I can do this! – JD, 6
Recently, while working through some literacy activities with my son, we noted that the ability to put words in alphabetical order is part of the KS1 (4-6 years) UK schools curriculum.
This was a new concept to JD, but he was keen to give it a go. As he, like many children, responds very well to hands-on activities, we created this simple activity to help solidify the core concept of alphabetical order in his head.
The first sheet in the printable is a guide sheet – a blank table with lines labelled A-Z. The second sheet contains a list of words to cut out to create word tiles.
Once you’ve printed and prepared your printable, it’s simply a case of inviting the child to place the word tiles against their matching letters on the guide sheet. If done correctly, at the end of the activity, all the words should be in alphabetical order.
Further suggested activities:
- Freestyle sorting: Once JD mastered the activity using the guide sheet, he was able to push that aside and just use the word tiles to create alphabetically ordered lists on the rug. If you’d like to try it with your little one, just hit the image above to download the free printable as a PDF.
- School register: If your child attends school he/she’s probably already used to hearing names called in alphabetical order. You could try listing a few friends names and working out where they should go on the guide sheet. If they’re home schooled, why not use friends and families names?
- Sorting when two words start with the same letter: I have also included a few extra words at the bottom of the second sheet, so that you can move on to talking about which word goes first when they start with the same letter, if you wish.
- High frequency words: If you’re keen to concentrate on High Frequency Words, there’s a good list here and you could try either printing and cutting them out, or writing them on to a guide sheet.
Have fun!
Tanveen says
Thank you.. Good resource to teach dictionary skills for beginners.
Emily Leary says
Oh yes! Good thinking.
Tracy Sztanya says
Thank you for sharing this! I think this is a great and easy way to introduce alphabetizing to my Kindergartners!
Agata Pokutycka says
Great idea.
Thank you for sharing it with us and making it so easy to duplicate at home :-)
Danielle Askins says
Great idea, will have to remember this for a few months down the line for when Alex is a bit more ready!
Aly says
This is perfect for my nearly 6 year old.Pinned for you.
[email protected] says
I love this idea. My son really struggled with his reading and was very behind his classmates in Y1 and Y2 which affected his confidence. I worked with the school doing this like this at home and they gave him one on one time at school and he’s now way ahead of most of his class so I can’t express how important I think things like this are.
It was only later that his teacher told me that they only reason the school did the one on one with him was because they could see how much effort I was putting in to help. It turned out that due to budget only a couple of children a year could receive the extra one on one time and I’m so grateful if was him because it’s made him much happier and confident.
Kara Guppy says
Such a good idea – will certainly try this with Isaac
Healthier Mummy says
Didn’t know it was part of KS1 so sounds like my eldest two will get lots of benefit from it. I’m looking forward to doing this.
Vicky says
Now this is great! I actually still sing ‘q, r, s, t, u, v’ to myself when trying to sort things into alphabetical order, so could probably do with some boning up ;-)
Jenni says
Wow fantastic, I really like the idea of using school names as well.
Emma (My Little 3 and Me) says
A lovely simple idea. I bet JD will be compiling lists for you to order too!
Jenny says
That’s great, must remember for when my children are a little older :)
Globalmouse says
Great idea! I have a 7 year old and 4 year old and I think they’d both get something out of this activity. Thank you for sharing :)
natalie says
I have a 4 year old and I havent given alphabetical sorting much thought really, this is great – thank you
Vaichin @Rambling Through Parenthood says
We are just starting out on our school journey, but these are sure to come in useful in the near future. Thanks for sharing. x
Aisha from expatlog says
A great activity to get them breaking words down. My 6-y-o is still tempted to shoot for the nearest guess rather than look closely.
TwinsplusTwo says
Some really good ideas, love the printable. Often as parents we panic and think helping a child requires considerable knowledge and resources, your article demonstrates this is not the case :)
Mammasaurus says
This is exactly what Kitty could benefit from at the moment. She’s mastered reading but to think more about the letters this would be fab x
MummyNeverSleeps says
My four year old is just getting to grips with his letter and sounds now, this will be perfect for him as he literally cannot be stopped pointing at different objects and words to tell me the sound they begin with :) Brilliant idea!
Pinkoddy says
I never knew this but guess it makes sense. I think that my 6 year old would love to do this (even though I’m sure he’s more than capable) and it would help his 4 year old brother. Thank you very much for sharing.
Em @ snowingindoors says
Love this idea!
Lauren says
my daughter is a bit far off this type of activity yet, but i’ve saved it in my ‘education’ folder on chrome for future reference. Much as I dont want to wish her early months away I am really looking forward to doing this kind of activity with her!
Sonya Cisco says
Great idea, making learning fun is so important, and having a variety of different activities up your sleeve for each skill is great- so will be adding this one to mine!
Jen aka The Mad House says
My boys had something similar, but using the high frequency words
Emily @amummytoo says
Thanks. JD chose the words on this activity with me using his dictionary but high frequency words is a good idea – I’ll add a note.