Earth Day Letter Match for Preschoolers
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This FREE Earth Day Letter Match activity gives you the opportunity to bring in what looks like a brand-new alphabet activity for your preschoolers during Earth Day week. It is a fun, hands-on activity that helps children practice letter recognition and match uppercase and lowercase letters while building the pre-reading skills they need for kindergarten.
This activity is great for strengthening children’s concentration, letter knowledge, one-to-one correspondence, and set-creating skills.
It includes nine pages: three blue cards for uppercase letters and three green cards for lowercase letters, and it covers all the letters of the alphabet. You can get it at the end of this post.
Importance of Recognizing Letters
A child needs to recognize and name the letters of the alphabet and distinguish between uppercase and lowercase letters. Only then will that child be able to say the letter sounds, then put sounds together to make syllables, later words, and finally put words together to form phrases. In other words, it is impossible for a child to read if he or she doesn’t know the letters and the sounds they make when they are together.
How To Prepare The Earth Day Letter Match Activity
This low-prep, free printable can be used as a small group activity, writing center option, take-home game, and Quiet area option.
Materials needed:
- Free Earth Day Letter Match printable.
- Printer.
- White cardstock.
- Scissors.
- Laminator.
- Laminating pouches.
- Small basket or Ziploc bag
- Optional: chain links.
To prepare the Earth Day Letter Match activity, fill out the form below to download and print each page using white cardstock, then cut out and laminate the cards to make them last longer. Place them in a small basket or a Ziploc bag to protect them.
How To Use The Earth Day Letter Match Activity
Use this activity individually or with a partner. Your preschoolers gather the cards, select one, identify the letter, and find the matching pair among the rest of the cards.
If your kids are just starting to learn letter names, start with just a few letter sets. Then add two or three more each time they use it.
When your kiddos know all of the letter names, have them say the sound that each letter makes as they match the cards.
Other Ideas
- You can use this activity as a folder game. Just print, cut out the cards, and paste the ones with uppercase letters on a manila folder. Laminate the folder and the remaining lowercase letter cards to make them last longer. Then place the cards in an envelope or a Ziploc bag to keep them safe.
- Use a hole puncher to make a hole in the middle of the right-hand side of the uppercase letter cards, and one in the left-hand side of the lowercase letter cards, and have the children use chain links to connect the pairs.
Enhance Their Learning Using Storybooks
Remember, reading to your preschoolers helps them engage with the theme, expand their vocabulary, and build pre-reading and pre-writing skills, among other benefits.
Here are some Earth-related books you can use. You can find them at your local library, used bookstore, or on Amazon. Clicking on each picture will take you directly to Amazon through my affiliate links, to save you time looking for them.
- The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein. This beautifully written and illustrated book offers a touching interpretation of the gift of giving and a serene acceptance of another’s capacity to love in return, much like what Earth does for us all.
- I Am Earth by James McDonald. This book introduces kids to basic Earth science concepts while also encouraging them to care for our special planet through environmental awareness and sustainability.
- Making a Difference by Stacey C. Bauer. It uses beautiful illustrations, color photos, and interesting facts to tell stories about kids making the world a better place by doing amazing things such as planting a billion trees, bringing joy to others through music, fundraising for sick children, or starting an inclusive dance team.
- How Holly Celebrates Earth Day by Kimberly Kendall-Drucker. This book talks about how Holly explores flora and fauna around the globe. Then Holly and her family find ways to replenish, reduce, reuse, and recycle – to make every day Earth Day!
- Eyewitness: Endangered Animals by Ben Hoare. A wonderful resource that teaches about creatures around the world that are currently threatened with extinction, along with ways we can help them survive.
- Earth Ninja by Mary Nhin. This book was developed to help children learn valuable life skills, talking about recycling, reducing, and reusing.
- What a Waste by Jess French. It is a lively kids’ educational book with fabulous illustrations and fun facts about plans to save our seas, how countries are implementing green projects worldwide, and how to turn waste into something useful.
- The Lorax by Dr. Seuss. This story teaches kids to treat the planet with kindness, stand up, and speak up for others, and how one small seed, or one small child, can make a difference.
Pin It For Later
If you are in a rush and don’t have time to read the post and download the printable but want to save it for later, pin this to your literacy or Earth Day board on Pinterest.
I hope you enjoy this idea and that it helps your preschoolers have fun while learning during Earth Day week. To get the FREE pack, click the link below and enter your information to download it immediately.
Be happy, safe, and creative. I wish you well.
Love,
P.S. Please let me know if this activity worked for you or if you think I should add or replace something.
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