Keeping young children busy is a work of heart! I have learned in the classroom and at home that playdough will buy busy teachers and moms some time! I know the cleaning up is not easy at times, but if my littles are having fun learning while they create with endless possibilities as the outcome, I am all for it!

Young children enjoy any activity that allows them to use their five senses! Activities that enable children to use their senses engage all areas of their brains, and whatever they are learning in this way is lasting.

Here is a simple hands-on activity to teach or review letters and letter sounds with your little ones.

Decorate the Playdough Letters

Did you know that: Hands-on activities help young children by:

• Developing creativity 
• Encouraging interactions 
• Making abstract concepts concrete through experience 
• Strengthening fine motor skills 
• Giving opportunities for kids to practice new skills

This activity can also be used to work on the following:

• Name recognition 
• Number recognition 
• Shapes recognition 
• Colour recognition 

Activities in which children manipulate playdough are all great for working on fine motor skills.

Follow this link to read our article entitled: The Importance of Fine Motor Skills Development In Young Children.

In our article, you will find information on the following:

• What are Fine Motor Skills?
• Examples of when we use fine motor skills
• How are fine motor skills developed?
• How to tell when a child is having difficulty coordinating the small muscles in their hands?
• How do we know when a child is proficient with fine motor skills?
• Activities to Develop Fine Motor Skills
• Materials to incorporate into activities with little ones to develop fine motor skills

What you will need to recreate this activity:

This activity is so simple and easy to put together. All you need are playdough and whatever you wish to have your little ones use to decorate the letters.

We used colourful beads we purchased from the dollar store.
The list of materials that can be used in this simple invitation to play is endless.

If you have young ones who love putting things in their mouths, please do not leave them unattended.

When I created the letters from playdough, I made them extra large for my twins. If you are working with multiple children making jumbo letters and having them work on decorating them is a good idea. If working with only one child, you can make the letters smaller and do less so the task seems manageable for your child.

When we did this simple, fun educational activity, my girls were learning to blend CVC words. They also knew some sight words, but little ones learn best through repetition. So Every week, even though they are four, we are still reviewing letter sounds.

We constantly review letters to ensure they are confident about knowing letters and their sounds.

Watching my little ones apply what they have been learning daily, sounding out and reading words in their environment, is a joy.

One thing I love about this activity is the fact that it can be recreated to work on all the letters of the alphabet in record time.

What we did as the girls worked on this simple, functional activity:

1. Making the sounds as they encountered each letter

While the girls decorated the letter “t”, they touched them, saying “t” says /t/ as in tiger, turtle, tomato toy and listed all the words they could that begin with the letter ‘t’ sound. This process was repeated for all the letters.

Worked on reviewing colours

Counting and tagging the beads which are essential math skills

Language development/Communication Skills: while the girls worked, we engaged in discussions that enhanced their use of language.

Teamwork: The girls worked as a team to decorate each letter and list items beginning with the letters we were reviewing. When beads would fall to the floor, they worked as a team to clean them up. Also, after decorating their letters, they worked as a team to remove all the beads, which took some time and gave them another opportunity to work on their fine motor skills.

We do hope you find this simple low-prep activity useful.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us by sending us a message or visiting us @learning.stepbystep on Instagram, Learning Step By Step on Facebook and be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel for educational resources that will help you and your littles on their learning journey as they continue to Learn Step By Step!

Thank you for being here!

Kimberlee and the Learning Step By Step Team.

Here is our Fun Animal ABC Video that you can use to help your litte ones to learn their ABC!

Our video lists each animal from A-Z with letter sounds and interesting facts!

When our little ones have opportunities to see wildlife, a whole new world of wonder can open up to them. When our toddlers, preschoolers and kindergarteners learn about animals, they can develop an innate love for animals. Their curiosity is also being fostered as we support our littles in their growing awareness and interest in animals. Our video includes real clips of each animal that can be used to initiate meaningful conversations with your little ones.

This fun and engaging video is great for: 

• Teaching uppercase letters 
• Teaching letter sounds 
• Recognizing animals 
• Teaching the names of some animals from A-Z 
• Animal sounds 
• Interesting facts about the animals 
• Animal homes 
• The diet of some animals. 
• Fostering awareness and interest in animals 
• Extending vocabulary 
• Developing language skills 
• Recognizing Animals 

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