Make Fabric Letters

Preschoolers love playing games! They especially like games with hands-on pieces to move around and manipulate. Make this set and give your kid a chance to play with a cool collection of pieces that teach letter sounds.

What You Need:

• 30 pre-cut fabric squares
• Glue stick
• Hole punch
• Fabric paint
• Yarn
• 15 foam sheets
• Safety scissors

What You Do:

1. Have your child cut each of the 15 foam sheets in half using his safety scissors. Then have him trim these pieces to match the size of the pre-cut fabric squares. (They may need to trace one as a pattern.) In the end, you should have a total of thirty foam squares the same size as the fabric pieces, with scraps left over.
2. Using the glue stick, let your child attach one pre-cut fabric square to the top of each foam sheet square. Flatten the fabric so you have a smooth surface, and then let your child use the fabric paint to write one letter of the alphabet on each square. He can use the extra four squares to make an additional A,E,I, and O. Allow the fabric paint to dry according to the directions on the paint bottle.
3. Review each of the letters and the sound(s) it makes when spoken. Remind your child that some letters,such as "c" and "k" can sound different when used in a different word. Vowels can also make more than one sound (for example a long "a," such as in "grape", or a short "a" as in "cat").

Play with the pieces! Try a bunch of different words of your child’s choosing. Or help your child spell a word from the following list:

1. cat
2. hat
3. red
4. bed
5. lip
6. rip
7. hop
8. mop
9. stop
10. cup
11. grape
12. ride
13. green
14. blue

As your child is choosing the letters to spell his words, give him some guidance. Ask questions like, "Which letter or letters make the C-sound?" and “Which one makes the middle sound, the “aaa?” Be sure to break the words apart into their pieces, to make things easier for your child.

When he’s finished playing, ask your child to pick his favorite word (or words), punch some holes in the tops, and bind the letters together with yarn. An instant souvenir!