Alphabet Sorting Box

Two posts in one day! That's not like me at all! But I have been so looking forward to posting this post... I hinted that I had something special in the works at the end of my Alphabet Treasure Baskets posts the other week - so here it is!

I call it the 'Alphabet Sorting Box', and it's designed to be used with children who have learnt most letters of the alphabet and can start to identify the starting letter of various objects. I'm planning to try it with my class towards the end of their first term or school, or start of their second term. It would make a fantastic partner or early finisher activity once introduced to the whole class.




Now I purchased this box from Neds - as I really hadn't seen them anywhere else (so please leave a comment if you've seen anything like this in any other shops). The only issue with it is that it only has 24 boxes and obviously there are 26 letters of the alphabet. So you'll notice I had to double up on w/x and y/z.


It's important that you find little objects that are small enough to fit in the boxes. Here's a summary of what I included;

a - apple
b - block
c - car
d - duck
e - elephant
f - fish
g - grapes
h - horse
i - insect
j - jug
k - keys
l - lemon
m - mouse
n - number nine
o - octopus
p - Peppa Pig
q - queen
r - rock
s - smile
t - tree
u - umbrella
v - van
w - watch
x - (cheated - magnet letter x)
y - yo yo
z - zebra

I really like how this activity is self correcting - meaning for example, if the child mistakes the queen for a 'doll' - and then go to place the duck in the 'd' box, they'll have to stop and think and consider where else the 'queen' might go.

Another idea could be to turn this into a 'match the capital letter to the lower case letter' activity.



Can't wait to try this one out at school with my class! Will leave a comment when I do and let you all know how it goes.

Lauren :)

11 comments

  1. Lauren I love this idea! I'm so pinning this for when bub is a bit older.

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  2. You have so many great ideas on here! As soon as my son gets a little bit older I'll be trying this one for sure. It's SO hard coming up with fun, educational activities to fill the endless hours every day!

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    1. Thank you Lauren! Glad you have found some useful ideas.

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    1. Thanks Jem! Nice to hear from a fellow early years teacher :)

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  4. Here's a comment from a regular reader Anna - for some reason her comment didn't work!

    "Ohh I love this idea! Perfect way to get kids to learn the letters... enjoy using it and can't wait to hear how it goes. Did you make all the little figures?!"

    No I didn't make the figurines Anna - I found things from around the home or my classroom to use :)

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  5. Love this idea Lauren. I've seen large versions of this activity that need lots of big boxes, but small is really appealing! I've got it scheduled to share on FB. Thanks for dropping by the Love to Learn Linky!

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    1. Wow thanks so much for your feedback Sue! I know the example you mean - maybe with shoeboxes? That would be great for a whole class activity - but this one is definitely nice for a small group, partner or individual learning experience. Thanks for sharing :)

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  6. Lovely alphabet box. This is also a Montessori work we have in our schools.

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  7. Congratulations on your 'Alphabet Sorting Box' project! It's a great tool for children who have learned most of the alphabet. Introducing it to your class as a partner or early finisher activity is a wonderful idea. Although you found the box at Neds and it only has 24 boxes instead of 26, other shops might have similar options. Playing games like sigma game is also a great way to keep our minds sharp and problem-solving abilities strong. Best of luck with your project!

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