3 top toys for learning letters

Tactile Letters by Learning Resources
When I spoke to Learning Resources recently, I heard their Tactile Letters had proved very popular with parents and teachers at recent shows, as the texture of the letters helps with letter recognition and formation. I was very excited to receive a set to try at home, and Baby Girl was thrilled with our new letter set, wanting to play with them straight away. The set includes 26 lower case plastic letters with a dot and arrows to allow children to trace the shape with a finger by starting at the dot and following the arrows. If they trace in the wrong direction, the texture tells them that they’re not doing it right. I like having more resources at home for learning letters, as Baby Girl is clearly interested in learning now, and I want her to have access to toys that support her hunger to learn. At home, we’ve been fishing letters from a doll bath tub, which we sometimes fill with bubble bath, and I can also see us using the tactile letters in our sand box in summer, as they’re ideal for messy play.

Wipe-clean alphabet by Usborne
I’m a big fan of wipe-clean books, as I think they’re extremely practical for young children, and I particularly like the fun and colourful Wipe-clean range by Usborne. Baby Girl loves the Wipe-clean alphabet book (Usborne, £4.99), which has a section for each letter with illustrations of objects starting with the relevant letter and both lower case and upper case letters with dotted lines for children to trace. I think it’s brilliant for promoting early letter recognition and encouraging children to practise writing letters.

Alphabet Match by Orchard Toys
I first came across Alphabet Match by Orchard Toys (£7.50) when shopping for puzzles, and although these are only mini puzzles with two pieces, it is good for promoting hand and eye coordination as well as learning letters. Children can match letters with pictures of objects that start with that letters, and only the correct pairings fit together. Fun for children learning the alphabet!

Tags: Alphabet, Books, Educational toys, Learning letters, Learning Resources, Letter, Orchard Toys, Preschoolers, Puzzle, Usborne, Wipe-clean book