FREE list: 200+ Materials for Preschool Letter Activities and Collages

Letter activities like alphabet collages (and letter mats) are a simple way to help kids build letter recognition and reinforce letter-sound connections, all while getting real fine motor practice at the same time.

Below you’ll find over 200 material ideas for alphabet collages, letter crafts, and letter mats. There’s one for almost every letter of the alphabet. Grab the free ABC materials reference list near the bottom so you always have it on hand.

Updated for 2026 with fresh material ideas for some of the trickier letters (looking at you, Q, U, X, and Y).

Letter Crafts

Craft-making sparks debate in early childhood circles. Some educators lean fully into process art, others skip crafts altogether. Here’s where it lands for these activities: they build real fine motor skills and teach kids to follow step-by-step directions, while still leaving room for self-expression. That combination is what makes them worth the prep time.

What Makes a Craft Actually Worth the Prep Time

Not every craft is created equal. The ones worth prepping give kids real hands-on work, get them thinking (not just gluing), and feel fun enough that they actually want to do it. That’s the difference between a craft kids forget by lunchtime and a skill-rich craft.

Alphabet collages check all three boxes:

Alphabet Collage

Alphabet collage does more than fill time. It helps kids work on:

• letter recognition
• proper letter formation (writing letters)
• letter-sound associations

It’s also a great sensory and tactile fine motor experience. Below, you’ll find a big list of material ideas for creating a collage or craft for every letter of the alphabet. Plus a printable reference list you can grab and keep on hand.

Fine Motor Activities

Don’t want to do a full craft project? Skip the glue. Many of the same materials listed below work just as well for fine motor activities. Kids simply place them onto a printable letter to practice:

• letter recognition
• letter formation
• letter-sound associations

A Note About Letter of the Week Activities

Letter of the Week is another topic with plenty of opinions in the early childhood world. If it’s part of your classroom routine, this material list gives you ready-to-use ideas for every letter. If it’s not, the same list still works great for introducing letters and revisiting them throughout the year.

How to Make a Letter Page

To create a collage or letter mat, you will first need to make a letter page or a page with big bubble letters on it. There are several ways to prepare your letter pages.   Draw a large letter on a piece of construction paper or card stock. Make a pattern with a piece of cardboard or cardstock.  Then, trace the letter onto pieces of paper. You can also use printable bubble letters (I used editable ABC Collage Pages from my store for many of the pictures here).

Now, you can create a collage by gluing some of the materials listed below to the page. This is the fun part!  If you want to make a letter mat that can be used over and over again, just laminate the pages.  Then, kids can then place some of the items listed below inside the shape of the letter on each mat instead of gluing.

Letter Project Material Ideas List

You can use just generic materials to fill in the bubble letters, but sometimes it’s fun to use a material that starts with the same letter as the on the page.  This is where it gets tricky.  I know that you are super busy and you can’t always think of things to use.  So I have helped you out.

Here are a BUNCH of material ideas for every letter of the alphabet.  Look at all these ideas for letter activities!

Some of the ideas work well for craft projects, while others work better for a letter fine motor activity.  Scroll down to the bottom of the page to get a printable list that you can always have on hand for reference.

Have fun and be creative!

Letter A Alphabet Activity Material Ideas

Try out some of these materials to create Letter A crafts or collages:

• apple stickers
• animal stickers
• small animals
• ant stickers
• plastic ants
• toy ambulance
• use the letter A as an air
  plane runway for a toy airplane
• animal crackers
• avocado colored paint

Letter B Alphabet Activity Material Ideas

With all these ideas, it should be pretty easy to find items to create a fun Letter B craft collage.

• blue paper strips/collage items
• blue sticker dots, balloon stickers
• artificial berries
• beads, buttons
• dried beans
• band-aids,
• small blocks
• balloon painting
• counting bears
• bows
• bubble paint
• strips of bubble wrap
• butterfly, bug, or bee stickers
• plastic butterflies, bees, or bugs
• blue torn paper
• bubble painting

Letter C Activities Material Ideas

Here are some materials that you can use to create a letter C craft page.

• car stickers or stamps
• crayons
• torn cardboard scraps
• candy
• coins
• cookies or crackers
• small cars
• candles
• cubes
• corn kernels
• print with an ear of small corn on the cob
• cotton (or clouds)
• confetti

Letter D Materials for Alphabet Activities

I think that your kids will have fun with some of these Letter D craft materials.

