Online Alphabet Games
My son learned his alphabet from Fisher-Price's website. And, no, I am not kidding. When he was about a year old, we let him try out the "ABC Zoo" game at Fisher-Price.com. I wanted something basic, where he'd press a key and something would happen. Something did happen. He loved it so much that in no time at all, he was able to identify capital letters, and usually name an animal that began with that letter. Not only that, but he could point out a polar bear, vulture, dolphin and more. Just for the record, he was only allowed to play the game for 10-15 minutes a day. Oh, and if you do introduce this game to your kids, choose the toddler version. It plays an animal that corresponds to the letter pressed. The infant version simply does the letters in order. By 9 or 10 months, most kids understand basic cause and effect, so there's no reason not to reinforce a more advanced version of this concept (i.e., if I want to see a certain animal, I have to press a certain key).
Once kids have become more comfortable using the mouse, they might move on to the SuperWhy! website on PBS Kids. The show focuses heavily on letter recognition, spelling and reading. My recommendation is for Alpha Pig's Alpha Bricks game. Go to the game area and scroll down until you see it. Alpha Pig will ask you to click on a certain letter to help him rebuild a wall. There are three difficulty levels to this game. It's simple and straightforward, and there are a number of other fun games on the site as well.
The last site is a bit more conceptual, so it's better for slightly older kids. Bembo's Zoo is based on a book of the same name by de Vicq de Cumptich. Click on any letter in the flash-driven site and it spells out the name of an animal. Then, as you watch, the letters tumble and turn and reform in the shape of the animal they spell. It's fascinating to watch. It might also translate into a fun art activity as well.
*Please remember that children should not be surfing the Internet on their own. While these three sites are designed to be family friendly, they may contain outside links that have not been approved for children.
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