26 Free Printable Letter Sounds Alphabet Mats

These letter sounds alphabet mats are a hands-on way for kids to learn letters and beginning letter sounds. They can be used with play dough, dry-erase markers and more.

These alphabet mats are perfect for teaching the alphabet to preschoolers! It's a great way to practice letter recognition, beginning letter sounds and even writing letters! Use them with play dough or dry-erase markers. They are perfect for your literacy center!

I have seen lots of alphabet mats that are really neat, but I wanted to make one that posed a bit more of challenge for my son. So rather than only including a bunch of items that start with the letter on the page, I decided to include items that started with the letter on the mat and items that did not.

Related read: BIG List of Alphabet Activities

It ended up being perfect for my son. He would have been bored with a simple alphabet mat, but was totally engaged with this one. He liked searching around for the objects that begin with the letter on the page.

Setting up the Alphabet Mats

Supplies Needed:

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  1. Print out the alphabet mats.
  2. Laminate the mats or put them in dry-erase sleeves. I like to use dry-erase sleeves to save time and decide if an item is worth laminating for continued use.

Alphabet play dough mats that reinforce beginning sound identification.

Using the Letter Sounds Alphabet Mats

I printed out several of the mats and used them with my son. I didn’t laminate them or put them in dry-erase sleeves because I wanted them to photograph well for you all, but don’t do what I did. The play dough will stick to them.

Learning letters with play dough.

Letter formation with play dough and these neat alphabet play dough mats.

My kids were excited to see the mats laying out on the table with the play dough and they quickly started playing. I showed them how they could trace the letters with play dough and they did that. My preschooler enjoyed making snakes of play dough and curving them around the letters. It was excellent fine motor practice!

Related read: Play Dough and Alphabet Beads

Teaching children to identify letter sounds with this neat beginning sounds alphabet mat.

Find and mark all of the objects that start with the letter on the mat.

He also enjoyed searching around the mat for items that begin with the letter on the page. His favorite part was placing a ball of play dough on an item and smashing it with his fist. He did several mats in a row because he loved smashing play dough balls so much.

Teaching kids to write letters with these fun, letter sounds alphabet mats.

Beginning sounds alphabet mats a great literacy center activity for preschoolers and kindergarten students.

I also pulled out a dry-erase marker and he used that to trace letters and mark the objects on the mat too – with the dry-erase sleeve on, of course. He traced the inside of the letters with the marker and then circled all of the objects that start with that letter. He also chose to put an x on all of the objects that didn’t start with the letter on the mat.

My toddler just enjoyed playing with play dough on the mat. I helped her trace the letters a bit. I think I am going to make a more simplified alphabet mat, so stay tuned.

CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE THE PLAY DOUGH MATS FROM MY SHOP

Learning letters and beginning letter sounds with these unique alphabet play dough mats that kids love! They are also a great literacy center idea!

If you would like a more simple alphabet mat, check out these free beginning sounds alphabet mats!

Here are some more alphabet activities I think your kids will enjoy!

Alphabet Search and Find

Fruit and Vegetables Beginning Sounds Clip Cards

Letter Sounds Alphabet Game

Alphabet Play Dough Mats from Learning 4 Kids