Are you looking for Letter W crafts for preschoolers? This printable alphabet Letter W activity helps students learn the uppercase and lowercase letter W, sound out the letter W, and improve their motor skills with fun whale crafts. Parents and teachers can use this page for letter-of-the-week activities, tracing practice, and teaching students simple facts about whales that will keep them curious.
At CoolKidFacts, we want our alphabet craft pages to do more than just give you a quick activity. This Letter W page helps preschoolers not only make something fun, but also practice reading skills and motor skills, all while enjoying a real animal that kids always find interesting. If your child is working on learning the letter W, this whale-themed craft is a perfect place to start.
Jump to What You Need
- Printable Letter W craft
- How to make the Letter W whale
- What kids learn with this activity
- Whale facts for preschoolers
- Letter W words and Letter W sound practice
- Tracing, coloring, and cut-and-paste ideas
- More Letter W activities
- Teaching tips for parents and teachers
- Related CoolKidFacts pages
- FAQ
Free Printable Letter W Craft
This specially designed Letter W craft for preschoolers is built on the theme of a whale, which makes the page great for young learners to remember. W is for Whale is one of the most basic preschool letter pairings because not only is the word familiar, but the beginning sound is easy, and whales are very interesting to kids.
This printable Letter W page can include:
- a black-and-white whale craft template
- a color whale craft template
- uppercase W and lowercase w tracing
- a cut-and-paste whale craft
- a simple coloring section for the whale and the letter W
- sound practice for the sound of W
- a short whale fact box
These give you several ways to use this page without having to find extra worksheets or activities somewhere else.
Why W Is for Whale
The letter W is one of the easiest letters for preschoolers to hear clearly, so it helps to use a word that they probably already know. Whale is a great choice because kids can picture it from books, pictures, videos, or ocean lessons. They can also say the letter and say the word, hear the first sound, and build memory as they connect this letter to something they already know.
This whale also fits within CoolKidFacts. Once you finish the printable on the letter W, you can keep the lesson going by learning more about whales or other letters on this site.
How to Make the Letter W Whale Craft
This whale craft is easy, simple, very low prep, and makes no mess.
What You Need
- printed Letter W whale template
- scissors
- glue stick
- crayons, markers, or colored pencils
- optional blue, gray, or black crayons
- optional tissue paper or cotton balls for water or spray
How to Make It
- First, print the Letter W whale page.
- Color the whale and the letter W.
- Cut out the pieces.
- Glue the pieces to the page or onto the large letter W.
- Trace the uppercase and lowercase letter W.
- Say the letter name and the word whale out loud together.
- Read about some whale facts.
Easy Ways to Adapt This Activity
If you need to make it very simple, skip the cutting and only do coloring.
If you want it slightly longer or more difficult, add a tracing section after the craft.
If you are doing this in a classroom, let all the children decorate the whale their own way.
What Kids Learn With This Letter W Activity
This printable does far more than just fill time. It helps preschoolers practice several learning skills all at once.
Kids can practice:
- recognizing uppercase and lowercase letter W
- hearing the beginning sound W in whale
- improving their motor skills and hand control with coloring and tracing the letter
- improving their fine motor skills with cutting and gluing
- growing their vocabulary past just the letter W for whale
- building long-term memory by connecting activities and science to the letter W
This makes it a perfect resource for both home and school-based learning.
Whale Facts for Preschoolers
Whales are a great animal to use for Letter W because kids usually find them very big, easy to recognize, and fun to talk about.
Here are some quick facts you can use about whales while discussing and doing this activity:
- Whales live in the ocean.
- Whales are mammals, not fish.
- Whales come up to breathe air.
- Some whales are very large.
- Whales use their tails to swim.
Letter W Sound Practice
Practice the sound W makes at the beginning of many words. After you finish this whale craft, say the sound together a few times and help practice these words, as well as any others you can think of.
Try saying some of these:
- W is for whale
- W is for water
- W is for wagon
- W is for wave
- W is for window
Keep this practice short, as the goal is not to say as many words as you can in one sitting. It is designed to help kids notice the repetition of the sound at the beginning of the word and match that to the letter they see.
