Using letter manipulatives in the classroom

Yesterday I showed you the cute alphabet letters that I made with Perler beads, and today I want to share some of the ways that I plan on using these in the classroom.  These ideas can also be done with any letter manipulatives or magnet letters that you already have, so you don’t need to make the Perler bead letters (but they are really easy to do!).

Obviously you can simply use letter manipulatives to spell words, but what about taking it to the next level?! Show your students how to place a piece of paper over their word and use a crayon to create a rubbing. This way they can keep the word they’ve spelled.

Here’s a great idea for young preschoolers, it’s a simple letter match. Even if little ones can’t name all of their letters, they can still look at the characteristics of each letter and attempt to match two letters that look the same.

I’m always looking for ways to practice name recognition.  This idea incorporates recognition (finding their name at the top of the paper), spelling (reproducing their name using the plastic letters), and writing (writing their name while looking at the typed letters and the plastic letters).

These are my CVC word mats, my students love them because they feel like they are really reading on their own.  you can download the Short E Freebie set and use your plastic letters to start sounding out words.

This die is from my Letter Dice set – another freebie! Students can roll the die and find the plastic letter that matched the letter they rolled on the die.

I would love to know what other ways you use manipulative letters in your classroom, share your favorite activities in the comments!