This is an easy DIY learning game for toddlers to work on fine motor skills and letter recognition at the same time. Setup is quick and it uses materials you probably already have at home. Plus you can play with it over and over!
Materials:
- Sharpie/marker
- Clothespins
- Cardboard, a paper plate, or something sturdy to clip clothespins to. (I used part of a cardboard box that had white on one side, but it doesn’t really matter as long as it’s pretty sturdy.)
Set Up:
- Write a letter on each clothespin (uppercase or lowercase, whatever you and your child are working on!)
- Cut a piece of cardboard to a size easy for your child to handle. I used three pieces to fit all the letters.
- Write the letters on the piece of cardboard. Make sure to leave enough space so they can actually fit all the clothespins. Farther apart is easier – ours are pretty close together but Sammy likes the challenge.
- Enjoy playing this learning game with your little ones! You can even try some variations to mix it up if they like the concept.
Variations:
- Uppercase/Lowercase Match: using capital letters on the clothespins and lowercase on the cardboard would be great practice for matching the upper and lowercase. I’m planning to update this soon so we can work on that. For our first take I wanted to make it as simple as possible so he wouldn’t get frustrated.
- Spelling: You could use each piece of cardboard to spell a word or their name, etc. So while they are clipping clothespins on they are actually spelling something.
- Scramble for an extra challenge: I put the letters in order from A-Z on the cardboard, since I figured that was enough of a task for a 2.5 year old. If you want it to be more challenging for older kids, you can scramble the letters on the cardboard too.
- Materials: I used cardboard, but you could also use something round like a paper plate which puts a fun spin on this activity.
- Colors: You could also incorporate color into this activity by using different colored markers or clothespins. This could help narrow down the letters for little ones who are overwhelmed by looking through all of them to find each one.
- Numbers: You could also make this into a fun way to practice numbers with your child.
Play Again and Again!
This alphabet learning game for toddlers is super simple but has kept my 2.5 year old busy several times. It’s a nice activity he can work on while I sit nearby feeding the baby, encouraging him or asking him to find certain letters. I also like to ask him questions about the letters while we play, things like “whose name starts with that letter?”, “what sound does that letter make?”, or “can you find the letter that ‘dog’ starts with?”
I also love this because it takes up so little space. You can store the clothespins and cardboard in a small plastic bag, or in a pencil box, etc. I try to keep a few activities like this stored away in small containers so I can just pull one out when he seems like he’s in the mood for it.
Have you tried something like this? Comment to let us know your favorite variations!