Working on letter recognition at home? This sticky note activity for kids is the perfect way to combine gross motor movements and letter names. This memorable activity has been a viral sensation for almost a decade.
Need an easy alphabet activity? Say hello to “Post-It Match”.
What is it about kids and Post-It Notes? Moth to flames, peas and carrots, you get my drift. I practically have to keep Post-It Notes under lock and key at my house! But I busted them out for this Post-It Match activity and good thing: it was a hit!
This post originally appeared on my Instagram account in 2017. It has since gone viral many times over and has been used and loved by hundreds of thousands of families. I hope it’s a hit with yours!
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Let’s play with the alphabet!
There’s no better way to learn the ABCs than PLAYING with the ABCs. Put down the flashcards. Move away from rigor. Play is best.
Children learn the ABCs at all different ages – their minds and bodies will be ready when they are ready. Some kids learn the alphabet at 2. Some in preschool. And some will get it down around the end of Kindergarten.
It’s all good.
Keep it light, keep it fun, keep it play based and your child will learn when they are ready to learn.
Supplies and set-up
Materials:
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- Butcher paper (one of my favorite supplies)
- Tape
- Giant Sharpie marker
- Post-It Notes
I rolled out my beloved butcher paper and cut it in half. I wanted to make one long alphabet – and I’ll tell you why.
Why I cut the paper in half
So often when kids see the alphabet, it’s all broken up: think puzzles or pictures or books. Rarely do they see the alphabet in one long line.
These broken up alphabets can sometimes create confusion: “Are there two alphabets?” It’s good to call attention to and show the alphabet as one long line whenever you can.
I wrote out the alphabet in small letters on the butcher paper. I made sure to space the letters about one Post-It Note apart from the next.
Matching Upper Case and Lower Case
On the Post-It Notes, I wrote the alphabet in capital letters – a little challenge for my daughter (3) to match upper case to lower case letters.
On our dining room table, I mixed up the alphabet Post-It Notes and got my daughter ready to go.
In future iterations of this activity, I hide the sticky notes around our house. For my youngest, who loves a music connection to any learning, I would turn on some good tunes while he worked, danced, found, and matched the letters.
It’s matching time!
Activities like this are great because they give a little gross motor and fine motor element to the alphabet learning: running back and forth from paper to table was a perfect moving activity for my daughter. Manipulating the Post-It Notes takes some intricate hand movements.
If your kiddo isn’t ready for the upper case, lower case challenge – make the letters all the same. Matching practice is awesome, no matter what.
What if your child isn’t into letters?
Not ready for letters yet? No big deal! Try matching shapes (drawn on the Post-Its) to shapes drawn on the butcher paper.
Post-It Match was the perfect way for my daughter to do two things she loves. 1. Playing with the alphabet (she loves her letters) 2. Playing with Post-It Notes – she has got some love for those sticky guys.
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