This is one of our favourite alphabet activities at our CEFA Early Learning schools and I am sure it will provide hours of fun for your child at home too!

This printable game has two pages for you to cut out and glue on the inside of bottle caps. You don’t necessarily need the bottle caps either, you can just laminate the tiny circles and add a magnet to each one, but the bottle caps make it easier to manipulate I find. This game is very versatile and offers many learning opportunities:

  • You can prepare just the first page (the one shown) and put it on your fridge for your child to practice the phonetic sounds of the letters; learn to place the letters in alphabetical order; learn the names of the animals and the sound that each letter makes.
  • You can prepare both pages and also put them on the fridge for your child to match the letters to their phonetic letter bottle caps
  • You can prepare just the second page (with letters only) and add it to your fridge (since it is magnetic) so your child can build words (you might need to print more than one of each letter). This will tremendously help your child learn to read (building words).

Once your child has all 52 bottle caps (phonetic ones and plain letter ones) they can play all the games mentioned above right on your fridge while you prepare dinner. This will provide them with an activity they can do on their own.

This activity is used at our CEFA Early Learning schools for our 2, 3 and 4 year old children (Junior Kindergarten One, Two and Three), so they have plenty of practice with alphabet letters at first, then start using the letters to build words.

If your child is not attending our schools (or if they are but like playing with this game) and you would like to try this game at home, make sure you supervise closely as the bottle caps can be a choking hazard. If you prefer, simply print the game on cardstock and use the letters without the bottle caps. I much prefer the bottle cap version (and so will your child) but you must supervise.

You can download the game here. I use water bottle caps, but you can use any caps you like.

If you are playing with your child, you can sing the alphabet song as you place the letters, or you can use the phonetic sound of the letters to refer to them: ah, b, k, d) rather than their names. This will teach your child to read sooner. Once your child can read, you can use the letters’ names (ay, bee, see, dee). Have fun!

Best Ages for This Activity

Two to Five

How to Make It

What You Will Need

  • Paper
  • A colour printer
  • 52 bottle caps (start saving them from your water bottles!)
  • 52 small (but strong) magnets
  • Super glue (to stick the magnets to the outside of the bottle caps)
  • Regular glue (to stick the images to the inside of the bottle caps)

Or:

  • Cardstock (if you don’t want to use bottle caps)
  • A colour printer
  • A laminator to laminate the game and the letters (to make them more sturdy – you don’t have to. We do at our schools so the game can be used over and over again)
  • 52 small (but strong) magnets
  • Super glue (to stick the magnets to the laminated letters)

Let’s Get Started!

  • Print the activity in colour if possible (here is my free printable):
  • Cut all the circles on both pages
  • Glue the image to the inside of a bottle cap, and the magnet on the outside of the bottle cap. Here is an example:

  • This example shows metal bottle caps, which you can use if you prefer. We use plastic ones from water bottles.
  • Once they are dry, put all the bottle caps on your fridge door, and invite your child to play. If your fridge is not magnetic, use a large baking tray We use these all the time at our schools. You can even attach them to your child’s wall in the bedroom and rotate the magnetic games you display from time to time. My sons had one and they loved playing with it!
  • Invite your child to play with the letters:
    • Which sound does each letter make?
    • Can you match the letter to its letter sound? (this should be easy as both have the letter on them)
    • What words can you make with these letters? Dad? Mom? Baby? (make sure you have enough letters)
    • Let’s write something together!
  • Once they are engaged in the activity, leave them to work on their own but supervise to make sure they don’t put a bottle cap in their mouth. If you used your fridge as a board, then you can use the time to cook. Just make sure you supervise as the bottle caps are great to play with but may be a choking hazard.

Learning Opportunities

This activity will give your child literacy skills: they will learn fine motor skills as they manipulate the bottle caps and place them carefully side by side. This is harder than it looks for a young child. It also teaches them reading skills as they identify the letter and/or the sound it makes. Once they start forming words, it is an excellent reading and writing activity.

Extended Learning Opportunities

  • Invite the child to place the letters in order from a to z on the fridge.
  • Find out which letters are in your child’s name
  • See which letters are in your name, in their siblings’ names, etc.
  • Use the bottle caps to spell your child’s name
  • Use the bottle caps to write simple words like mom or dad or bib (you will need to make more bottle caps, so you have more than one of each letter)

 

 

 

 

 

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