Valentine Alphabet Game

There are certain letters in the alphabet that are just tricky. They might be tricky to write, like b and d. The sounds of the letters can also be tricky, like w and y. Still other letters, like q and z, are very uncommon and kids may forget their sounds or names. No matter how well you think your child knows letters and sounds, sometimes certain letters just trip them up. That’s what this Valentine alphabet game is all about!

After helping my Kindergartner sound through a word during our writing time, I realized she was still getting hung up on a couple of letter sounds. With Valentine’s Day not too far away, I created a quick Valentine alphabet game to feature some of those tricky letters.

The download can be found at the END of this post. Just click for the teal, oval button.

*This post contains affiliate links.

Valentine Alphabet Game for the Tricky Letters

In the free pack are 6 different picture cards for these four letters: h, w, y, & q(u).

To get the game ready, print the cards onto cardstock {so you can’t see through them from the back}. If you have more than 2 players for the game, it may work best if you print the letter picture cards twice. If you want to print a pattern on the back, that can be found on the end of the download.

How to Play

1. Place all cards in a pile face down.

2. The first player takes the top card, names the image, and tells what letter it starts with. She then keeps her card. You can play that she only keeps it if she names the correct sound, but I like to give players a second chance.

3. Players take turns drawing the top card and identifying the first sound.

4. BUT, if a player draws a Cupid’s arrow card {as seen in the image above}, she must put all her collected cards into a discard pile.

5. When all the cards are gone from the pile, the player with the most cards wins.

One of my favorite things about this game is that there’s quite a bit of “luck” involved. So, players who know their letters and sounds don’t have a distinct advantage over those who need the review. This means that older siblings or even the teacher/parent can lose to a 5 year old. 😉