Prep: 1 Minute / Activity Time: 2 Minutes

Creating games for two-year-olds is a great way to get them interested in letters. With this simple hide-and-seek game, use their natural curiosity and desire to play to introduce letter names.

  • stack of paper cups
  • plastic or foam alphabet letters that can fit inside the cups

Step 1: Give your child a stack of paper cups to play with. Show her how you can stack and unstack the cups. Let her set the cups up in any way she likes.

Step 2: Show her one alphabet letter and explain the game. You might say:

I’m going to hide this letter inside a cup. Close your eyes.

Step 3: Place the alphabet letter inside one cup and ask:

Can you find the letter?

Step 4: When she finds the cup with the letter inside get really excited and do a silly “Letter Dance.” Jump up and down, wiggle around, or spin in a circle and say some silly words to bring attention to the letter. You might sing or say:

Let’s do a letter dance!

You found the letter A. You found the letter A.

Hip Hip Hooray! You found the letter A!

Hand her a stack of cups with a letter already inside one of the cups. As she takes the stack apart and finds the cup with the letter inside, do Step 4 and show your excitement for finding a letter.

Ask your child to hide a letter in a cup for you to find. When you find the letter, do a silly letter dance and say something like:

 I found the letter B. I found the letter B.

Wow! Look at me! I found the letter B!