Magnetic alphabet letters are incredibly versatile tools for early childhood education. They offer tactile and interactive learning experiences that engage young learners in various literacy activities. Keep reading to discover effective ways magnetic alphabet letters can be used in PreK, kindergarten, and 1st-grade classrooms to create engaging and meaningful activities.

Before we get started, I want to be clear regarding what type of magnets to use in the classroom. It’s important for children to practice any pre-reading or reading skill with letters that are used most during the reading process. Most of the letters we encounter while reading are lowercase. This means, students should work with lowercase alphabet magnets the majority of the time.

My favorite magnetic letters are from Lakeshore. I bought one of the small, individual sets of letters and quickly ordered multiple classroom sets to create a class set of magnet boards. Lakeshore often runs 20% off sales, and I made sure to purchase the larger sets while they were on sale. Here’s a link to the classroom set I am referring to: https://bit.ly/alphabetmagnets. The link is not an affiliate link. I am not associated with Lakeshore in any way. I simply want other teachers to know how amazing these magnets are completed to many other brands I have purchased over the the years!

The use of manipulatives during a lesson, this includes both small group and whole group instruction, increases student engagement. Magnetic letters entice learners due to their colorful, three-dimensional nature (Clay, 1993). It’s the lure of curiosity of the ability to move the letters that leads to higher levels of students engagement. A few ways to include magnetic alphabet letters, in ways that cater to specific skills, are listed below.

1. Letter Recognition: Students can practice identifying and naming letters by selecting them from a pile or bin and placing them in the correct order on a magnetic surface (such as a whiteboard or cookie sheet).
2. Letter Formation: Children can use the magnetic letters as a guide to practice forming letters correctly. They can trace over the letters with their fingers or use dry erase markers to write the letters on the board.
3. Spelling and Word Building: Teachers can introduce spelling and word-building activities by providing students with a word or picture card and challenging them to recreate the word using the magnetic letters.
4. Sight Words and Phonics: Magnetic letters can be used to teach sight words or reinforce phonics skills. Teachers can create word family mats or phonics grids where students can manipulate letters to create rhyming words or words with similar phonetic patterns.
5. Sentence Building: Students can use magnetic letters to construct simple sentences on a magnetic board. This activity helps reinforce concepts of sentence structure, punctuation, and word order.
6. Literacy Centers: Magnetic letters can be incorporated into literacy centers for independent or small group work. Teachers can set up different stations with activities like letter sorting, word matching, or letter sound matching.
7. Storytelling and Creative Writing: Students can use magnetic letters to create their own stories or sentences on the magnetic board. This activity encourages creativity and helps develop writing skills.
8. Interactive Games: Teachers can design interactive games like letter scavenger hunts, alphabet races, or letter bingo using magnetic letters. These games make learning fun and engaging for young learners. Check out one of the letter recognition games I use in PreK and at the beginning of the year in kindergarten…

Overall, magnetic alphabet letters offer endless possibilities for hands-on learning and can be adapted to suit various learning objectives and styles. They provide a multisensory approach to literacy instruction, making them valuable tools in early childhood classrooms.

💡 If you want to create magnet boards for your classroom, the dollar store is the best place to purchase cookie sheets.

💡 While shopping for cookie sheets, take a magnet with you and check to make sure the cookie sheets you are investing in really are magnetic.

Magnetic Alphabet Letter Resources for Your Classroom

Over the years, I have created numerous resources to support my teaching teams with alphabet and word building activities, and I am happy to share them with you, too! When creating these resources, the goal was to combine a high level of student engagement with an intent to strengthening fine motor skills while also refining knowledge of letter sounds. The resources below help make that magic happen. Check them out…

Clay, M. M. (1993). Reading recovery: A guidebook for teachers in training. Heinemann.