Appropriate grades or age groups:
Preschool and Younger
Elementary School

Estimated time to complete activity or implement technique:
10-15 minutes

Materials needed (if applicable):
pipecleaners (and maybe a sample alphabet with captial and lower case letters)

Activity set-up/instructions or description of technique:
Give your child a bunch of pipecleaners (in various colors) and encourage them to make various letters of the alphabet with them (maybe even short words too).

Other suggestions or comments:
As they make each letter, ask them to identify its name AND its sound. If they are making short words, try to get them to do rhyming words...changing "cat" to "bat" for example.