How to teach capital letters to a 3–5 year old

Start with the letters of their name

A child's name is the most interesting word in the world to them. It is also a word they often see written: on a cubby, a drawing, a birthday card. That makes it the natural place to start.

Many children begin to recognize the first letter of their name around age 3. Around age 4, many recognize the letters in their name and write it. Those are typical milestones, not deadlines.

Preschool teachers often use children's names as the starting point for letters, especially the first letter. So you are in good company if you begin there too.

Write your child's name in big capital letters on a card. Put it on a bedroom door, a drawing or a lunch box. Then talk about it: this is your letter, the M at the start of your name. Look, there is another M on the cereal box.

A few letters at a time, through play

There is no need to work through the alphabet from A to Z. Pick two or three letters, usually from your child's name, and play with them for a while. Add a new one when the old ones feel easy.

Short, playful moments fit easily into the day. A minute in the car or two minutes at breakfast is plenty. Stop while your child still wants more.

Here are everyday ideas that need no special materials:

• Make letters with your bodies: arms up for Y, arms out for T, a stick-straight I
• Roll playdough into snakes and bend them into the letters of your child's name
• Draw big letters in sand, flour or shaving foam with one finger
• Write letters with chalk on the sidewalk and jump on the one you call out
• Spot letters on license plates, shop signs and packages during errands
• Hide two or three magnetic letters around the room and go on a search

Point first, then name

There are two ways to know a letter. Your child can point to a letter when you name it, or say its name when you point. Start with pointing. It asks less of your child, because they only need to recognize the letter, not remember its name.

Lay out two or three letters and ask: where is the S? Praise the find, then name it again together. Later, when your child points reliably, swap roles: what letter is this?

Mix the letters up as you go. Capitals made of straight lines, like E, F and H, can look alike. Putting them side by side and talking about the difference can help: E has one more line than F.

Say the letter's name and sound together

Every letter has a name and a sound. The name of M is em. The sound is the mmm at the start of moon. Children need both, so you can say both every time.

Teaching letter names and sounds together is a research-based practice, but a study of preschool teachers found it was not yet common in classrooms. At home, it is easy: This is M. M says mmm, like moon and mouse.

Kindergarten standards in the United States ask children to name all capital and small letters by the end of the year. They also expect children to know the main sound of each consonant. Starting with names and sounds together builds toward both.

When to move on to small letters

There is no fixed age or number. A good sign is when your child knows most of the capitals you have played with and starts to notice small letters in books. Around age 4, a good goal to strive for is 15 to 18 capital letters.

Begin with letters that look alike in both forms: C and c, O and o, S and s. Call them the big letter and the small letter. Then move to pairs that look different, like A and a or G and g.

Keep playing with capitals at the same time. Small letters do not replace big ones. Your child will need both, and names will always start with a capital.

How the Capital letters game fits in

The Capital letters game follows the same steps. In Find, your child hears a letter and taps it among three, ten letters a round. That is the pointing step. In Meet, your child taps any letter from A to Z to hear its name and a word that starts with it.

The My name screen shows the letters of your child's name and asks them to drag each one into its spot. The alphabet underneath lights up the letters that are in the name. In Trace, your child follows each capital with a finger, one line at a time, from a green dot.

When the capitals feel easy, the Letter sounds game takes the next step. It focuses on the sound at the start of words like ball, moon and sun, with sixteen consonants. Play a few minutes, then go find those letters in the real world together.