• dot markers or dot stickers
• dinosaur counters or stickers
• dominoes
• dice
• plastic ducks
• small plastic dinosaurs or dragons
• dog stickers
• dog treats
• donut holes
• dandelions or daisies
• daisies
• strips of denim
• dirt

Letter E Material Ideas for Alphabet Activities

Looking for ideas for letter E crafts or activities? check these out:

• smashed eggshells
• Easter egg stickers
• erasers
• small plaster eggs
• googly eyes
• print with half a plastic Easter egg
• Elmo stickers
• elephant stickers or stamps
• emoji stickers or erasers

Letter F Activity Material Ideas

Are you ready to make a letter F craft? Try these materials.

• feathers
• dried or silk flowers
• fingerprints
• fish stickers
• flag stickers
• small flags
• fruit loops
• plastic frogs
• plastic fish
• photos of friends or family
• foam
• strips of foil
• fur
• fluffy, fuzzy or just plain fabric

Letter G Activities Material Ideas

From glitter to grass clippings, there are lots of materials that you can use for letter G crafts and activities.

• use glitter pens
• glitter or glitter paper strips
• green collage items
• goldfish crackers
• Easter grass
• grass clippings
• drips or drops of glue
• plastic grapes
• pieces of gum
• golf tees
• game pieces

Letter H Materials

I’m happy to provide a few ideas for letter H crafts and activities.

• smiley face stickers (happy)
• heart stamps or stickers
• hair (use doll hair from the craft store)
• Monopoly houses
• small plastic horses
• horse stickers
• holes (make holes with a hole punch)

Letter I Activities with these Materials

It may be a bit more difficult to think of ideas for letter I crafts and activities. Check these out:

• insect counters, stickers or stamps
• ice cream stickers
• ink
• plastic ice cubes
• ivy
• broken ice cream cones
• plastic icicle ornaments
• paint with ice

Letter J Activity Materials

Looking for ideas for letter J crafts and collages? Try out some of these fun materials.

• jingle bells
• jellybeans
• jewels or jewelry
• jack-o-lantern stickers or erasers
• junk food wrappers
• jigsaw puzzle pieces
• jeans (denim fabric scraps)
• jungle plants
• jacks
• pieces of jump rope

Letter K Activity Materials

From keys to kisses, here are a few materials that you can use for letter K crafts and activities.

• keys
• key prints
• kite stickers
• kale
• kangaroo, kitten, or koala stickers/stamps
• Hershey’s kisses
• lip-print stickers (kisses)
• small king playing cards
• kettle corn

Letter L Activity Materials

Letter L crafts and activities will be fun with these materials:

• letter stickers
• legos, lace
• ladybug stamps/stickers
• leaves (real or silk)
• lentils
• lids
• lollipops
• plastic lemons
• lemon prints
• Christmas lights

Letter M Activity Material Ideas

There are LOTS of materials that you can use for letter M crafts. Check these out:

• dried macaroni
• marshmallows
• play money
• stick-on mustaches
• markers
• plastic mice
• marble painting
• m&m’s
• monkeys (from a barrel full of monkeys game)
• mud or mulch
• magnets

Letter N Activity Material Ideas

Make letter N crafts with ease with these materials:

• strips of newspaper
• noodles
• nest materials
• number stickers
• nose pictures
• nuts (….as in nuts and bolts)

Letter O Activity Material Ideas

Oh my goodness! Here are some great materials that you can use for letter O crafts and activities.

• orange paper/collage elements
• ovals (print with a squished paper towel roll)
• owl stickers/stamps
• ocean stickers or small plastic ocean creatures
• oatmeal
• mini Oreos
• ocean animals
• cheerios
• stamp or paint with sliced okra

Material Ideas for Letter P Activities

I have lots of letter P craft ideas for you!

• popcorn
• purple paper or collage elements
• puzzle pieces
• paper clips
• post-it notes
• pennies
• pom-poms
• Pez candies
• paw print stickers/stamps
• pencil
• paint
• torn paper
• photos of pets
• foam peanuts
• pasta
• pieces of plastic

Material Ideas for Letter Q Activities

Q is not the easiest letter, is it? Here are a few materials that you can use for your letter Q craft and activities.

• squares of patterned fabric to look like a quilt
• q-tips
• quarters
• question mark stamps
• quinoa (dried, for texture)
• queen playing cards
• quartz or crystal gem stones

Letter R Activity Materials

I have lots of ideas for letter R crafts for you.

• red paper or collage elements
• rainbow stickers
• rose petals
• rough textures (sandpaper)
• rocks
• ribbons
• rice
• rainbow rice
• rubber bands
• ribbon strips
• toy rings
• rhinestones

Letter S Activity Materials

Here are some letter S craft material ideas.

