Penguin Alphabet Find and Cover
During the winter months, some of the best activities for preschoolers are penguin activities! Try this fun preschool alphabet activity that has a friendly penguin theme. Pair this activity with other winter preschool activities or add it to your arctic animals activities.
Like all my printables, these penguin alphabet mats can be used in many different ways. Be sure to read to the end of the post to learn how!
Preschool Alphabet Activity for Penguin Theme
Penguin activities are fun for preschoolers. I often add a few during our winter preschool theme, or at the very least we do some penguin activities at some point during the winter months.
Sometimes, I even add penguin activities as part of our arctic animals preschool theme.
Before you say anything…I know penguins don’t live in the arctic. However, the point of adding penguin activities to an arctic animals theme is not to teach preschoolers that they live in the North Pole. It’s to help preschoolers make the association that penguins–like arctic animals–live in a very cold and icy climate.
That being said, many preschool teachers now refer to this idea as “polar animals” preschool theme. By referring to them as polar animals, you can teach about all arctic and antarctic animals in one preschool theme…if you want to split hairs.
FAQ About Teaching the Alphabet to Preschoolers
The best way to teach the alphabet is to make alphabet activities as hands-on and tactile as possible. A multi-sensory approach to teaching letters and sounds will help preschoolers experience the alphabet in diverse ways.
Preschoolers will benefit from reading alphabet books, playing gross motor games with letter names and sounds, using magnetic letters, and building letters of the alphabet with hands-on learning tools like these Construction Letter Shapes.
Most preschoolers learn letter names and sounds anywhere between 3-5 years. But some children struggle with letter recognition and letter sounds. These learners require different strategies for teaching the alphabet.
If you have a child who is struggling to learn the alphabet, it might be because they need more practice in phonological awareness skills. (This very affordable phonological awareness curriculum is a life-saver). In addition, they need extra (repeated) practice. Try alphabet activities that will get your preschooler moving, singing, or shaping and building.
To see the most growth as quickly as possible, letters of the alphabet should not be taught in alphabetical order. Rather, letters should be taught in an order like this:
m, s, r, t, n, p, c, a…
Teaching the alphabet in this order allows children to begin forming words quickly. By learning these eight letters first, children who are ready to decode can then read cvc words in the -at, -am, -ap, and -an word families. This is the order used in this game-changing preschool phonics curriculum.
Don’t Forget About Picture Books
I’m a gigantic fan of using picture books to teach preschoolers the alphabet, as well as to teach about different themes we learn about in preschool. Here’s a list of my favorite alphabet books.
- Hardcover Book
- Leesa McGregor (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- Pallotta, Jerry (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 32 Pages – 06/01/2006 (Publication Date) – Charlesbridge (Publisher)
- Ehlert, Lois (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 28 Pages – 04/01/1996 (Publication Date) – Clarion Books (Publisher)
- The ABCs of Trucks, Boats, Planes, and Trains: A Rhyming Alphabet Book Filled With Things That Go
- This rhymed alphabet book is designed to have special appeal to children who love airplanes, boats,…
- Ronnie Sellers (Author)
And here are some of my all-time favorite picture books about penguins. This penguin book list has been created from the books I have in my own preschool library.
- Esbaum, Jill (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 32 Pages – 06/24/2014 (Publication Date) – National Geographic Kids (Publisher)
- Lester, Helen (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 32 Pages – 08/17/1990 (Publication Date) – Clarion Books (Publisher)
- Amazon Kindle Edition
- Brains, Active (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- Cullen, Sarah (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 28 Pages – 04/23/2021 (Publication Date)
- Feldman, Daniel (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 47 Pages – 07/28/2022 (Publication Date) – Lightspan Ent LLC (Publisher)
Penguin Find and Cover Preschool Alphabet Activity
Learning the alphabet doesn’t have to be boring. This fun penguin learning activity will have your preschoolers learning uppercase and lowercase letters in a hands-on way. Bring some winter fun into your classroom or home with this printable alphabet game.
Materials
- free penguin printable
- wintery counting manipulative (optional)
- dry erase pocket
- dry erase marker
How to Prepare the Printable
Download the printable from the end of this post. Print it on heavy card stock and laminate. Alternatively, you can simply slip the letter mats into a dry erase pouch.
Cut out the letter sounds snowball cards. Then the winter theme learning activity is ready for your preschoolers.
How to Teach the Alphabet Using this Free Penguin Printable
To teach the alphabet using this free penguin printable, start by having your preschooler identify the letter on the mat. Then they can cover each corresponding letter around the alphabet border using a counter.
If you want to offer a little extra writing practice, place the mats in a dry erase pouch and have your preschooler use a dry erase marker to circle the corresponding letters.
