Apple & Caterpillar Letter Matching Activity and Printable

Apple and Caterpillar Letter Matching Activity

My secret to getting kids interested in a learning activity?

Create a fun context around it! Say hi to our cute popsicle stick 'caterpillars'. They are looking for apples with matching letters and they are going to munch holes in them. Now that's how we do letter matching here!

Preparing the activity

Print out this printable.

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Write the 26 letters on 26 popsicle stick caterpillars.

Cut a slit (that's big enough for the popsicle stick to go through) in the center of each apple.

Invite your child to help the 'caterpillars' find their apples and inserts the popsicle sticks through the apples.

What ages is this activity for?

2 to 3 years old can do the simple letter matching, either all uppercase or all lowercase letters at one time. TIP: For the young toddlers, do only 5 to 8 letters each time. Doing all 26 letters at the same time will be overwhelming for the toddlers who are just learning letters and have shorter attention span.

3 to 4 years old who have mastered their uppercase and lowercase letters can match uppercase to lowercase letters.

4 years old to 5 years old can use this activity to review their beginning sounds. Adult call out the sound of a letter and the child finds the apple and the popsicle stick caterpillar with the letter.

Blank apples are included in this set of printable too and you can use them for sight words matching or number matchings!

2 in 1: Fine motor + letter matching activity for children

It was a good fine motor challenge for my children as they try to push the popsicle sticks through the apples. Children will love this hands on way to do letter matching!

This activity will be great for an autumn theme, fruits theme or back to school theme. Check out more fun learning ideas here!