• snow (cotton balls, white puffballs, or fake snow used for Christmas village displays)
• white playdough
• snowflake stickers
• white glitter (snow)
• smiley face stickers
• spaghetti noodles
• stamps
• sand
• stars
• sequins
• strips of string
• drinking straws
• straw
• streamers
• sticks
• seeds
• soil

Material Ideas for Letter T Alphabet Activities

You can make some fun letter T crafts with these supplies:

• toilet paper
• strips of tape
• triangles
• train stickers/stamps
• toothpicks, tissue paper
• tickets
• turtle stickers
• plastic turtles
• small toy tractors

Letter U Materials

I struggled to think of letter U craft ideas. Here are a few ideas. Can you think of any more?

• letter u stamps or stickers
• drink umbrellas,
• arrow stickers or stamps (up)
• USA flag stickers

Material Ideas for Letter V Activities

From violets to vines, these materials will help you make some fun letter V crafts.

• violet paper or collage elements
• artificial violet flowers
• vegetable stickers
• vegetable pictures from a seed catalog
• print with vegetables
• Valentine stickers
• vines

Material Ideas for the Letter W

Do you need letter W craft ideas? Look no further!

• watermelon stickers
• wheel prints
• plastic worms
• wagon wheel pasta
• watercolor paint
• water drops (on a laminated letter)
• strips of washi tape

Letter X Activity Material Ideas

Finding materials for letter X crafts is a little challenging. Change the text to “fox (or box, or six) ends with the letter x” to expand possibilities and focus on the sound at the end of words. Here are some ideas for you:

• letter X stamp
• x-ray strips (I printed the x-rays from my Doctor Dramatic Play set)
• number six stamps (great for reinforcing the ending X sound)
• fox stickers or mini erasers (great for reinforcing the ending X sound)
• small box cutouts (great for reinforcing the ending X sound)

Letter Y Materials

Do you need some ideas for letter Y crafts and activities? Here are a few:

• yarn
• yellow paper or collage elements
• yin-yang stickers

Letter Z Materials

Last, but not least, I have some ideas for letter Z crafts for you.

• zig zags (cut small strips of zigzag paper using pinking scissors)
• zoo animals, zippers
• attach a zipper to a block to make a zipper print or stamp
• small zoo animals or zoo animal stickers
• zebra stamps or stickers

Get a Printable Materials List

Would you like a printable version of this list so that you will have it on hand when planning your letter activities? Fill out the form below, and I’ll send the list directly to your mailbox.

Additional Ideas

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• Print a bunch of pictures of the kids in your class or pictures of your friends/family.  Kids can then paste the photos on letter pages.
• Bind all the pages together into a family book or class book.
• Make a book about a specific letter.  Use a different material for each page.
• Create a name book featuring the letter in each child’s name.

FAQ: Alphabet Collage & Letter Craft Materials

What materials work best for an alphabet collage?

Almost anything small and easy for little hands to hold works well – pom-poms, stickers, torn paper, buttons, and dried pasta are all go-tos. The best materials are ones that match the letter sound (like acorns for A or buttons for B), since that reinforces letter-sound connections while kids create.

How do I make a reusable letter mat instead of a one-time craft?

Laminate your letter page instead of gluing materials down permanently. Kids can then place loose parts inside the letter shape, dump them out, and use the mat again and again. The printables are perfect for a fine motor center that gets used all year.

Do I need a letter of the week to use these ideas?

No. These materials work whether you’re doing a formal letter of the week, revisiting letters throughout the year, or just need a quick fine motor activity for one specific letter.

Can I use these ideas for fine motor practice instead of a craft?

Yes – that’s actually one of the best parts. Skip the glue and let kids place, sort, or press the materials into the letter shape instead. Your kids will get the same letter recognition and fine motor benefits, less mess, no drying time.

What if I can’t find a material that starts with a specific letter?

That’s normal – some letters (like Q, X, and U) are just harder. It’s fine to use generic collage materials (pom-poms, torn paper, stickers) for tricky letters instead of forcing a themed one that doesn’t quite work. You can also use the large letter as a coloring page.

Can I turn these into a class book instead of individual pages?

Yes – bind the finished letter pages together for a class alphabet book, or focus on one letter at a time to build a book around a single letter of the week.

Purchase The ABC Collage Sheet Printables

The editable printable ABC Collage Sheets shown in many of the pictures above can be purchased at my store.  Use the sheets to create a custom alphabet book or use the pages individually.  Click on the image below to purchase the resource.

Do you prefer to shop at Teachers Pay Teachers? You can also purchase the Alphabet Collage Sheets in my TPT Store.

I hope that you have fun using alphabet pages for letter activities.  Do you have additional material ideas that can be added to the list?  Please let me know.

Additional Alphabet Ideas and Activities

Looking for additional ideas for teaching letters and sounds to your kids? Check out these posts for Early Learning Ideas.