This beautiful wooden alphabet puzzle is very well-loved in our house! Apart from the obvious ways to use this puzzle (identifying letters and putting them back in place) we have used it in many other activities. Here are 6 of our favourites:

1. Matching upper case to lower case letters. You can use lower case letters from a separate alphabet puzzle or you could make your own lower case flash cards.

2. DIY CVC word cards - make your own cards and then have your child match the letters as they sound out the words. 

3. Letter treasure hunt. Search for each letter of the alphabet around your home. This is sort of eye-spy, except in addition to finding the object/word beginning with each letter, you also find the puzzle piece.

4. Label your activity. This is a common practice among instagram play mums and I love it because it exposes children to  written language in a meaningful way.

5. Stamp words or your child’s name into playdough. These chunky alphabet pieces are perfectly paired with playdough. There’s no limit to the words you can form, because each letter can be stamped as many times as you like! As a bonus, you can match letters back to their impressions in playdough. 

6. Hide the letters in rainbow rice (or any other dry sensory base) for your child to search for. Provide scoops so your child can fill the letter holes in the puzzle tray with rice. 

What’s your favourite way to extend play with your alphabet puzzle?