Letter W Words for Preschoolers
Here are some simple W words you can use for preschoolers:
- whale
- water
- wagon
- wave
- window
- worm
- web
- watch
You can also turn this into a quick game by asking kids to find words that start with the letter W, maybe in a newspaper, on TV, or in a printout.
Lowercase w and Uppercase W
Preschoolers always benefit from seeing the letters in both uppercase and lowercase.
Here is what they look like:
- Uppercase: W
- Lowercase: w
You can also help by saying:
- This is the uppercase W.
- This is the lowercase w.
Tracing, Coloring, and Cut-and-Paste Practice
These are designed to help not only make crafts, but also have activities that allow students to remember what the letters look like.
Letter W Tracing
Have your child trace the uppercase letter W first, then the lowercase w. Encourage them to try this next to the page without having to trace the lines.
Color the Whale
Let the kids color the whale in whatever colors they would like. This keeps the activity very fun and engaging for them.
Cut-and-Paste Whale Activity
Using a simple set of whale pieces, including the body, tail, fin, water spray, and eye, kids can glue a whale together on or next to the letter W.
Circle the Letter W
Put a bunch of random letters on a page and have children circle every letter W that they find. You can also include uppercase and lowercase letters.
More Letter W Activities
If you want to lengthen the lesson, here are some other things you can do.
W Sound Hunt
Look around the room with your class or child and see if they can find anything else that starts with the letter W.
Whale Swim Game
Here is a fun one to make the lesson more active. Have kids pretend to swim like whales and make water spray motions.
Draw Your Own Whale
Ask children to draw a whale from memory. This is a way to help identify those who might have drawing skills.
W Coloring Challenge
Color things that start with the letter W.
Water and Whale
If you want a second word that starts with the letter W, let kids color water after this craft is finished and then talk about the word water.
Teaching Tips for Parents and Teachers
We always want to keep these lessons very easy to follow and simple. Preschoolers do not need long activities with detailed instructions.
A good lesson including alphabet crafts for the letter W can look like this:
- Start by showing the difference between uppercase and lowercase W.
- Say the sound together a few times.
- Make some whale and W-themed crafts.
- Trace the letter W in uppercase and lowercase.
- Read and talk about some whale facts.
This is also a good page for:
- preschool morning work
- take-home activity
- homework
- small group practice
- homeschool activities
- quiet-time educational activities
Why Parents and Teachers Like Printable Letter Pages
These printable crafts make life so easy because they keep the lesson in one place, and all you have to do is print them out and go. You do not have to search for crafts, worksheets, and tracing pages. Everything is here all in one place.
This is great for busy parents and teachers, as it gives them an easy guided activity that not only lets kids learn parts of the alphabet, but also keeps them engaged as they get to make a craft.
Read More on CoolKidFacts
After finishing this activity, keep going with more pages on the site.
Some great next pages include:
- Water Animals
- Facts About the Atlantic Ocean
- Animals
- Activity Resources
- Alphabet Crafts for Preschoolers
- Letter V Crafts for Preschoolers
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a good Letter W craft for preschoolers?
This whale craft is one of the best Letter W crafts for preschoolers because whale is not only a familiar word, but the beginning sound is very easy to understand, and the activity develops fine motor skills.
Does this Letter W page include a printable?
Yes, this page was designed around a printable and activities for preschoolers.
What are some easy Letter W words for preschoolers?
Whale, water, wagon, wave, window, worm, web, and watch.
Is this Letter W activity good for preschool and pre-K?
Yes, this page is great for preschoolers and pre-K, and even up to kindergarten.
Can I use this page in a classroom?
Absolutely. Teachers have used this printable for morning work, small group practice, take-home practice, or letter-of-the-week lessons.
What should we do after the letter W?
After W, move on to Letter X or any other letter that you have not covered yet.
Conclusion
Letter W crafts for preschoolers are a very simple and fine way to utilize time teaching the letters of the alphabet while keeping students engaged with crafts. This printable whale craft has easy practice for tracing, including sounding out the letters and some short whale facts.
This gives parents and teachers a great activity for preschoolers that they can use right away with little to no setup. We recommend starting with the printable, keeping the lesson easy to follow, and continuing the learning with more pages on CoolKidFacts.com. When you are ready, move on to the next letter and keep building confidence one letter at a time.
