Letter of the Week: Preschool Letter I Activities & Ideas
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Welcome to the next installment in our Preschool Letter of the Week series! This week, we’re jumping into Letter I activities full of imagination, inspiration, and interactive learning. With crafts, books, snacks, and a printable pack, your preschoolers will love learning all about this interesting letter.
Whether you’re teaching at home or in a classroom, these ideas are easy to adapt and will add structure and fun to your alphabet curriculum.
What’s in the Preschool Letter I Printable Pack?
Our Preschool Letter I Printable Pack includes 20 engaging pages designed to help your preschooler build confidence in letter recognition, sound association, and fine motor skills.
Inside the printable pack:
- Uppercase and lowercase tracing worksheets
- Letter I mazes, puzzles, and dot-to-dots
- Color-by-letter and dot marker pages
- Letter matching and identification games
- Scissor skills and cutting practice
- Ivy-themed craft template and honeycomb snack mat
Buy the Letter I Pack
Buy the A–Z Letter of the Week Bundle
Try Letter A Free for Subscribers
These printables are ideal for homeschoolers, preschool teachers, or parents looking to add meaningful alphabet activities into their day.
Teaching the Letter I: Sounds and Recognition
The letter I makes two main sounds: the short /i/ as in insect, and the long /i/ as in ice. For preschool, start with the short sound, then introduce the long vowel sound once they’re familiar.
Ways to teach the sound:
- Practice saying /i/ words and stretching the sound
- Create a list of I words as a group activity
- Use sensory bins with items like plastic insects, ice cubes, and iguanas
- Sing songs like “The Itsy Bitsy Spider” to reinforce the sound
Kids love sorting images by sound, so try a simple picture sort of short-I and long-I words for a gentle introduction to phonics.
Letter I Theme Ideas for Preschool
Looking for Letter I theme inspiration? Here are some great words to shape your week:
- Ice cream
- Insect
- Island
- Igloo
- Ivy
- Iguana
- Ice
- Icicle
- Ink
- Invisible
- Invention
- India
- Ice Skate
- Idea
Choose one main theme or rotate through a few each day. Combine these ideas with your favorite crafts, songs, and books to bring learning to life.
Preschool Letter I Craft: I is for Ivy
This tactile craft brings nature and letter learning together!
How to Make It:
- Print out the uppercase I template from the printable pack.
- Cut and color the printable ivy leaves (or print on green paper).
- Use a green pipe cleaner as a climbing vine—poke it through the paper and tape on the back.
- Glue the leaves along the pipe cleaner and around the letter.
Optional: Talk about how ivy grows or go outside and look for plants that climb.
Other Letter I Craft Ideas:
- I is for Ice Cream – use pom-poms for scoops
- I is for Insect – make bugs from paper shapes
- I is for Igloo – build one with mini marshmallows
Preschool Letter I Book List
Explore the letter I with a wide variety of picture books. From ice cream to inventions and insects to iguanas, these stories offer meaningful vocabulary and imaginative journeys.
Inch by Inch by Leo Lionni
The Little Island by Margaret Wise Brown
Inside Outside Upside Down by Stan and Jan Berenstain
What Do You Do With an Idea? by Kobi Yamada
Itsy Bitsy Spider by Iza Trapani
Coppernickel, The Invention by Wouter van Reek
Immi’s Gift by Karin Littlewood
Should I Share My Ice Cream? by Mo Willems
I Wanna Iguana by Karen Kaufman Orloff
The Icky Bug Alphabet Book & Counting Book by Jerry Pallotta
I Can Read With My Eyes Shut by Dr. Seuss
Angelina Ice Skates by Katherine Holabird
Inchworm and a Half by Elinor J. Pinczes
Imogene’s Antlers by David Small
The Invisible String by Patrice Karst
The Invisible Boy by Trudy Ludwig
I Spy books by Jean Marcello
North American Indians by Douglas Gorsline
I is for India by Prodeepta Das
Small Wonders: Jean-Henri Fabre and His World of Insects by Matthew Clark Smith
If you like I Spy activities, I have a set of I-Spy Pictures that would go great with this theme!
Preschool Letter I Snack: I is for Ice Pop
We made a refreshing, natural lemon ice pop as our Letter I snack—and it was a huge hit!
Lemon Ice Pop Recipe:
- 2 cups water
- 1 1/2 cups lemon juice
- 1/2 cup honey or agave syrup
- 1/3 cup coconut milk
- Optional: lemon zest
Blend all ingredients, pour into molds or reusable ice pop bags, and freeze. These are delicious, hydrating, and easy to prep ahead.
Other Letter I snack ideas:
- Ice cream cones
- Iced oatmeal cookies
- Iced drinks
- Instant oatmeal
- Insect-shaped fruit kabobs (make bugs with grapes and raisins!)
Letter I Week Highlights
Letter I week was full of imagination and surprises! The I is for Ivy craft was a great sensory project that also sparked conversations about nature. My kids loved using real leaves and exploring how vines grow.
The ice pop snack was perfect for a warm day and made them excited to talk about words that start with the letter I. One of our favorite stories this week was Should I Share My Ice Cream?—it opened up a conversation about kindness and decision-making.
We also added a fun twist with a homemade ice melting science experiment, using salt and water on frozen blocks to uncover small plastic insects inside—definitely a favorite extension activity!
Letter I is such a flexible and fun letter to teach. There’s a perfect balance of learning, literacy, science, and sensory play.
See all of my Letter of the Week Posts!
Letter A, Letter B , Letter C, Letter D, Letter E, Letter F , Letter G, Letter H
Interested in downloading this preschool letter I activity pack? It is available in my shop individually and as part of my Letter of the Week Bundles. Try one out first- Letter A is always free!
