- chairs (one per child)
- circles or squares of paper with a different, colorful, alphabet letter written on each (one per chair)
- markers
- masking tape
- alphabet
- letter
MA Standards:
English Language Arts/Speaking and Listening/SL.PK.MA.1a Observe and use appropriate ways of interacting in a group (e.g., taking turns in talking, listening to peers, waiting to speak until another person is finished talking, asking questions and waiting for an answer, gaining the floor in appropriate ways).
Head Start Outcomes:
Social Emotional Development/Self-Regulation Follows simple rules, routines, and directions.
Language Development/Receptive Language Attends to language during conversations, songs, stories, or other learning experiences.
Literacy Knowledge/Alphabet Knowledge Recognizes that the letters of the alphabet are a special category of visual graphics that can be individually named.
PreK Learning Guidelines:
English Language Arts/Language 1 Observe and use appropriate ways of interacting in a group (taking turns in talking; listening to peers; waiting until someone is finished; asking questions and waiting for an answer; gaining the floor in appropriate ways).
English Language Arts/Reading and Literature 12 Listen to, recite, sing, and dramatize a variety of age-appropriate literature.
English Language Arts/Reading and Literature 7 Develop familiarity with the forms of alphabet letters, awareness of print, and letter forms.
Play Together: Musical Alphabet Chairs
© Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Department of Early Education and Care (Jennifer Waddell photographer). All rights reserved.
ELA Focus Skills: Follow Directions, Gross Motor Skills, Letter Recognition, Listening to Music, Phonological Awareness (beginning consonant sounds)
Set up a circle of chairs facing outward. There should be a chair for each child in your group. On each chair, tape a paper with a letter of the alphabet written on it. Children will be asked to name something beginning with each letter so, since you probably won’t need to use all 26, choose the letters that children are most familiar with.
Remind children of the rules of the game. Say,
- I will play music while you walk around the circle of chairs.
- When the music stops, quickly sit down on the chair closest to you.
- Then I will ask you to stand and name the letter on your chair. I may even ask you to tell me a word that starts with that letter.
Play the music and stop it suddenly so children have to scramble for a chair.
- Have each child stand and identify his or her letter.
- Call on a few children at random to tell a word that starts with their letter.
- Continue play until you have called on each child at least once to tell a word starting with the letter on his or her chair.
English Language Learners: Have the child give a word in his or her home language and pantomime to convey its meaning. Then say the word in English and have the child repeat it.
Adaptation: If very young children have trouble naming a letter, let them point to letters on the ABC chart as they sing “The ABC Song,” and then stop when they see the matching letter.