Looking for some letter Z crafts and activities?
I have 15 engaging activities that will help your child learn about the letter Z! These activities are perfect to use in the classroom, or you can do them right at home! These play-based learning strategies will have your kids hooked on each activity!
Giving your student or child the opportunity to learn one letter at a time will help them remember each letter. By doing these fun activities, your child will create memories of each letter!
Let’s dive into my exciting activities to learn the letter Z!
Activity #1: Letter Collages
Letter crafts are a great way to practice letter recognition! Focusing on one specific letter and creating something special will help them recognize and remember the letter.
For the letter Z craft, we created a zebra! This is such a cute craft and perfect for some cutting and gluing work!
How to do this activity
A. Materials you need
B. Set-up
On white paper, create a bubble letter Z and paste it to a piece of black paper.
Create a zebra face and tail! Draw it on paper and cut it out.
C. Activity
Paint the zebra’s face and tail using acrylic paint. I like to use acrylic paint because it dries faster! Glue the googly eyes on the face.
Your little one can do this part or you can! Cut some strips of black paper and paste them onto the zebra! This is a great way to also talk about measuring with your child too to make sure the stripes fit on the Z.
Paste the head at the top of the Z and the tail at the bottom!
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Activity #2: Do-A-Dot Letter Search
Who doesn’t love mess-free art?! Do-A-Dot paint markers pretty mess-free as long as your little one doesn’t wipe them all over their hand, wishful thinking, right?!
This printable is a perfect way to let you know if your little one can differentiate upper and lower case letters!
How to do this activity
A. Materials you need
- A-Z Letter Do-A-Dot Sheets
- Do-A-Dot markers
A-Z Letter Do-A-Dot Printable
B. Set-up
Print off the pages and get the paint markers ready!
C. Activity
Your little ones with use the paint markers to place specific colored dots on the upper case letter and lower case letters! This is a wonderful way to also work on color-coding skills!
If you don’t have do-a-dot markers, you can use crayons to do this activity as well!
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Activity #3: Secret Letters
Kids love the element of surprise! Who doesn’t? I still do!
Secret letter activities are really engaging for kids because they can’t see the letters on the paper, so when they paint over the piece of paper, they will see letters magically pop up!
How to do this activity
A. Materials you need
B. Set-up
On a white piece of cardstock, use a white crayon to write the letter Z all over the paper. You can do upper and lower case or just focus on one.
C. Activity
Your kiddo will use watercolors to paint all over the paper. They will see the letters start to pop up! If you mixed upper and lower case letters, make sure to ask them which kind they found.
When you are all done, ask them how many they found! Also, you can talk about the colors that they used for color recognition.
RELATED: How to Teach your Toddler Colors
Activity #4: Find and Cover
A great manipulative to use for hands-on learning activities is counting cubes! There are so many ways these can be used.
One of the ways I love to use them is by doing a Find and Cover activity! This is an activity that focuses on one letter at a time. It also focuses on both the upper and lower case letter.
How to do this activity
A. Materials you need
- Find and Cover printable
- counting cubes
Click HERE for your Find had Cover Letter Printables.
B. Set-up
Print off the letter Z and any other letter you want to work on with your little one.
C. Activity
Have your child identify the letter. Then, have them tell you which one is upper case and which one is lower case. Explain to them what a key means. Show them that they are to look at the key to see what color represents the upper and lower case letters.
They should place that colored counting cube on the correct letters!
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Activity #5: Play-Doh Letter Building
Whenever I pull out the Play-Doh, the kids play for it for at least a half-hour. You know, that’s kind of a big deal, right? Most of the time, it’s longer than that, but at least a half-hour!
Since Play-Doh is so engaging for kids, it makes for a wonderful learning activity!
How to do this activity
A. Materials you need
- My Letter Play-Doh mats
- Play-doh
- dry erase folders
Click HERE to grab your Letter Play-Doh Mats! (Upper and Lower case letter included)
B. Set-up
Print off the letters that you want to work on! Then, place them inside a dry-erase folder for your little ones to build on. This way, it won’t get the sheet dirty, and you can save and redo it repeatedly.
C. Activity
Your little ones should roll and create the letters using Play-Doh. You can have them match the colors that are on the sheet, or you can use whatever color you’d like. They should try to create the letter by following the lines!
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Activity #6: Salt Painting
Have you ever tried salt painting? It always turns out SO pretty!
