One of my big soapboxes when it comes o early literacy is that in the early years, we have to let children play with letters. Young children need to get comfortable manipulating letters, using them in different areas of the classroom, incorporating them into play, and creating with them. Letters aren’t something for “big kids”; they are accessible for young preschoolers too. This literacy center activity is straightforward to set up, but it’s challenging, and the sparkle of the sequins makes it super enticing too. Depending on the age and ability of your students, you may need to be involved with this alphabet activity, but most Prek and Kindergarten students could handle this independently. That’s the goal, for them to create with letters independently. We want preschoolers to be interested and not feel intimidated by letters, and having fun materials to create with can help get past that hurdle.
Letter Art Literacy Center Activity
You could make this art as a group activity, but some children will zoom through it, adding maybe ten sequins, while others painstakingly pick out each color and fill the glue completely with sequins, so I think it works best during independent time.
Gather your materials. You will need some sturdy paper ( I used watercolor paper, but card stock will work too), scissors, a pencil, sequins, white glue in bottles, and finally, bowls and trays to contain the fabulous sequins.
Start by writing a letter on the paper in pencil. If your students are capable, have them write the letters or have some pre-written in your center and blank sheets of paper for them to write their own.
You can write upper or lowercase letters. I personally teach them concurrently.
Trace with glue. Try to have glue bottles available, the squeezing and tracing are both beneficial for hand strength and hand-eye coordination. These are skills that are both foundations for handwriting.
Add the sequins.
Let dry.
It’s OK if children fill the letters up completely, or just add a handful of sequins. They will be working on fine motor development, hand-eye coordination, letter recognition, and, of course, patience no matter how many sequins they add.
Need more alphabet activities?
I have a BUNCH. Check out this great list of alphabet ideas for your classroom.
Or check out my new book!
If you want more super simple literacy activities like this one that you can use in your early childhood education classroom, you have to check out my newest book Setting The Stage for Rock-Star Readers. It is packed with activities that work and help early educators lay the most robust foundation for literacy as possible for their students.
Better yet sign up for the FREE webinar with my co-author and me Tuesday, January 21st. Sign up here.
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