Letter Hunt for Early Literacy

Literacy and sensory fun in a simple Letter Hunt.

We are on an alphabet activities kick right now and loving it! Nothing like exposing little ones to the alphabet early in fun, simple activities that they can be hugely successful at. This Letter Hunt was a great way to build on my toddler’s growing literacy skills.

Fun and easy alphabet activities are so great for kids, and this Letter Hunt is no exception! It was a simple activity but perfect for my toddler.

Setting up a Letter Hunt is very easy.

Materials:
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• Letters
• Corn meal
• Small storage tub
• “Answer” Key

I took the corn meal that we had previously used for a Button Excavating activity and dumped it into a small storage container. I hid our letters throughout the bin – the corn meal did a GREAT job hiding them. They were actually really tough to see in there! Next, I made a simple “answer” key: a place for my toddler to set the letters after he found them.

Using his hands as his “tools”, my toddler dug and dug to find his alphabet letters. Once he’d uncover one, the shout for joy and happy look on his face was priceless. The cornmeal did such a good job hiding these letters that it was a little challenging to find them all. Kind of like trying to find the flag at the end of Double Dare (you know exactly what I’m referencing).

After he found a letter, he’d look for it on the answer key to match it up. This small addition (of having an answer key) really boosted the fun value in the activity. He was just as excited to find the letter in the answer key as he was in the corn meal.

There are so many possible variations for this activity.

Make the answer key all lower case letters so your tot has to match upper and lower case. Wouldn’t that be a fun challenge? Consider trying this with other toys OR with numbers and shapes. Older preschool / kindergarten age learners could be challenged to spell words with the found letters. So many great possibilities!

We absolutely loved this Letter Hunt and it kept my toddler happily busy, playing and learning for a solid amount of time. Then, he went back for more later in the day! He’s addicted to this Letter Hunt! I love simple activities especially when it’s a combination of literacy and sensory.

What kind of Letter Hunt could you make for your tot?