Letter I is for Ice Cream Missing Letters Activity

Looking for a fun letter recognition activities for the summer? These letter i is for ice cream themed missing letters activity is perfect for preschoolers. It will help young learners to learn the alphabet, learn letter sequencing, and work fine motor skills, too!

These free alphabet sequencing mats can be used in the classroom or in your homeschool preschool. Preschoolers love these colorful ice cream theme alphabet mats.

I is for ice cream!

These colorful alphabetical order missing letters mats are the perfect addition to your ice cream theme preschool lesson plans. They feature all the delicious flavors of ice cream, leaving your preschoolers always asking for seconds.

Use this ice cream alphabet printable to teach letter recognition, alphabetical order, and even fine motor skills.

Read this: Ice Cream Playdough Recipe

Why Do We Teach Alphabetical Order or Letter Sequencing?

I asked myself that question as I was developing this summer alphabet activity for my preschool-aged son. Throughout my teaching history, we’ve spent time teaching letter sequencing in preschool and kindergarten…or letter order or alphabetical order. (It’s all the same thing.)

But why?

What are the benefits of being able to take a set of 26 letters and place them in order from A-Z? Here are some things I found out:

• Being able to put letters in order is a form of sequencing like “first, second, third” or “first, then, next.”
• It builds letter knowledge fluency skills.
• Ordering letters helps with letter naming and even sound retrieval.
• It’s fundamental for dictionary work, which also means it’s a foundational skill for using an index or any other kind of alphabetized list.

I is for Ice Cream Letter Sequencing Mats

As with all my printables, there are lots of ways to use these letter sequencing mats. I like to pull thee mats our during the summer when we are doing all our ice cream activities. They are a good review from the school year when we are no longer focusing on one letter of the week.

What’s Included

With this freebie, you get six pages of practice to find the missing letter, including three uppercase letter mats and three lowercase. The download also includes an alphabet reference mat in both upper and lower case letters.

Additional Materials

• Free Ice Cream Missing Letters Printable
• upper case letter beads
• lower case letter beads
• dry erase marker
• dry erase sleeve

How to Teach Alphabetical Order Using I is for Ice Cream Missing Letters Worksheets

With a little ice cream on your table, you can have hours of fun with this activity. All it takes is some creative and a few items to set up!

This simple ice cream printable will help preschoolers learn the correct order of the alphabet. It would be a great addition to summer theme or ice cream theme lesson plans

Read more about how to develop letter sound correspondence in this article: Sound Foundations: Enhancing Early Literacy Through Letter Sound Recognition.

Using the Ice Cream Alphabet Printable

Kids will love these ABC ice cream mats. They come with two different mat designs: one for uppercase letters and another for lowercase letters, and a few variations of each. The kids just have to pick their favorite, then fill in any missing letters with the letter beads or by writing them using a dry erase marker. Or get the best of both worlds and offer letter manipulatives AND dry erase markers!

Each row of ice cream cones starts with a different letter so that students can learn letter sequencing starting anywhere in the alphabet.

Tips for Teaching Sequencing Activities for Preschoolers

Alphabetical order may not come naturally to all preschoolers. Here are some ways to help out your struggling learners.

• Use the included alphabet mats as a reference for finding the missing letters.
• Start by singing the alphabet song with each row on the mat until your preschooler finds the correct letter.
• If having all the letter manipulatives out at once is too overwhelming, preselect the letters that match on the mats and only have those available to choose from.
• Or, just have your preschooler practice matching the letters on the alphabet reference mats.

Create an Entire Ice Cream Preschool Theme

I love teaching in themes at my preschool. So when we do an ice cream theme each summer, here are some of the toys and manipulatives I include in our preschool centers:

This ice cream themed letter sequencing activity isn’t just a great way for young learners to learn the alphabet; it’s also an excellent opportunity to work on their fine motor skills. The best part about this fun summertime activity? It can be adapted based on your child’s age and skill level, making it perfect for kids at all levels of development!

Ice Cream Picture Books!

You know how the best preschool themes always have high quality picture books that help teach. Here are some of my favorite children’s books about ice cream:

Ice Cream Activities for Preschoolers

Your preschoolers are sure to adore these ice cream printables, too!

• Ice Cream Cone Measurement Cards
• Paper Plate Ice Cream Craft
• Ice Cream Cone Counting Cards
• Ice Cream Alphabet Worksheets
• Ice Cream Theme Playdough Shape Mats
• Ice Cream Preschool Lesson Plans
• Summer Prewriting Activities – Ice Cream Theme

Get our Summer Alphabet Activities Printables

Support literacy growth all summer long with our printable activities—and get those kiddos ready for kindergarten!

Get Your Free Ice Cream Missing Letters Activity Here

With several variations in this download and the suggestions above, you’re sure to find something that works well with your little one. Just fill out the form below and the printable will be sent to your email!