We love to play this “Mystery Can” game when we are reviewing letters in our classroom. The kids think it is so fun and exciting to reach into the can and find the mystery letter! Using a different kind of manipulative to mark the letter chart each time you play will keep the game interesting and exciting even if you’ve played it over and over again. You can also easily differentiate this game to varying levels depending on what your child needs to practice that day. Be sure to grab the free downloadable letter chart and label for your own “Mystery Can.” We hope you have as much fun with this game as we do!

You will need:

A #10 can or other large container
Plastic letters (here is a set on Amazon that we love)
Any kind of small toy or manipulative (but you can find the bugs here)
Uppercase letter chart (free download below!)

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Instructions:

Print the uppercase letter chart free download.
Put your letters into your container. The free download includes the “Mystery Can” label if you’d like to use it!
Have your child pull out a letter and find it on the chart. They can mark it with their bugs or whatever marker you are using. You can even just have them color the letter in with crayons if you’d like!
Have your child practice finding the letter and saying the letter name and sound. To make it easier, just focus on a few letters at a time. To make it harder, have your child think of a word that starts with the letter they found in the mystery can after they mark in on the chart.