The letters on the border are written in different fonts, giving your preschooler extra practice in identifying letters they might see in text. This helps them recognize letters more easily when they are written by hand, too.
The borders also feature both uppercase and lowercase versions of the featured letter so your preschooler can practice both kinds of letter recognition.
Next, have your preschooler place the corresponding letter sounds snowball cards on the mat.
Introducing Alphabet Activities During Circle Time
I like to first introduce these mats during circle time. It’s good practice for my preschoolers to work together to find all the letters on the border; but it’s also an opportunity to show my preschoolers smart strategies in finding all the letters, like looking at each letter from left to right rather than randomly.
I also like to model for my preschoolers how to find the right snowball beginning sound cards. I’ll pick one up and ask, “What picture is this?”
“A duck!” they might say.
Then I might respond, “I hear /d/ at the beginning of duck. Is that the right sound?”
Taking the time to “think out loud” (which is called metacognition) also helps preschoolers develop strategies for alphabet activities like this that simply require a little more work.
If your young learner is having difficulties, work with them or remove some frustration by only offering a few letter mats and beginning sound snowballs at a time.
Help your preschooler identify the letter on the mat and point out how the letter looks. Maybe it has straight lines or curvy lines. Maybe both the uppercase and lowercase letter looks the same. These are important characteristics to point out when teaching struggling learners.
Encourage your preschooler to make the letter sound as they search for the correct snowball cards, and remove some variables by only offering a handful of snowballs at a time. This will help them make connections between the letter sounds and the beginning sounds of words.
More Ways to Use Penguin Find & Cover Alphabet Mats
These alphabet mats are not limited to this single activity. Try some of these alternative ideas to differentiate your instruction.
- Add a fine motor element and have your preschooler use clothes pins and pom poms to cover the focus letters on each mat.
- Use these mats during circle time to discuss how letters can look slightly different based on the font used. Then, discuss the characteristics of the focus letter.
- If you have a younger preschooler, use the mats by working with them. Point to each letter around the mat and ask, “Is this letter ___?”
- Place the mats in dry erase pockets and invite your preschooler to draw pictures in the snowballs of other beginning sound words.
- Add a sensory component by using sparkly and glittery white playdough. Have your preschooler roll snakes to form the letter in the penguin box, and then roll a snowball for each corresponding letter around the perimeter of the mats.
- For more sensory input, hide the snowball cards in a shallow bin of rice or fake snow for your preschooler to dig through as they look for correct pictures.
Get Your Free Penguin Find & Cover Alphabet Mats Here
Think these preschool alphabet activities will make a great addition to your preschool literacy centers? Go ahead and grab your own copy by clicking the image below.
You can also print the “how-to” card at the end of this post and file it away with this printable so you can always remember the different ways to use these mats.
Penguin Find & Cover Alphabet Mats
During the winter months, some of the best activities for preschoolers are penguin activities! Try this fun preschool activity activity that has a friendly penguin theme.
Materials
- free Penguin Find & Cover Alphabet Mats
- dry erase pockets
- dry erase markers
- counters (optional)
Tools
- printer
- scissors
Instructions
How to Prepare
- Print the alphabet mats in color on heavy card stock.
- Place alphabet mats into dry erase pockets (or laminate).
- Cut out snowball beginning sound cards.
How to Use Penguin Find & Cover Alphabet Mats
- Select a letter mat and identify the letter on the penguin.
- Use a dry erase marker and circle all the corresponding letters around the perimeter of the mat.
- Then find the corresponding beginning sounds snowballs and place them on the snowballs on the mat.
More Alphabet Activities Using This Printable
- Add a fine motor element and have your preschooler use clothes pins and pom poms to cover the focus letters on each mat.
- Use these mats during circle time to discuss how letters can look slightly different based on the font used. Then, discuss the characteristics of the focus letter.
- If you have a younger preschooler, use the mats by working with them. Point to each letter around the mat and ask, “Is this letter ___?”
- Place the mats in dry erase pockets and invite your preschooler to draw pictures in the snowballs of other beginning sound words.
- Add a sensory component by using sparkly and glittery white playdough. Have your preschooler roll snakes to form the letter in the penguin box, and then roll a snowball for each corresponding letter around the perimeter of the mats.
Notes
Preschoolers can easily become overwhelmed when presented large tasks. Try offering your preschooler only a small set of letters to complete in one sitting. Be sure that any offered letters have already been introduced to your preschooler.
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I’m Sarah, an educator turned stay-at-home-mama of five! I’m the owner and creator of Stay At Home Educator, a website about intentional teaching and purposeful learning in the early childhood years. I’ve taught a range of levels, from preschool to college and a little bit of everything in between. Right now my focus is teaching my children and running a preschool from my home. Credentials include: Bachelors in Art, Masters in Curriculum and Instruction.
