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Alphabet Kaboom! (a simply brilliant preschool game)

August 22, 2016 by Meg 25 Comments

This “Kaboom!” preschool alphabet game is so simple, costs almost nothing to make, and it can be adapted to learn practically anything. 

This "Kaboom!" preschool alphabet game is so simple, costs almost nothing to make, and it can be adapted to learn practically anything.

Note: This post contains affiliate links to products that I have used and loved. See my disclosure to learn more.

Summer is winding down, and while my kids (4 & 2) are too young to be heading back to school full time, we are gearing up for mommy school. We got super lazy over the summer and our school routine got a little lost in the midst of all the morning walks to the park, afternoon trips to splash pads, and play dates with friends. I’m okay with that because I think play is an important form of learning for little ones, but I’m looking forward to getting things running a little more predictably again. I really like predictable. 🙂

As I was reorganizing my preschool stuff last week, I found one of my favorite preschool alphabet games that somehow got buried in a drawer for a few months. I pulled it out to play with Little Man, and he quickly exclaimed, “Mom, I LOVE this game!”

This "Kaboom!" preschool alphabet game is so simple, costs almost nothing to make, and it can be adapted to learn practically anything.

The game is called KABOOM! It’s so simple, costs almost nothing to make, and it can be adapted to learn practically ANYTHING. I first came across it last fall on a teacher’s blog. Her version of the game was geared toward older kids, but I knew it would be perfect for helping Little Man practice his letter identification and letter sounds.

Little Man loves it, and we have played it over and over again. That’s a winner of an activity to me. So I’m sharing it with you today, so you can win mom-of-the-year too! (Or something like that…)

Alphabet Kaboom!

Materials Needed:

  • popsicle sticks/craft sticks (they’re easy to find on Amazon or at the dollar store)
  • fine point permanent marker
  • container to hold the popsicle sticks (small bucket, cup, empty Parmesan cheese bottle, etc.)

Set Up:

  1. Write each of the 26 letters of the alphabet on a different popsicle stick.
  2. Write the word “Kaboom!” on 6 additional popsicle sticks.
  3. Put all the popsicle sticks in a container, with the letters pointing down into the bucket so you can’t see them.

How to Play:

  1. Players take turns picking a popsicle stick out of the bucket and reading the letter on it. (Sometimes we’ll also add in the challenge of saying the sound the letter makes or a word that starts with the letter.)
  2. Each player collects as many popsicle sticks as possible before drawing a “Kaboom!” stick.
  3. If a player draws a “Kaboom!” stick, he or she returns all his/her sticks to the bucket.
  4. The winner is the player with the most sticks when time runs out (you can set a timer for as long or short as you want).

Variations:

The possibilities are endless with this game. We have only used it for practicing the alphabet, but as Little Man gets older I’m excited to try other variations:

  • sight words
  • rhyming words (what rhymes with…?)
  • syllables (how many syllables are in…?)
  • basic math facts
  • telling time
  • adding money

Are you ready to Kaboom!?

This "Kaboom!" preschool alphabet game is so simple, costs almost nothing to make, and it can be adapted to learn practically anything.

Want more fun ways to teach kids the alphabet? Try these…

  • Free printable alphabet flashcards (upper and lowercase)
  • 23 unconventional (and fun!) ways to learn with alphabet flashcards
  • Pirate treasure hunt alphabet learning game
  • 12 awesome alphabet books to start the school year right

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Filed Under: Crafts & Activities Tagged With: Activities, Alphabet, games, Learning, Preschool

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Comments

  1. Tracey

    August 20, 2020 at 6:14 pm

    Sounds wonderful and if you chose to go for the sound the letter makes as a first choice as opposed to a variation your child will benefit exponentially. If you draw a c (sound) and said c for cat it would take your Little Man so much closer to reading than saying the letter name c and having to come up with a word that begins with that letter. Small incremental steps make learning more joyful. Little Man knows the sound because he hears it already. Learning letter names is like taking a detour. Just a suggestion. If you chose to go that route magical things could happen.

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