It seems like there is a huge Montessori movement right now and honestly, it’s for a good reason. Plenty of Montessori materials and ideas are extremely helpful for young children. A very popular material is a set of sandpaper Montessori letters. Sandpaper letters are great because they give a tactile experience to learning the letters.
My only problem with Montessori letters is the expense. They are awesome and I wish I had $35 to spend just on sandpaper letters, but I don’t. So, naturally, I looked around for an alternative because learning the letters is hugely important to a child’s success in school. I found a great idea to make letters with puffy paint.
This idea is appealing because the recipe for puffy paint only includes flour, salt, water, and food coloring. Woohoo! You can’t get cheaper than that. Check out the puffy paint letter tutorial from Train Up a Child Learn as We Go for more specific instructions.
The only difference here from the other blog post is this simple printable template for puffy paint letter cards. This template will help so you don’t have to freehand the letters and will help the letters be more uniform. This should hopefully help your toddlers learn consistent lettering.
Just print the template on cardstock and then squeeze the paint over the letters until they were completely covered. Now the letters will be all the same size and formed perfectly straight.
If your child is ready you can make the vowels a different color. This might be a good time to teach them the concept of vowels. The vowels are a different color in the tutorial as well.
Once the puffy paint letters were all dry, cut out the squares and they were ready to use. This was a very simple process to get an alternative for sandpaper Montessori letters. They really do help with learning the letters.
These puffy paint letter cards have held up very well to frequent use. Check for a post coming up for more ways to practice letter formation.
What a great idea for parents to help their children learn the letter sounds at home!
Thank you for stopping by!
[…] Kirstylee shared these great DIY Puffy Paint Letter Cards along with a free printable to save you a little time […]
Thank you for this money saving idea! Just pinned you. 🙂
Monica
http://happyandblessedhome.com
PS – I’d love it if you’d link this on Family Fun Friday this Friday
http://happyandblessedhome.com/family-fun-friday-link-party-2/
Thanks for stopping by and pinning the post! We’ll definitely stop by and share on the linky party!
Thank you for the pin!
I love this — it is such a simple, but brilliant idea! I will be making these as soon as I can get to the store and buy some puffy paint 🙂
Sounds like fun! You’ll have to let us know how it goes!
These are great! I am familiar with the sandpaper letters and use them but these are a great new twist. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for stopping by!
Hi ladies! You won the free jewelry 🙂 Here is the page to select what you would like: http://happyandblessedhome.com/family-fun-friday-2/ I have one multicolored necklace (coral colors) and the earrings pictured on the left and in the middle. (Jodie picked the ones on the far right). You get to pick one item. If you send me an e-mail with your address I can mail the item to you.
Thanks for linking up at Family Fun Friday at http://HappyandBlessedHome.com
Monica
[…] some tactile experiences for your child with sandpaper letters or Do-It-Yourself puffy paint letters. Touch the uppercase letter and say its name and sound. Again, exposure to the lowercase letter […]
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[…] some tactile experiences for your child with sandpaper letters or Do-It-Yourself puffy paint letters. Touch the uppercase letter and say its name and sound. Again, exposure to the lowercase letter […]
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