Ways to Differentiate our Flip and Find Letter Mats

Differentiate Learning Letters for Preschoolers

Literacy development is an essential aspect of preschool. Teacheing letter recognition to young children can be fun and challenging at times. There are many different ways to learn, offering many different types of activities ensures all children get an opportunity to learn in a way that appeals to them and meets their needs.  There are so many ways to teach letters with play, hands-on activities, and resources you already own!

Flip and Find Letter Mats are always a hit with preschoolers, and you can find them inside many of our themed activity packs. Learning letter recognition involves using many different hands-on components to help preschoolers master this skill. This is why we are sharing ten different ways you can differentiate our Flip and Find Letter Mats to allow your preschoolers to practice their letter recognition skills in many ways! These activities are great for an extension or incorporating letter sounds or letter matching for preschoolers ready for the next step.

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Write the Room

Preschoolers love to get up and move, making write the room activities a hit. To do this activity, either tape the letters or place them around the room for the preschooler to find. Have preschoolers practice writing the letters on a blank sheet of paper after finding the letter. This activity is great for letter recognition and practicing letter writing. 

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BINGO

Learning letters can be challenging for preschoolers,  one of the easiest ways to help young children retain information is through fun activities. BINGO is always a favorite in classrooms, especially because preschoolers can play in a group setting. Print out an extra set of letter cards and read the letters off to have preschoolers mark the mats. While everyone's letter mat is the same, it's still a great way to change how preschoolers look for the letters. 
For preschoolers working on phonemes try pulling objects out of a bag, have preschoolers say the name of the object then find the matching letter on the mat. 

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Sensory Bin Activities 

Sensory bins are one of the best ways to extend and enhance activities. Preschoolers love using their hands to dig through sensory bins, especially when looking for something. You can easily use colored rice, dried pasta, beans, or your favorite filler. Hide the letters inside the bin and have preschoolers dig for the letters to place on their mats. If you're looking for new sensory filler ideas, check out this post. 
This example features the shell letter flip and find from our Under the Sea activity pack​

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Alphabetical Order 

If you have preschoolers who can recognize their letters and are ready for challenge invite them to place the letters in alphabetical order. Even if your preschoolers aren't quite ready to do this on their own, practice singing the ABC's and see if they are able to place the letters in the correct order. 

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Letter Match Scavenger Hunt

Scavenger hunts are one of my favorite things to do with little learners, and it's so fun to watch how excited they get. Scavenger hunts are perfect for rainy days, or you can take them outside. Flip and find letter cards are great for scavenger hunts because you can use them in various ways. One way is by printing an extra letter mat and allowing preschoolers to hunt for the hidden letters. Then once they find it glue or tape the letter to their mat. Or, you can have preschoolers work to find an item to match the corresponding letter. For instance, preschoolers can grab the letter A and then hunt for an apple. 
​In this example we used glow in the dark stars for preschoolers to search for! Fantastic addition to an Outer Space Theme

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Brush Away Letters

Use a dry erase marker, page protector, and brush with your mat. Children draw a letter then brush (or wipe off) the matching letter on the mat. 

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Matching Game

Matching games are one of the earliest games we teach young children. Matching is an essential skill, and by introducing games that require matching, we are strengthening visual memory and concentration. To use the flip and find letter cards for a memory game, print two sets and lay them face down. Preschoolers will then flip and try to find matches. It is a great game to play with partners so they can take turns and help one another, or played individually. 

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Surprise Bag

Surprises always add an element of fun! Using a small bag of any sort place the letters inside the bag and have preschoolers draw a card. They will say the letter and then match it on the letter mat. It's a simple yet fun way to use the flip and find cards.

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Letter Swat Game

Games that involve movement and gross-motor skills are appealing to preschoolers because they love to be active. How cool is it that they get to use a fly swatter? To play the letter swat game, you will want to tape the flip and find letter cards to either a table, whiteboard or floor. This game can be played solo or with a buddy.  Start by calling out a letter then the preschooler will swat the letter with their fly swatter. This game is fast-paced and so fun for young children, it's easy to set up and can be repeated by mixing up the letters. It really challenges preschoolers to hunt for the letters in a fun way!

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Tracing Trays 

Writing trays are great for working on pre-writing skills, and they are easy to set up and change up with different themes or fillers. Use the letter cards from the flip and find for students to use as the visual for writing letters. Preschoolers can use their fingers or different utensils to help them strengthen their pincer grasp. Some of your favorite fillers for writing trays are colored sand and sprinkles! 

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We hope you found a few new opportunities for extending the use of Flip and Find Letter Mats. These activities are simple and engaging but give preschoolers another opportunity to work on recognizing letters and beginning to develop the awareness of initial sounds.

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