Letters, letters, letters. Who knew looking for letters could be such an easy, educational activity?
A while ago, I posted a list of scavenger hunt ideas for kids, including an idea for a letter scavenger hunt. When I originally posted the list, I had no idea that a letter scavenger hunt would be such a hit with my three-year-old!
We call it a letter treasure hunt (because treasures are more fun to look for and because my daughter is 1/4 pirate, 3/4 princess), and there are a ton of things to love about this activity.
- It takes no time to set up.
- It’s free.
- It’s educational.
- It’s an indoor activity.
There are a few different ways to do the hunt, which I’ll go over next, but first, you’ll need this free Letter Treasure Hunt printable:
This Letter Treasure Hunt PDF I created has a single letter per page, both capital and lowercase, and in multiple fonts.
Why? Because in the real world, letters come in all colors, sizes, and fonts.
My three-year-old can recognize capital and lowercase E already, and I wanted to help her master the skill by exposing her to different writing and font styles.
Also, it just looked fun. *shrug*
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How to Go on a Letter Treasure Hunt at Home
First, print the letter you’re focusing on for the day. We picked the letter E. The printer was running out of ink that day, so I didn’t get to print in color. Hopefully your printer has color and black ink. If not, could you pick up some ink for me, too?
Next, search the house for capital and lowercase letter E’s.
Maybe you’ll find some letters on the wall.
Maybe there’ll be some on a magazine. Good Housekeeping is a good one for finding E’s!
When you find one, trace or color it (depending on skill level!).
Other ways to Play Letter Treasure Hunt
So, that’s one way to play Letter Treasure Hunt. We’ve also done these variations:
- Look for letters in books. Nursery rhymes and poetry books are best as they’ll have a better capital to lowercase ratio.
- Hide capital and lowercase letters written on scraps of paper or Post-Its all around the house.
- Play I-spy. “I spy with my little eye, a lowercase E.” Just color the letter after you’ve spied it so they don’t keep spying the exact same letters over and over!
Other ways to Use the Letter Treasure Hunt Freebie
There are tons of other ways to use this letter treasure hunt freebie. (Download using the button below.)
- Trace the letters (with finger or crayon) to practice early writing skills.
- Compare capital and lowercase letters.
- Cut out letters to spell words in funky fonts. (Please don’t use this PDF to write ransom notes.)
- Make an alphabet book and talk about letters.
- Cut out letters and paste on index cards to use as flashcards.
Happy letter hunting!
SCREEN-FREE WAYS TO PROMOTE LITERACY at home
I love to read, and my daughter does, too! Promoting literacy at home is something I’ve tried to do for my girls ever since they were born. There are lots of ways to promote literacy and encourage letter recognition with your kids.
- Read, read, read.
- Go to storytime at your local library or bookstore.
- Put your kid’s name on the wall in his room and talk about the letters!
- Point out words and name letters everywhere you go. Walking through the grocery store, in line at the DMV, at the waiting room at the doctor’s… etc.
YOUR TURN FOR a LETTER TREASURE HUNT
I hope the letter treasure hunt gives you some great opportunities to teach your child to recognize letters.
One of the best things about parenting is getting to teach our kids and taking pride in how they are learning and growing.
Try out this activity at home and let me know how it went!
