Learning letters is HARD! There are just so many of them that look similar. I’m always looking for new and fun hands-on letter activities and games I can use in the classroom with my preschool friends.
My students LOVE dot it makers so I thought why not make a giant letter dot it board? It was super simple to prep and my students LOVED it. In fact they loved it so much, they begged me to make another one for the next day!
Now how to prep it:
- get a big piece of butcher paper (if you don’t have this giant butcher paper, use the paper roll you use for art easels)
- write letters all over it with a Sharpie
- place it on the floor to tape it to the wall
That’s it! Super simple right?!
I wrote letters on the paper, but you can make a giant dot it game to practice other things too!
Giant Dot It Board Ideas
- numbers
- shapes
- student names
- sight words
- types of lines
We played this for inside recess in the middle of winter as a fun way to get my students moving and learning at the same time! You do not need worksheets to teach letters as long as you give your students engaging letter games and activities!
Do you see the letters at the top? Students had to reach, stretch, and move their bodies to dot the letters. As they played this game, they were also strengthening their core, upper arms, and shoulders. It is important to make sure the big muscles are strong (arms, shoulders, core) in order for our students smaller muscles to be strong (fingers, hands, wrists).
I also want to add that they were conversing with their peers about letters, letter sounds and also sharing words with the same beginning sound while talking about the letters in their names and their friends’ names! It was a proud teacher moment for me to sit back, observe, and just listen to their letter conversations!
Above is the letter board when they first started. Once they dotted all the letters, they asked me to make MORE letters for them to dot! Did you hear that they asked for MORE letters? You know a game is fun when they want to play it longer! They dotted letters for over 25 minutes and the only reason they stopped was that inside recess was over.
If you try it in your classroom, make sure you tag me on social media. I LOVE seeing what you do in your classrooms!
Need more letter and name practice? Check out Name Dot It and Letter Books in my TPT store.
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