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Home » Reading Ideas » Alphabet Activities » Alphabet Activities: Washing the Letter Dishes

Alphabet Activities: Washing the Letter Dishes

June 10, 2015 •

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We continue our outdoor summer fun this month for our Playful Preschool Series .  The theme this week is water.  We have a fun and wet alphabet activity to share.

Alphabet Activities

Alphabet activities should be fun and playful. Kids will have fun learning their ABCs in this water play activity!

Full Disclosure:  This post contains affiliate links.

Why We Chose This Activity

Water, water, water…my son can not get enough of playing with water. Whether it is playing with the hose outside or splashing in the bathtub, he could spend hours being wet.

As you probably know, I believe that we should build off our kids interests and meet them where they are.

So we came up with this washing the letter dishes. Water play meets the alphabet!

Setting Up

Materials needed:[easyazon_link identifier=”B001PGTNK6″ locale=”US” tag=”groboobyboo-20″]water table[/easyazon_link] or two dishwashing containers, [easyazon_link identifier=”B000IZ793S” locale=”US” tag=”groboobyboo-20″]drying rack[/easyazon_link] or towel, rag or sponge, water, soap, plastic dishes and silverware and [easyazon_link identifier=”B00IYDM814″ locale=”US” tag=”groboobyboo-20″]washable markers[/easyazon_link]

  1. Fill one container with soapy water. The second container will be filled with clean water for your rinse bin.
  2. Place the bins in a row followed by the drying rack or towel.
  3. On each plastic dish or utensil write a letter of the alphabet with a marker.  To create tough stains use a crayon to write the letters!

abc dishes for the alphabet activity

Time to Play

washing the ABC dishes

Pick up an item to wash and name the letter on the utensil or dish. Wash the letter off in the soapy water, rinse, dry and repeat!

Alphabet activities: water play washing the ABC dishes

Kids can also work on letter sounds. Include saying the letter sound before washing the letter off the object.

You could also write sight words instead of letters to differentiate for other kids.

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See more #playfulpreschool ideas for water learning below.

Alphabet Hunt in a Water Sprinkler by Mom Inspired Life

Turn Your Water Bottles into Musical Instruments by Life Over C’s

Pie Tin Boats – an engineering challenge for the whole family by Rainy Day Mum

Making a Solar Still-a Water Desalination Experiment by Capri + 3

Water Displacement Experiment by Fun-A-Day

Gross Motor Water Play and Learning by Tiny Tots Adventures

Drip, Drip, Drop | Ourdoor Water Game for Kids by The Educators’ Spin On It

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Filed Under: All categories, Alphabet Activities Tagged With: water play

About Jodie Rodriguez

Jodie Rodriguez is a mom of two young boys and an early childhood/elementary educator with over 20 years of experience. Jodie's passion is helping parents, teachers, librarians and anyone else interested in nurturing and reaching ALL of our youngest growing readers.

Comments

  1. Natasha says

    June 12, 2015 at 7:29 am

    This is perfect for them little ones who beg to wash dishes. Love this idea!

  2. Danielle says

    June 10, 2015 at 10:07 am

    Wonderful idea! My son would have so much fun with this.

  3. Amanda says

    June 10, 2015 at 6:12 am

    This is fantastic. My kids like to help wash dishes. We can use our applesauce containers!

  4. Cerys says

    June 10, 2015 at 3:37 am

    I love this – and I know my kids would love it as well. Preparing it for after preschool this afternoon. Thank you for the inspiration.

Trackbacks

  1. Water Play Alphabet Activities - Fantastic Fun & Learning says:
    April 23, 2019 at 11:26 am

    […] water?  Growing Book by Book created a fun way to combine suds and the alphabet with their abc dish washing activity.  Grab some washable markers and plastic dishes and get […]

  2. Preschool Literacy Activities for Summer says:
    June 17, 2015 at 1:56 am

    […] up a tub and wash the letter dishes. (Growing Book by […]

  3. Making Musical Instruments with Glass Bottles says:
    June 10, 2015 at 10:19 am

    […] Alphabet Activities: Washing the Letter Dishes by Growing Book by Book […]

  4. Water Displacement Science Experiment for Kids - Fun-A-Day! says:
    June 10, 2015 at 7:56 am

    […] Alphabet Activities: Washing the Letter Dishes by Growing Book by Book […]

  5. Learning ABCs with an Alphabet Hunt in the Water Sprinkler - Mom Inspired Life says:
    June 10, 2015 at 7:17 am

    […] Alphabet Activities: Washing the Letter Dishes by Growing Book by Book […]

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