Learning to read is one of the most exciting parts of childhood. One of the things that I’m the most proud of is that I’ve been able to be the one to teach my 3 boys to read. They always struggled with it in the beginning but once it “clicked” they were so proud of themselves and it opened up an entirely new world to them.

I’ve found the best way to teach early reading skills is with games. Young preschoolers may not be ready to sit for a reading lesson but they are always up for a game. This fun matching game helps preschoolers practice early literacy skills and take the first steps towards reading.

Game Assembly

• Print the game on card stock.
• Have your preschooler color the pieces. (Be sure that your preschooler uses the same colors for the ice-cream tops so that she doesn’t learn to look for individual colors when playing the game).
• Cut out the pieces.
• It you want to make them sturdier, laminate them for longer use.

How to Play

Understanding that all lower case letters have a matching capital letter can be a confusing concept for preschoolers. This alphabet matching activity turns the task into a game and makes it easy to learn.

• Have your preschooler match the lower case cones with their upper case scoops.

Alphabet Game Variations

Once your preschooler has mastered the general concept, you can change things up a bit.

• Teach your preschooler about alphabetical order by having her place the cone pieces on the floor in alphabetical order. Repeat this with the upper case letters.
• Is your preschooler struggling with a few letters? Pull out the letters (both upper case and lower case) that she is struggling with and place them upside down on the floor to play as a memory game. Have your preschooler flip over one cone and one scoop of ice-cream. If she finds a matching letter she gets to keep the pair.
• Make it a race! Once your preschooler masters this game, make it more challenging by having her see how fast she can match all her upper case and lower case letters.