Kids love watching the paint flow throughout the salt. It’s a relaxing way to paint, and the kids will love trying a new way to create art.
How to do this activity
A. Materials you need
- cardboard
- pencil
- glue
- salt
- watercolors
- paintbrush
- art tray
B. Set-up
On your piece of cardboard, draw the letter Z with a pencil. Then, outline the letter in glue. Make sure to place the cardboard on an art tray for the next part! Shake a whole bunch of salt all over the glue, then dump the access in the trash.
*You have to let the glue dry before you start painting, or else it will be REALLY messy!*
C. Activity
Have your little ones use watercolor paints to paint the salt! It looks terrific, too, when you mix different colors throughout the letter.
RELATED: 15 Easy Letter B Activities
Activity #7: Hidden Letter Search
You gotta love free printables! This hidden search-free printable is the perfect way for your little one to work on recognizing the upper and lower case letter Q.
All the letters of the alphabet are included in this freebie pack! So you can practice each of the letters using my sheets.
How to do this activity
A. Materials you need
Click HERE for your FREE Hidden Letters Printables
B. Set-up
Print out my sheet and grab some coloring supplies!
C. Activity
This printable can be used in two different ways.
- You can have the kids find and color the letter on the sheet
- They can color in all the other letters but that letter!
See if they can tell what letter they created when they are finished coloring!
RELATED: FREE Alphabet Printables
Activity #8: Beginning Sounds
Talking about animals or objects that start with the letter will help bring the letter to life for your little one.
These beginning letter worksheets are a perfect way to show your little one some fun things that start with the letter Z!
How to do this activity:
A. Materials you need
- Beginning Sound Letter Sheets
- crayons
Click HERE to grab your Beginning Sound Letter Sheets.
2. Set-up
Print off the worksheet and grab your crayons!
3. Activity
Go through each of the objects or animals inside the letter Z. Say each thing’s name and make each object’s beginning sound before saying the whole word. This will help your little one understand the starting sound of each picture they see.
They will color each thing that starts with the letter Z!
I have beginning sound sheets for each letter of the alphabet! Create a booklet to go over each of the sounds that the letters make. This will make for a great resource to use repeatedly.
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Activity #9: Geoboard Letters
Do you remember using these boards as kids? I remember loving when my teacher pulled them out so we could play and create with them!
Work on creating letters with the geoboard! This is not only a wonderful way to work on letter-building skills, but it’s a great fine motor activity for kids!
How to do this activity
A. Materials you need
- geoboard letter printable
- rubberbands
- geoboards
Click HERE to grab your Geoboard Lower Case Letter Printable.
B. Set-up
Use my geoboard letter worksheets to help your little ones build the letters! Print off the letter Z and any other letter you want to work on.
C. Activity
Your little one will use the rubber bands to build the letter Z. Younger ones can use the worksheets to help guide them on building the letter. Older children can be challenged by trying to do it on their own!
RELATED: Fun Fine Motor Activities for Kids
Activity #10: Zebra Counting Craft
I have another fun zebra craft for you! This one is a little different because it works on counting skills.
I have some FREE zebra circles for you to grab to do this activity at home or in the classroom.
How to do this activity
A. Materials you need
- easel paper
- black cardstock
- glue stick
- scissors
- googly eyes
- black marker
- free zebra circles
Click HERE to grab your FREE Zebra Counting Circles
B. Set-up
Tape a piece of easel paper to the floor. Draw some zebra shapes and print out my zebra circles!
Cut some small strips of black paper for your little one to glue on!
C. Activity
Write numbers that you want to work on in the circles and put them next to the zebras.
Have your little one count out the correct amount of strips to put on the zebra! They should use a glue stick to glue them on!
Such a fun way to craft and work number recognition and counting skills!
RELATED: How to Teach Toddlers Numbers
Activity #11: Writing Tray Activity
Writing trays are a wonderful way for kids to practice handwriting. Handwriting can be a tough skill for kids, this is a tear-free way to show kids that writing can be something fun!
Using sprinkles will get the kid’s attention to try this activity! All of these traceable printables are free too!
How to do this activity
A. Materials you need
- free alphabet traceable
- pencil
- circle tray
- sprinkles
- paintbrush(optional)
Lower Case Letter Tracible Cards
Upper Case Tracible Letter Cards
B. Set-up
Print off what letters you would like to have your little ones practice writing.
