Letter Practice Using Paper Hearts -Easy! Fast Prep! Fun!

It takes young children lots of repetition before they can remember how to form each letter of the alphabet.  Today’s topic includes a Valentine’s Day themed activity using paper hearts.  These letter review suggestions are great for busy caregivers because they are fast and easy to prepare.  I made a bunch of paper hearts from red and pink construction paper.

The first activity involved the children placing the hearts on a homemade set of laminated letters I’ve had for several years.  I printed off large letters and cut them out using black paper.  You could also draw letters on large sheets of paper or use chalk on a washable surface.  I encourage the child to say the movement as they placed the hearts on the letter.  For letter W the child would say, “down, up, down and up.”

The children in my group traded letters when they were finished.  This was a good opportunity to use the letter names when they asked their friend, “Can I use letter P when you are done, please?”

The next stage of difficulty was to form the letters independently using an example of the letter as their guide. They had to enlarge the size of letter L beside the picture of the lamb.  Enlarging the letter required the child to study the components of what made up each letter.  I encouraged the children to talk aloud as they figured out how to form one long line downwards and a shorter line across to make a letter L.  Use whatever alphabet books, worksheets, colouring pages or flashcards that you have in your daycare resource material for this activity.

If you want to make the activity a little more challenging you can remove the visual letter reference.  This will require the child to form the letter from memory.  I also asked my older children to see if they could come up with a repeating colour pattern for their letters.

The last activity was a review of the letters in their own name. It’s beneficial for a child to be able to recognize and write their own name before they start school.  I printed some of the children’s names on blank paper to help them.  My group wanted to finish the activity with a craft. They asked for glue to stick their hearts onto their names.  Names written with hearts, what a sweet craft for Valentine’s Day. Happy Heart Activities Everyone!