uppercase letters?
- Do you have this letter in your name?
What Can Preschoolers Learn While Sorting Letters?
LETTER SORTING ACTIVITIES FOR PRESCHOOL
CHILDREN NEED TIME AND REPETITION TO MASTER THE LETTERS OF THE ALPHABET. ENGAGING AND VARIED ACTIVITIES WILL GET THEM THERE EVENTUALLY.
Letter sorting is important for learning letter names, but the act of sorting also benefits children in other ways:
- Visual discrimination
- Categorizing
- Problem solving
- Memory
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. Vary activities from art projects to games and young learners will be hooked.
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.
How to Make the Winter Alphabet Sorting Activity
To Prep:
Print the activity, laminate, and cut the individual mats and pieces.
We used the velcro dots to make sure the letters stay put on the mats. This is also a fabulous way to throw in some extra fine motor skill practice while matching upper and lowercase letters.
To Use:
First, lay out all of the letter cards and choose one sorting mat at a time. Kids can search through the letter cards to find the corresponding letters and connect them.
Use the mats in alphabetical order, or randomly. Adapt the activity for students by providing more/less letter cards to choose from. Students who are unfamiliar with the letters may become overwhelmed by all of those choices!
Sensory Bin
Alphabet Sorting Activities can also be multi-sensory. Fill a sensory bin with your filler of choice and add the letter cards. Kids can sift and search through the sensory bin to find matching letter pairs. Alphabetical order or random is perfectly fine.
Scavenger Hunt
Hide the letter snowballs around the room for an exciting scavenger hunt. Students can search and find, then place them on the correct preschool winter letter mat. This could even be a timed activity to keep those competitive types eager!
Snowball Fight
Stage a snowball fight! This one could get rowdy, but is sure to be a hit. Place all of the letter snowballs on a line in the middle of a large, open space. Divide the group in half, with teams on opposite ends of the room. On, “GO!”, students race to the centerline to grab a snowball, call out the letter, then race back and “throw” it in a designated area/container.
join the newsletter & Get your free activity
Enter your email to
get your activity now!
Already a subscriber? No worries. Just enter your email here to have the activity sent directly to your inbox.
![text saying [want more activities? Click to try these!]](https://lifeovercs.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/want-more-banner.png)
