I Spy Scavenger Hunt ABC Games Alphabet Printables

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Kids have so much fun with scavenger hunts and I Spy games, so in our newest resource we’ve combined this enthusiasm with learning the letters of alphabet. It’s a recipe for fun and tons of learning! ABC games make it feel like kids are playing while they learn their letters, and there are so many different ways to play with these alphabet printables that you’ll get tons of use out of them! Read on to find out more about the I Spy Scavenger Hunt ABC Games Alphabet Printables, and download a free sample so you can take a closer look at the set.

About the I Spy Scavenger Hunt ABC Games Alphabet Printables

In this 229-page set we’ve included both full A to Z scavenger hunts with all letters of the alphabet, individual scavenger hunts for each letter, and optional letter cards to use with the scavenger hunts.

WHICH LETTERS TO USE AND WHEN: If your program follows a specific sequence for teaching the alphabet or uses a Letter of the Week approach you can easily pull the related scavenger hunt.

You can also differentiate instruction by specifically targeting a letter that a child is working on learning. All students do not need to work on the same letter at the same time. When in doubt, start with the letters in the child’s name.

See them in Action

Watch this quick video to see some of the ways you can use the I Spy ABC Scavenger Hunts. Then read on for more details.

WAYS TO USE THE I SPY ABC SCAVENGER HUNTS

The scavenger hunts can be:

A write the room center activity where kids look for environmental print that contains the letter they are looking for
A write the room center activity where kids look for the included letter cards throughout the classroom
A book center activity where kids look for the letter(s) in books from the class library or big book area
Used with a sensory bin that has letter manipulatives or the included letter bins for kids to collect and mark off on their papers
Used at home for kids to do in the car or at home

QUICK TIPS

These scavenger hunts can be laminated or added to pouches so they can be used over and over again and save paper. Use dry erase markers, magnetic gems (with page on a cookie tray), or small manipulatives to cover the letters.
The dot it pages are designed to be used with Do-a-Dot markers or manipulatives as mentioned above. This is a way to differentiate before kids are ready for the writing practice pages.

Let’s take a closer look at some of the ways we’ve been using the I Spy ABC Games.

Above we’ve set up a super simple ABC center activity with foam letters, a marker and a recording sheet. Kids remove a letter, find it on their sheet, and then color it until they’ve finished the set. If you’d rather save paper and skip the coloring part, kids can also use a manipulative like a glass gem or mini eraser to cover the letters as they go through the activity.

Here we’re using one of the Dot It pages on a cookie sheet with glass gems attached to round magnets. This setup works well for Read the Room around the classroom or on car rides if you’re using this at home, and it is a great for kids who are just beginning to recognize a letter but are not yet ready to write it. Kids look for the letter in environmental print (or the optional letter cards) and move a gem to the cover one of the dots on the page each time they find a new place where they see the focus letter.

Another way ot use the Dot It pages is with picture books. Here we are using Do a Dot Markers to stamp a dot each time the child finds the focus letter in a book. This is a great addition to your Library Center, Big Book Center, or ABC Center. (For more information about selecting and setting up centers in your classroom refer to our Center Planning Guide.)

As kids move past being able to recognize a letter and are ready to practice writing it, you can start to phase in the Trace It pages. These can be used during Read/Write the Room activities as students look for the focus letter around the room in environmental print or on letter cards, and at home they make great car ride activities.

We’ve included Trace It pages for both uppercase and lowercase words. You can use them with pencils or makers, or you can re-use them over and over again by using dry erase markers on a laminated surface.

Here we set up a simple reusable center activity by placing the A to Z Trace It sheet in a dry erase pocket. To add in a sensory element we used a small pencil box with black beans and added some letter beads. To do the activity kids find a letter from the bin and then trace it on the recording sheet. (Make this easier by including only the 26 letters from the alphabet)

This is just a quick glimpse of ways to use these I Spy alphabet printables. If you’ve got more ideas or want to share how you’re using them in your class, pop over to our Fun and Learning Facebook group. I’d love to see what you come up with!

ABOUT THE LETTER CARDS

The I Spy ABC Scavenger Hunts set also includes a set of letter cards designed as an optional resource. There are various ways to use the scavenger hunts with environmental print and books instead of printing the letter cards. However, the letter cards are included as an additional option for those who would like to use them.

The letter cards include:

Uppercase Letter Cards-A to Z
Lowercase Letter Cards-a to z
Uppercase Letter Cards for each individual letter in various fonts
Lowercase Letter Cards for each individual letter in various fonts

On the individual letter sets we’ve included 18 letters each. They are designed to go along with find and trace scavenger hunts which include 15 letters per page. That way you can remove any fonts you don’t like or have extras in case a card is lost.

IDEAS FOR USING THE LETTER CARDS

There are many possibilities for using the letter cards. You can…

1)Put them around the room for kids to find (they can leave them there for other kids to use or collect them and bring them to a central location if preferred).

2)Put them in a sensory bin for kids to pull from as they mark their scavenger hunt page.

3)Use them as a deck of cards face down with the full A to Z scavenger hunts and have kids pull from the stack to mark the letter they’ve found on their sheet.