Aims and objectives
This set of activities is a fun way to help children with their letter recognition and as an introduction to the concept that letters can be combined to form words.

Previous knowledge
This is a reinforcement activity so children would benefit from having some familiarity with the alphabet and experience of letter recognition. The ‘flash cards’ in the accompanying worksheets can be used prior to the activity if the children aren’t familiar with the alphabet.

In the classroom
This is a letter matching activity. Working independently or with a partner, children are able to see each set of letters before they begin. When a series of letters has been matched a simple three letter word is displayed. This helps children to understand that letters can be combined to form words.

Click on a window and it will disappear to reveal a lowercase letter. Children find the matching pair by clicking on another window. A letter pair that doesn't match will be covered over. There is a 2 by 2 grid, a 2 by 4 and a 4 by 4 grid. Switching between levels is done by clicking on one of the top hats on the start screen. Return to the start screen to change levels using the back button at any time.

Although the activities can be successfully used with an interactive whiteboard for large group or even whole class teaching, the nature of the resource requires close contact and support between teacher and the users.

Curriculum references
Foundation Stage:
Early learning goals for linking sounds and letters

English – KS1:
En2 1b
En3 5a-e

This activity has been designed to cover the National Literacy Strategy requirements.