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November 29, 2011 | 8 Comments

Sandpaper Letter Tracing

by Kim

This was taught to me by a developmental therapist and I used this technique with one of my foster sons that had sensory issues. I never thought to do it for help with recognition for shapes, letters, and numbers. Duh! But I finally made the connection last month when I had the daunting task of coming up with activities for my children during a 6 hour car ride. You will see what I am talking about in a second.

The only things you will need for this activity are sandpaper, crayons (I used oil pastels since they are softer), and yarn. Yep, that’s it.

Draw any shape, letter, number, pretty much anything onto a piece of sandpaper.

This is especially helpful for me because our school system uses D’nealian handwriting techniques and you cannot find that as easily as traditional font activities.

Now give your child a piece of yarn (about 12 inches) and let them “trace” the shape or letter with the yarn.

*Please be careful, long strands of yarn can be dangerous for small children. This activity can easily use two pieces of yarn for a shape if needed. Only you know what your child is ready for.

Even though my son is past letter recognition, he had to join in because my daughter was having too much fun.

A neat benefit to this activity is that the sandpaper grips the yarn. So the yarn will stay in place as your child manipulates it along the paper. This is what makes it so awesome for travel, too. The yarn will stay where you put it. Now if your child waves the paper wildly declaring, “I did it!” the yarn will move a bit. As you can see. 😉

Are you going to use shapes, letters, numbers, or do you have another idea? Please share.

_________________________________________________________________________

Kim is a contributing writer for No Time For Flash Cards, a mom to a toddler, a preschooler, and a foster parent, too. She juggles her day by trying out fun activities and crafts with the kids. After all, she is just a big kid herself. See what she has been up to over at Mom Tried It

Filed Under: Age Preschool, Age: Toddlers, Letter Recognition, Letters & Numbers, Sensory Activities, Writing Activities | 8 Comments

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8 Comments

  1. mike says

    November 29, 2011 at 9:27 am

    This is such a great idea! I am always looking for ways to engage young children’s minds at an earlier and earlier age. This is perfect. Thanks for the share!

    to mike" aria-label='reply to this comment to mike'>reply to this comment
  2. Michelle Sexton says

    November 29, 2011 at 1:31 pm

    this is cool. looking forward to trying this!

    to Michelle Sexton" aria-label='reply to this comment to Michelle Sexton'>reply to this comment
  3. Jess says

    November 29, 2011 at 7:59 pm

    great idea! I am planning Letter of the Week activities right now and I am going to include this! Thank you!

    to Jess" aria-label='reply to this comment to Jess'>reply to this comment
  4. Little Mister's Mum says

    January 10, 2012 at 8:23 pm

    Thanks so much for all your ideas! I really love the online community of mums who are teaching their children and sharing all their wonderful ideas with others 🙂
    I really like this idea of using sandpaper and wool for shapes/letters/numbers. Definitely one I will add to our Shapes activities at the moment. I would really love for you to drop by my blog and see what we’re up to 🙂

    to Little Mister's Mum" aria-label='reply to this comment to Little Mister's Mum'>reply to this comment
  5. Lauren says

    August 17, 2013 at 3:36 pm

    Great idea – always looking for new ways to teach the same concept !!

    to Lauren" aria-label='reply to this comment to Lauren'>reply to this comment

Trackbacks

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    January 8, 2012 at 8:39 pm

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    […] Fun with Alphabet Beads  – Post Office Letter Sorting -  Sandpaper Letter Tracing […]

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  3. 10 Alternative Ways to Reuse Sandpaper |Sustainable Products | Planet Forward Sustainable products says:
    February 12, 2014 at 9:08 pm

    […] 8. Sandpaper Letter Tracing: You can use sandpaper as a letter/shape/number tracing tool to help little ones learn. You can find out more about this activity here. […]

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