Many modern parents want their children to start learning English from the cradle. And there is nothing surprising in this. This skill will prove useful for children in the future. And the fact that information is much easier to remember at a young age gives a good advantage over adults.
Usually the study of English begins with the simplest - learning the alphabet. You can do this on your own with a child at home, or by entrusting your baby to an experienced teacher. However, in both cases, the teaching methodology will be reduced to a game format. After all, children at this age cannot sit still for a long time and their concentration limit will be 15-20 minutes maximum. Therefore, games with the English alphabet are a great option for learning new letters and learning how to form words from them. In this article, we will look at examples of games that children and their parents love very much.
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Online games and simulators for mastering the alphabet
The most popular way to learn English is to use gadgets that are always at hand. You can use the links to the games below, or download apps for your tablet and phone. In such games and applications, children are lured by a bright picture and a simple story.
"Kids Phonics AZ, Alphabet, Letter Sounds Learning"
 | Platform | iOS |
|---|---|---|
| Age | 4-6 | |
| Price | Is free | |
| Description | Children are invited to immerse themselves in the atmosphere of a magical island. They must help the monkey Abby find the treasure hidden on the island. At this time, with the help of mini-games, they will learn to recognize the sound of English letters, track uppercase and lowercase letters, match them into words and learn the names of animals. |
"Little Speller - Three Letter Words LITE"
 | Platform | iOS |
|---|---|---|
| Age | 2-6 | |
| Price | Is free | |
| Description | An interactive game that will help kids learn the English alphabet. In addition, during the game you can learn to read, write and pronounce simple words. The advantage of this game is that parents can add their own pictures, words and sound prompts. Thus, children will hear the familiar speech of moms and dads, which will improve the memorization process. |
Website "We play ourselves"
 | Platform | PC |
|---|---|---|
| Age | 3-8 | |
| Price | Is free | |
| Description | An online simulator that can help you learn English letters, their position in the alphabet and their pronunciation. The tasks in the game are quite simple, so the interest is supported by a system of points that are awarded for correct answers and removed for incorrect answers. |
"ABC Kids - Tracing & Phonics"
 | Platform | iOS, Android |
|---|---|---|
| Age | 2-8 | |
| Price | Is free | |
| Description | A colorful application for memorizing the English alphabet. Children can learn to recognize letters by ear as well as pronounce them. With example words, it will not be difficult to master the spelling of letters. The application interface is designed in such a way that the child could not accidentally close or minimize the game. |
"Luntik. English for childrenΒ»
 | Platform | iOS |
|---|---|---|
| Age | 4-8 | |
| Price | Free, there are paid features | |
| Description | Educational app for kids to learn English alphabet. The application consists of fun colorful game levels aimed at learning and repeating the English alphabet, as well as words on topics: colors, letters, numbers, animals, clothes, food, the world around and furniture. |
"Timmi's Starting to Read"
 | Platform | iOS, Android |
|---|---|---|
| Age | 3+ | |
| Price | Free, there are paid features | |
| Description | Such games for memorizing English letters are suitable for children from the age of three. They will teach children the basics of reading, listening comprehension and provide the first vocabulary. For completing tasks, children collect bonuses and stickers, new videos and tasks are opened for them, which reinforces their interest. |
"Khan Academy Kids"
 | Platform | iOS, Android |
|---|---|---|
| Age | 3+ | |
| Price | Is free | |
| Description | The application requires prior registration of the child. With it, children learn the alphabet, train pronunciation, writing. It has a section with interactive books that you can flip through. The text is spoken automatically, and the words are highlighted at this time, which helps children learn to read faster. |
"Fun English"
 | Platform | iOS, Android |
|---|---|---|
| Age | 3+ | |
| Price | free version with restrictions (40 words and phrases, 18 lessons, 2 thematic courses, 4 songs), paid subscription (unlimited access to all classes (543 words and phrases, 165 lessons, 21 thematic courses, 28 songs) | |
| Description | This application is loved not only by children, but also by adults. It helps to learn not only letters and words, but also various phrases. The memorization process is built in such a way that the child himself can choose the type of tasks for himself. There are levels for reaction speed, searching for objects, guessing pairs. The peculiarity of the application is that it uses different voices, which helps the child get used to different pronunciations. |
Monkey Junior
 | Platform | iOS, Android |
|---|---|---|
| Age | 3+ | |
| Price | free version with in-app purchases | |
| Description | The application provides training in three stages: easy, intermediate and advanced. At each stage, the baby will learn different sections: the alphabet, words on various topics, reading, writing. Pictures and interactive videos help illustrate words and sentences, thus improving reading comprehension. |
Board games for memorizing letters
This section presents board games that can be played by a family or a whole company. If your level of English is higher than the initial one, then you can find a more detailed list of board games at the link.
