Early Years Activities for the Letter Ii

Hands-on Letter Ii Activities Students Will Enjoy

Oct 27, 2009

Igloo, ice cream and iguana all begin with the Letter Ii. Here are hands-on phonological awareness activities to teach students about the letter Ii.

Teaching students about the letter I can be fun with these hands-on lesson activities. There are many activities to help teach students about this very special vowel.

When teaching letter I, make sure to only teach the short sound of this vowel letter. But discuss with the students that letters often have other sounds and this letter has two sounds.

Letter I Items from Home

Here are some suggestions for letter I items for Monday morning's class chart activity. Some ideas are: an igloo, iguana, inchworm, I pod, infant, insect, instrument, package of instant soup, box of instant mashed potatoes, picture of an iceberg and an invitation.

Teachers can speak with the school’s music teacher about allowing instruments to stay in the class for the week. This would be a good opportunity for children to see and hear the different instruments.

Letter I Activities

Class Chart: As a group, discuss all the items brought in to the class and print the words on chart paper. Beside each word, draw a picture beside the word and post on the wall.

Iguana Uppercase Letter Activity: Print an uppercase I on a cut out of an iguana. Ask student to glue beans on the outline of the letter. Ask student for an example of a letter I word. Print word on the iguana.

Igloo Lowercase Letter Activity: Print a lowercase i on a cut out of an igloo. Ask student to glue beans or squares on the outline of the letter. Ask student for another example of a letter i word. Print word on the igloo.

Hawaii Day: Plan a day when the class goes to the Island of Hawaii. Discuss what he or she will take to a warm island for a vacation. Make hula skirts, learn a hula dance, try reading on the beach or make a volcano to show students how an Island is formed.

Igloo Art: Provide students with an igloo drawn on blue construction paper. Ask students to glue on miniature marshmallows on the igloo.

Invitation Activity: As a large group, discuss why and who would receive invitations. Talk about the types of get togethers that would require an invitation. Have each student make an invitation for someone inviting this person to a party. An example could be inviting a grandparent for a movie night or a friend over for a play date.

Letter Ii Songs and Poems: Print songs and poems on large chart paper and review during circle time.

Painting Letter I Activity: Print an uppercase letter I on a piece of white paper. Have student copy letter with oil pastel. Paint over the letter with the colour indigo. Allow picture to dry then glue the letter I on a large piece of purple construction paper.

Ice Cream Activity: Brainstorm flavours of ice cream. Ask each student to think for a moment of his or hers favourite flavour of ice cream. Create a graph on chart paper title “My Favourite Flavour of Ice Cream”. Ask each student to place his or her name tag above the flavour his or she likes the most.

Taste-Test Letter I Foods: Here are some ideas of foods to taste test: ice cream, crushed ice, Irish stew, iced tea, icing, instant mashed potatoes, iceberg lettuce, Irish soda bread, Italian food or Indian food.

Planning a special Hawaii Day or taste testing Irish stew are both fun ways to teach about the letter I. These simple activities are easy to plan and will keep the students excited for the next week of activities.

Anselmo, Sandra; Rollins, Pamela; and Schuckman Rita. R is for Rainbow: Developing Young Children's Thinking Skills Through the Alphabet, USA: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Inc. 1986.

The copyright of the article Early Years Activities for the Letter Ii in Preschool is owned by Jackie Parsons. Permission to republish Early Years Activities for the Letter Ii in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.