Beyond the ABC Song: Building Intentional, Play-Based Early Literacy

📌 Affiliate Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. This means I may earn a commission if you make a purchase through my links, at no extra cost to you.

Introduction

A perfect example of intentional, play-based literacy: making learning fun by arranging (and eating!) letter cookies.

The ABC’s are practiced early and often by many parents, but how do we go from ABC’s to helping our children read? Rote memorization can be a tool in literacy, but it isn’t the only tool you need to build a reader. I noticed Rose has a strong memory and is a visual learner, and I used that to teach letter recognition first. But traditional ABC learning doesn’t bridge the letters to their real-world meaning and power. Her success with letter recognition has been fantastic; I’ve combined it with rich, constant oral language. This foundation has helped to elevate her literacy journey with connection and meaning.    

Here I will show some of my approaches to literacy, through Intentional, Play-Based Literacy that I’ve used with Rose, to help your learners at home. 

The Essential First Step: Narrating the World (The Power of Words)

Power of Words

From early on, language is a powerful tool for children. As infants, we think about singing to them, repeating sounds, or narrating what they or you are doing. This not only helps to build strong bonds between caregiver and child, it helps provide a strong foundation for language. For toddlers we build upon those same skills, teaching and singing simple songs, repeating or expanding upon their language and again talking about what they’re doing and what you’re doing. Your language can be simple, “I see the ball” or it can be more complex “You found the red ball under the chair.” Or a child points at a truck and says “tru-tru” you can say “You see a truck!” Find what works for you and your learner. Any opportunity to help them to build language and vocabulary through natural play moments helps them build meaningful connections. 

Focusing on Language

I’ve been primed as an educator to use language often in our classrooms. I used the same approach throughout Rose’s development. Finding as many opportunities to use language, whether at home, at the park, during walks: I shared what was happening around her, and involving her. I made a point to buy a stroller where she could face me as we walk so she could have opportunities to interact with me, watch my face and mouth; and where I could help her make connections to the world around her. These types of exchanges don’t have to be one-way. Make sure to involve them as much as you can, and after some time, you’ll notice that these chats become more conversational, and more rewarding for the both of you.

The Payoff

Focusing on language often has really helped to build a strong foundation for literacy. With this she has noticed that words have power, and now making a connection to meaning. Seeing language in the real world, on buildings, signs, doors, at home; Rose showed that she was ready to move to the next stage. For our family that meant the symbols, or letters as a teaching tool in her literacy growth.

Leveraging Strengths: Letters as Visual Symbols

Our Non-Traditional Start

Rose is a strong visual learner. That is something I observed early and often in her play and learning. She has a strong memory as well. So for us it made sense to start with learning the visual ABCs. She showed engagement in it and I made a simple learning plan to support. I kept our ‘lessons’ short, about five minutes. Enough to get her engaged, without overwhelming her. Using one letter a week, I used a coloring sheet and the accompanying puzzle from this set. I found the letters to be most meaningful to her; her name, R, O, S, and E. Then M for mama, d for dada. I tapped into AI to help me develop a list to follow and we quickly made it through all 26 letters, moving to two letters a week. 

The Caveat

But letter recognition isn’t reading. It’s a tool for engagement, and the connection to sound must be built. That’s why newer methods of reading focus on phonics first, then a connection to letters. As I mentioned, I did what was best for my learner, but it was time to introduce the critical auditory skills, the ability to hear and manipulate the sounds within words, to make the connection stick. 

Connecting Letters to Life

The first time she stopped to read letters to me in the real world, my heart burst! I was so proud of my little learner. She was able to make the connection. I also found her attempting to understand the meaning of letters, O is for orange, or Owl. She became more confident, and made more attempts to find as many as she could. I found this an easy game to implement anywhere. 

The Research-Based Path: Phonological Awareness at the Bridge

The Missing Link

After we flew through the letters, she gained more confidence after each lesson, and through more real-world practice, it was time to find more auditory games. Understanding that words are made up of individual parts, syllable and rhyming games are a great way to practice. This is the more phonological approach to literacy, where many choose to start, and shows better predictors of reading success. 

Practical Play Examples 

Clapping out syllables is a great, easy game for children. This is usually my first recommendation. Then finding rhymes. Rhymes are fun because they can be real or made up words. Kids love to try to discover new, silly words, along with real words they may or may not know. 

External Reinforcement

I also decided to invest in the Lovevery Reading Skills Pat 1: Sounds to Reading. “For children who show interest in books, notice letters around them, can properly hold a book, and understand reading from left-right and top-bottom.” I thought, “that sounds like Rose!”, and it gives me specific, guided, researched backed materials to support her continued literacy efforts. Once I got the box I was glad to see I was on the right track. The materials just provide an extra layer of engagement and help to keep us both motivated. Again they’re structured to be introduced bit by bit, and with repeated use, the child can begin to master the objectives. I can still take the simple auditory games that I know with me on the go, while we are walking to gymnastics class, or waiting in line at the grocery store; and pair them with the more visual and concrete games of Lovevery to provide multiple layers of learning for Rose. 

Bridge to reading, practicing phonological awareness through hands-on games.

Investing in the Lovevery Reading Kit provided us with research-baked structured play.

Integrating Sound: Phonics and the “ABC Sound Song”

Phonics Re-introduced

We are now working on phonics, and it has been very rewarding to watch her confidence soar. After working hard with visual letter recognition (Section III) and sound awareness (Section IV), did it all come together. I make sure to find time throughout the week, no more than five minutes at a time to review all of the skills we’ve developed over the last few months. 

The joy of making a connection!

Genuine reaction from Rose putting two word parts together.

The Tool

I paired our visual learning next with a fun phonics song I happened to stumble upon. It was catchy enough, and I found Rose practicing the song on her own. It links the letter with the sound: A is apple /ah/ /ah/ apple /ah/ /ah/ apple, A apple, and so on. It takes the most common sound of the letter, and uses accessible vocabulary for children to help bridge that sound-to-symbol connection.    

This simple, repetitive song was the perfect tool to transition from sound awareness into true phonics. It helped Rose confidently connect the letter she saw to the sound she was learning to hear.

Synthesis

This final phase is where all the efforts synthesize: the years of rich oral language, the early fun of visual letter recognition, and the critical work of phonological games all clicked into functional reading practice.

Conclusion 

Summary

Our journey to literacy was layered: We built a deep foundation of Oral Language, leveraged Rose's strengths with Visual Letters, introduced the essential Phonological Awareness skills (rhymes/syllables) as a bridge, and finally integrated Phonics to bring it all home. We may have started with letters, but the foundation of language made the eventual, necessary work of phonics easy and effective.

Final Thought

Meet your child where they are, whether they are visual, auditory, or kinesthetic; but always prioritize rich, intentional conversation. That is the non-negotiable base layer that makes every other step of the literacy process rewarding.

I'm so excited to announce the launch of my new Shop My Resources page! As your favorite educator turned SAHM, I've curated a collection of trusted items—from toys and travel gear to home and hair products—all available through my Amazon links. You can find all the items I use and trust for my family, check it out soon!

What phonological games are you most excited to try with your learner first?

📌 Affiliate Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. This means I may earn a commission if you make a purchase through my links, at no extra cost to you.