Big J and little j both end in a hook, and that hook is what makes them tricky. Big J has a bar on top and a hook at the bottom, so it can look a lot like a T or an I. Little j has a dot on top and a hook at the bottom, so it is easy to mix up with an i, a g or a y. Then there is the J sound at the start of “jaguar” and “juice.” That is a lot for a preschooler to sort out, and the Letter J Game turns all of it into a retro space adventure.
Meet Lexy and her little pixel jet! The Letter J Game looks like an old-school 8-bit video game. Kids fly the jet through outer space, over Funzyland and into the jungle, tap a target, and the jet zooms into line and fires a colorful pixel blast. The right answer is caught in a sparkly ring and zooms into the jet’s cargo bay.
Before you play, draw a big J in the air together: a bar on top, then straight down and hook. Then make a little j with a finger hook and pop a fist on top for the dot. Now you are ready to blast off!
Watch Lexy play the Letter J Game
How to play
- Press Play. Lexy reads every direction out loud, so even kids who are not reading yet know what to do.
- Round 1, Big J: fly through black, starry outer space and tap the space jellyfish with the big J. Letters like T, I and L float there too, so look for the bar on top and the hook at the bottom.
- Round 2, Little j: fly over Funzyland and blast the jars with the little j. Look for the dot on top and the hook at the bottom, and skip the i, g and y.
- Round 3, J Pictures: in the jungle, Bomzy tosses picture bubbles. Blast the pictures that start with J, like jaguar, jeep, juice and jam. Every right answer takes away one of Bomzy’s hearts!
- Drag the jet to fly it around. The more you catch, the stronger the blaster gets: a double blaster, a plasma cannon and a rainbow cannon.
- Build streaks of 3, 5 and 10 in a Row, chase a High Score, go for a Perfect Game, and earn up to five stars at the end.
What kids learn
The Letter J Game practices recognizing the uppercase and lowercase letter J and hearing the J sound at the start of words, early literacy skills that build toward Kindergarten letter knowledge (CCSS RF.K.1d: recognize and name all upper- and lowercase letters).
- Big J: a bar on top, and a hook at the bottom.
- Little j: a dot on top, and a hook at the bottom.
- J pictures: jaguar, jeep, juice and jam all start with J.
- Looking carefully: big J sits next to letters like T and I, and little j sits next to i, g and y, so kids learn to spot the hook, the bar and the dot.
Try this at home or in class: jump like a jet taking off and say a J word with every jump: jaguar, juice, jam, jeep, jump!
More practice with the letter J
- Letter J Song: sing and dance along with the letter J.
- Letter J Tracing Worksheet: trace big J and little j.
- Letter J Handwriting Practice Worksheet: write the letter J on your own.
- Alphabet Stories Letter J: a short letter J story to read together.
- Letter I Game and Letter H Game: keep the alphabet adventure going.
Teachers and members can assign the Letter J Game to the whole class with a Classroom link, so every student plays the full game on any device.
