Free alphabet printables: A to Z colouring in sheets

How can colouring help my child's development?

Holding a pen or pencil with a pincer grip and trying (emphasis on trying!) to stay within the lines hones the small, fine-motor muscles of the hand and wrist, and helps to get your child's eyes, brain and hand working together in increasingly coordinated way.

Colouring is also great for training your child to focus – something they’ll need to be able to do, at least for short amounts of time, at primary school.

Best of all, it’s a nice, old-fashioned, take-it-slow activity, where you can sit with your child, join in the mark making and chat away.

Why are alphabet pages a good learning activity?

Being able to recognise the letters of the alphabet and differentiate between them is one of the very first stages of learning to read and write. Using alphabet sheets like these for a colouring-in activity is a gentle way to kick off – or reinforce – letter recognition and get your child used to the curves and lines each letter makes.

On our sheets, we’ve included a picture of an object that starts with that letter (a is for apple etc), so, as you chat together about the picture your child is colouring, you can start to introduce your child to the sound each letter makes and the idea that letters are associated with sounds that make words.

Here are our alphabet colouring sheet printables to download for free

Alphabet colouring sheet for preschooler with apple on

Helen is author of the classic advice book Parenting for Dummies and a mum of 3. Before joining MadeForMums, she was Head of Community at Mumsnet and also the Consumer Editor of Mother & Baby.

How can colouring help my child's development?

Why are alphabet pages a good learning activity?

Here are our alphabet colouring sheet printables to download for free

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