Teaching Preschoolers the Letter P

Alphabet Recognition and Activity Ideas

Sep 23, 2009

Preschoolers can successfully learn to trace and write the letter P and recognize objects beginning with the letter P through simple and fun activities.

Using activities that support clear learning objectives, preschool teachers can implement lesson plans that help young children learn the letter P.

Learning Objectives

Handwriting and Phonetics

Create a letter P poster board which shows both the upper and lower case P. On this poster board, glue pictures of objects cut from magazines or draw objects that begin with the letter P. Keep this poster board up for the duration of the Letter P unit.

Introduce the children to the letter P, discuss the poster board, and talk about objects begin with the letter P. Demonstrate the P sound and ask the children to make (repeat) the P sound. Ask students what things they can think of (objects, names, etc.) that begin with the letter P.

Have children practice tracing the letter P in both upper and lower case, using letter P worksheets. A good example of a letter P worksheet can be found on About.com’s Homeschooling website.

Provide pencils or crayon and blank sheets of paper. Then, let students practice making the letter P in both upper and lower case.

Object Sorting

For this cognitive learning activity, place real or plastic objects which begin with a P in a box or other container. Examples include: Pig, pail, pen, plum, pan, puppy, pumpkin, pot, purse, panda, plant, pencil, penguin, polar bear, pineapple, peacock, pirate, potato, pear, parrot, pie, and peach. Also include objects beginning with various other letters in the box. As each object is revealed, students will sort (recognize) those that begin with a P from those that do not. Ask the children: “What is this object? Does this begin with the P sound?”

Music and Movement

Teach the children the song "The Pickle Man" and sing to the tune of "The Muffin Man”. Print out the lyric template to “The Pickle Man” which can be found on the DLTK website.

Cooking Activity: Easy Peach Crumble

Combine ½ cups of flour, ½ cup of brown sugar, ½ teaspoon nutmeg, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, and pinch of salt in a large bowl. Add 4 tablespoons of room temperature butter and mix with hands until crumbly.

Next peel and slice 5 fresh peaches. Arrange them in a 1 quart baking dish which has been buttered. Cover the peaches with the crumbled topping. Bake at 450 degrees for 20 minutes.

Directed and Undirected Play

In the pretend play area, set up a post office. Explain that that P is for post office, postal worker, postage, and package. Provide postal worker costumes. Also provide paper, envelopes, pens, phones, packages, stamps, stamp pads, a scale for weighing packages, and tape. Create a mail box and let children wrap and address packages and put them in the mailbox.

Create a pumpkin patch. Set up a corner of the room with bales of hay, a scarecrow, corn stalks, straw hats, pumpkins in various sizes, and gourds.

These simple activities will greatly enhance preschoolers’ language learning. The key is to have fun with lesson planning. Be creative in seizing moments of opportunity to teach.

The copyright of the article Teaching Preschoolers the Letter P in Day Care is owned by Carla Snuggs. Permission to republish Teaching Preschoolers the Letter P in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.