Welcome back to the last post in my 4-part series, Teaching the Alphabet. Today, I’m sharing some of our favorite ABC Toys that encourage kids to play with the alphabet. Many of these toys can apply to younger children (like tots and preschoolers), but there are several that my soon-to-be 3rd grader still uses. When looking through this list, I’d encourage you to pick toys that can “grow” with your children/students so you can get many years’ use out of them. Stretch that dollar!
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26 ABC Toys for Kids
1. Fisher Price School Days Play Desk - I had one of these as a child and was so excited to see that they made it again! My kids like to pull out the letters to “spell” the word puzzles included in the set.
2. Magnetic Letters – We like and use these lowercase and uppercase letters. If you have one that’s younger, you may prefer the jumbo letters. We have those, too.
3. Alphabet Puzzles – You just can’t beat the quality of Melissa & Doug when it comes to their puzzles. The favorite at our house is definitely their chunky uppercase puzzle, but I love their uppercase and lowercase puzzle for teaching both kinds of letters and their sounds.
4. Alphabet Floor Mat – We have a set that’s smaller than these (that I cannot locate online), but we use ours all.the.time. I would recommend removing the smaller pieces (for example, the small triangle inside the capital A) if you have a young one crawling around.
5. Bathtub Letters – There’s only one of each letter in this set, so I bought two sets. We play all kinds of games in the tub with them. The first use of these letters with all my kids was to spell their name on the wall each night in the tub.
6. ABC Cookies – This is a set I leave out almost all the time because all my kids are drawn to it. I like that it has double of the common letters. There’s also a little game kids can play with it as they progress in their spelling skills, but we’ve yet to play it. 
7. Melissa & Doug See and Spell- While kids just learning their alphabet won’t be ready to learn all these words, it’s great for them to play with them, seeing that letters and letter sounds work together for a purpose: to make words.
8. Alphabet Marks the Spot- How fun is this one?!? It reinforces letter recognition AND letter sounds. PERFECT for active kids who just won’t sit still to learn their letters. {We don’t own one, but it is already on my “Christmas ideas” list as a present this upcoming year for my youngest.}
9. Leapfrog Letter Factory Phonics- We have the older version, but all of my kids have enjoyed it. Being the
Type A
organized person that I am, I only pulled out a few letters at a time for the refrigerator and am happy to report that in 8 years, none of our letters have been lost.
10. Alphabet Laptop- This is another one of those toys that all my kids have been drawn to as preschoolers. I like to pull it out on car trips or when I need to work with another child. It’s a great way to reinforce letters and their sounds.
11. Alphabet Building Set- This product is SO hands-on (my favorite kind of learning). Not only does it reinforce letters, but helps kids as they transition to writing their letters.
12. Alphabet Bean Bags- Toss them. Stack them. Find letters from the child’s name with them. Alphabet bean bags are a fun way to practice the ABC’s indoor or outdoor. {Just a thought: You may want to use a permanent marker and underline the bottom of the N/Z and M/W so kids will know which bean bag is which.}
13. Alphabet Floor Puzzle- Spread out and create an ABC train in the middle of your family room! That’s what we do with our alphabet floor puzzle. Both my boys and girls love it when I pull this one out to work on together. It’s fun to name the animals for each letter, too.
14. Alphabet Memory Game- My kids all love to play Memory Match because they beat me almost every time. I used to be that I pretended I didn’t know where the match was to let them win every once in a while. Now, I really can’t remember where they are! This matching game is great for letter sounds, uppercase and lowercase letters.
15. Take 10 Cookies- This is another one my Christmas list. What a fun and quick way to work on letter recognition, letter sounds, and more!
16. Alphabet Letter Stamps- My kids LOVE playing with stamps. Our letter stamps are no exception. I like to use them to spell words for them on their “artwork”, especially their names.
17. LEGO DUPLO Letters- We’ve also had this set for a while. It’s one that I rotate in frequently. We like to build letter towers then knock them over. With each brick put on top, I say the letter name/sound, building that letter knowledge in a playful way.
18. Wooden Alphabet Blocks- Classic. Every child needs a set of these. We have ours mixed in with our other block set, but I love the way Melissa & Doug provides a way to store them in this little “wagon”.
19. ABC Peg Set- All four of my kids enjoy our peg sets. I like that Lauri Toys has both an uppercase set and a lowercase set. These sets are great for fine motor, matching colors, stacking, and letter play.
20. Self-Checking Alphabet Matching Puzzles- These are GREAT if you are teaching more than one child and need an independent alphabet activity that the child can do by himself (without help). Because they are self-checking, the child will know when he has the wrong or right match.
21. Lacing Letters- There are quite a few options here. While we have smaller lacing beads (we lace onto pipe cleaners), you can see lots of options here. I’d go with the one that you think your child/student would be the most drawn to and one that could “grow” with your child/student.
22. Photo Stacking Blocks- While these may not look like your typical alphabet toys, slip in some letters or picture cards and you can play an alphabet matching game. The best part about these blocks is that they can grow with your child/student. You can slip in rhyming pictures like you find in many of my Pre-K/K Packs, onsets/rimes like you find in my Set 1 BOB Books Printables and MUCH more!
23. Alphabet Cookie Cutters- While these are fun to use with playdough, you can also paint with cookie cutters by dipping them in paint and “stamping” onto paper.
24. Alphabet Stickers- I’ve yet to meet a child who doesn’t love some stickers. So why not throw in a few alphabet stickers in with the mix? While you can find a pack at your local Target or dollar store, Melissa & Doug’s stickers are playful and fun.
25. Alphabet Beads- These are particularly great for older kids who need to work on letters. String them to make letter bracelets, spell their names, or beginning phonics and/or sight words.
26. Letter Tiles – These make a great alternative to using magnetic letters. My kids like to put them in a bowl and mix them up and scoop them with a ladle for “alphabet soup”.
This post was part of my 4-part Teaching the Alphabet series. Be sure to visit all of the posts including these: Part 1) Tips for Teaching Letters and Letter Sounds, Part 2) 101 Alphabet Activities and Printables, & Part 3) 26 Alphabet Books.
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