If you are setting up a writing tray, dump the sprinkles in the tray and place the letter tracible in the front!
C. Activity
These tracibles have numbers on them to show your child what order they should draw their lines in.
Have them use a pencil to create each letter by following the numbered steps!
If you are using a writing tray, have them attempt to make the letter using their finger or a paintbrush, using the same method of numbered order as they see on the printable!
Writing the letters correctly is important. Following the correct numbered steps is crucial to forming good handwriting habits.
RELATED: Handwriting Activities for Preschoolers
Activity #12: Zig Zag Painting
Z is for zigzag! This is a great way to work on those pre-writing skills and cutting skills.
This is literally the easiest set-up! Lots of great skills to be worked on here and it’s a bunch of fun.
How to do this activity
A. Materials you need
- washable paint
- Q-tips
- kids scissors
- paper
- markers
- paint tray
B. Set-up
On a piece of paper, draw some zig-zag lines using colored markers! Create two pages of this to work on both skills.
Dump paint into a paint tray!
C. Activity
Have the kids use color matching skills to trace the zig-zag lines using Q-tips and paint! They should focus on trying to stay on the lines as much as possible.
For the cutting activity, the kids should use a pair of scissors to try to cut on the lines!
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Activity #13: LEGO Letters
Got a kiddo who loves to use building with blocks? This activity will be right up their alley!
LEGO’s are an open-ended toy that I absolutely love using for learning activities. The possibilities are endless when it comes to using them!
Building letters is just one way that they can be used! This is a wonderful hands-on learning activity that helps kids understand how each letter shape is formed!
How to do this activity
A. Materials you need
- LEGO Letter Building Mats
- LEGO’s
Click HERE for your LEGO Letter Mats
B. Set-up
Print off the sheets and grab your LEGO’s.
C. Activity
Your child will use the blocks to create the letter Z. You can have them use little or DUPLO blocks for this activity. This activity asks them to identify each letter is they create and how many blocks it took for them to create the letter.
If you decide to do more letters than just Z, they can see the letters’ differences!
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Activity #14: Popsicle Stick Letter Building
Building letters with popsicle sticks work on SO many different learning skills.
This specific activity works on letter recognition, counting skills, STEM skills, and pre-writing skills! It’s perfect for school centers or just for home learning!
How to do this activity
A. Materials you need
- popsicle stick letter cards
- popsicle sticks
- pencil
Click HERE for your Popsicle Stick Letter Cards
B. Set-up
Print off the letter cards and grab the popsicle sticks!
C. Activity
Your kids will use the cards to help them know how to create each letter! Count how many popsicle sticks it takes to create the letters.
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Activity #15: Color Coding Letters
Want to try a beginner color-coding activity that’s perfect for preschoolers? I love that it works on several skills with just 1 easy setup as well!
This activity works on color recognition, color matching, number recognition, and letter building! Wow, that’s pretty amazing if you ask me.
How to do this activity
A. Materials you need
- cardboard
- plastic bottle caps
- Sharpie
- dot stickers
- pom poms
- kid-friendly tweezers
B. Set-up
Inside the bottle caps, place a dot sticker with the numbers 1-3 written on them. Older children can have more numbers and colors!
Create the letter Y on the cardboard with the bottle caps in a mixed-up order. Write what each number signifies on the side; you can use a pom too for younger ones. Older kiddos can work on color sight word recognition.
C. Activity
Have your child use the key to place the correct colored pom in each bottle cap to create the letter Z! This works on letter building, color recognition, and number recognition!
Want to add in some fine motor skills? Have them use tweezers to pick up and place the poms inside the caps!
RELATED: FUN Fine Motor Activities for Kids
Final Thoughts and Conclusion
Individual letter activities are a fantastic way for kids to really grasp letter recognition of each letter of the alphabet! Doing some of these activities will help your little ones remember each letter of the alphabet.
To go along with these activities, I suggest reviewing the alphabet letters once a day for at least 5 minutes. That’s it! 5 minutes is all it takes if you consistently go over the information with them; you’re going to see how they can pick up the information if repeated daily.
Do you have a favorite activity that you do in your classroom or at home with your kids for the letter Z? Our community would love to hear about it! We all benefit from sharing our teaching strategies and activities. Leave a comment below to let us know about some ways you like to teach the letter.
Happy Learning!