"Beast Letters English"
 | Players | 2-5 |
|---|---|---|
| Age | 6+ | |
| Price | $12 | |
| Description | The box contains 26 pictures with animals, 70 letters of the English alphabet, special auxiliary memory cards, illustrated rules. Children are invited to collect the names of animals from the letters on the table. At this time, all players visually memorize the spelling of letters, and at the same time learn their names. In addition, having a higher level of knowledge, you can use additional variants of the rules from the instructions. |
"ABC Knowledge Chest"
 | Players | 2-4 |
|---|---|---|
| Age | 4+ | |
| Price | $9 | |
| Description | The chest contains 55 cards. The exciting process of the game will allow children to memorize more than 560 words and 350 phrases in an accessible form. The essence of the game is to carefully study the cards and answer questions on them. Whoever collects the most cards in 10 minutes wins. |
"English alphabet for children"
 | Players | 1 |
|---|---|---|
| Age | 5+ | |
| Price | $12 | |
| Description | The game is a whole organizer, which is laid out on a magnetic board. On it you can write or make words from magnetic letters. In addition, the training set contains 26 letters, a workbook with drawings, games and exercises, 27 spelling cards with letters, and two markers with erasing sponges. |
"Erudite Easy English"
 | Players | 2-4 |
|---|---|---|
| Age | 7+ | |
| Price | $15 | |
| Description | The bottom line is that the players pick up eight chips for themselves, and then lay out a single word on the playing field. Each letter is awarded a certain number of points. The one who scores the most points wins. |
English alphabet games for kids
In this section, we will introduce several games for which you do not need additional equipment. At the same time, children will be very happy with the attention of their parents and participation in the game. In addition, these games can be played in the classroom at school. Therefore, teachers can remember a couple of games and try to use them in English classes for toddlers.
"Alphabet Soup"
Prepare in advance a bowl or saucepan, cards with letters, cards with words starting with these letters. It is necessary that in this set there were cards with edible products. The teacher lays out cards with pictures on the table near the bowl, into which he lowers the letters or cards. Children take it in turns to take one card with a letter from the bowl. Then their task is to see which of the words on the prepared cards begins with this letter. This will be their lunch. For interest and fun, you can add cards with toads, spiders, snails and other inedible products to the cards for edible products.
"Alphabet Envelopes"
Before the lesson, the teacher prepares 26 envelopes with letters of the alphabet, 26 cards with uppercase letters and 26 cards with lowercase letters, and the same number of pictures with pictures of words starting with each of the letters of the alphabet. The guys should arrange all the cards in envelopes. In this way, they will quickly memorize small and large letters and be able to memorize a few new English words using them.
"Alphabet in a circle"
The kids sit in a circle. The teacher calls any letter from the alphabet and points to the player. He must name the letter that follows alphabetically from yours. Then, the next player says another letter and points to another player. The game continues until all the letters are gone.
"Alphabetic Path"
Print out the letters of the alphabet in advance on A4 sheets. Lay them out on the floor. Additionally, you need to print cards with numbers: -3, -2, -1, +1, +2, +3, for example. The game begins with one of the players throwing a dice and going through as many letters as it fell on the dice. His task is to name the letter on which he had to stop. If the player cannot name the letter, then he takes a few steps back, depending on which number was on the card next to it.
Conclusion
As you can see, learning the English alphabet can be turned into a magical journey for kids using games. In such an easy form, each child will be able to learn new letters and learn how to apply them first in words, and then in sentences. Do not forget that the learning process should not be tedious and boring, this does not contribute to the perception of new information. Try to try several options for games: online, applications or board games, so you can choose for the children something that is most suitable, interesting for him.
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