Literacy is one of the most important life skills necessary for a person in the 21st century, and preschool age is recognized as the preferential period for its development. At the same time we mainly speak about literacy acquisition in the context of school educational process and there is a lack of researches on literacy development possibilities in preschool. Since constructivism is forwarded as the theoretical base for preschool education in the 21st century, the aim of this article is to evaluate the learning environment created to develop literacy in Latvia preschool groups in the context of constructivism. The research was carried out in 13 preschool groups of different ages. To collect qualitative data a semi-structured observation was used and 23 teachers were involved in the research. From the obtained data we can conclude that in the learning environment created to develop literacy at Latvia preschool groups we can observe both features of constructivism and behaviourism. Features of behaviourism dominate in formal educational situations, whereas features of constructivism are more typical in non-formal learning situations. In order to reorient literacy development at preschool to constructivism, in preschool teacher training and professional development courses more attention has to be paid to acquisition of basic principles on how to create a constructive learning environment.