Monday 22 August 2011

DIY: Sandpaper letters

This has been done to death on the Montessori blogs but I just wanted to share mine :)

Used for:
This is a multi-sensory approach to teaching letter sound. The child will hear the sound, see its form and feel the way it is written. Since a motor pattern should be learned correctly from the first time, it is very important that the child trace formed letters properly. This will help him develop a good foundation for handwriting later.


1. Print out free template to make sandpaper letter from montessorimaterials.org

Link to print (arial font) lowercase alphabets:

Link to print (arial font) uppercase alphabet:

Link to cursive lowercase:
http://www.montessorimaterials.org/Language/400lowercursive.pdf

2. Cut out individual letters. Pain in the ass part.
Lowercase alphabets cut from printouts

3. Trace the outline of the above cutouts onto sandpaper.
Make sure the front/printed part is facing the sandpaper.
You don't want to induce dyslexia in your child.

4. Cut from sandpaper. Even bigger pain in the ass.
Sandpaper cutouts
5. Admire your crazy work
Tadaaa!! I'd reckon it's quite nice.

Materials: 
1. Sandpapers: RM0.50 per piece. (I used 3 pieces for 2 sets of lowercase)
Why 2 sets? Back up plan. I doubt I will do this again in the near future

2. Cardboard/cardstock: RM 1.40 from Popular Bookstore
It's so cheap I think they counted wrongly.
Blue: consonant
pink: vowels
Supposed to be blue for vowels but I like the blue more.
Me, not strict Montessorian. I like it this way.


For proper method of 3 lesson period, go to:
(Caution: Very long article. I only covered the 'fun' parts)

Difficulty: 1/5

Your price: RM 2.90

Retail price: RM 190.00

Original product (made of wood, not paper)
Happy DIY-ing!!


20 comments:

Ella said...

Wow! I'm going to do it this weekend or the next!

Thank you Jessica :))

Jade said...

Is great! Do you mean you only need 3 pieces of sand paper to make 2 sets of lowercase? :) By the way what is the size of the sand paper? Thanks.

Jessica said...

Hi Jade,

The sandpaper is about A4 size. I got it from a nearby hardware shop. Cheaper than Daiso.

When I trace, I didn't do it alphabetically, I just traced randomly in all directions to squeeze in as much as possible. That's why I can get 2 sets. :)

curiositykills said...

Hi jessica, what is the "no" of your sandpaper? Whats the grit number?
I bought 400 and dh said its still rough

Jessica_littletiger said...

I can't recall the grit number at the moment. I remember taking out all the sandpaper they had and rubbed my grubby fingers all over...he he.

I'll get back to you :p

curiositykills said...

i see. because my mom was the one getting it for me. i cant find them in Daiso here. so i dont know how many types they have. according to mom, she said this is the smoothest :)
im in the midst of cutting the sandpaper. im thinking if i should proceed :)
i shall wait for your answer.
thanks dear!

Jessica_littletiger said...

Sorry for the late reply. Busy with Mothercare sales over the weekend :p
No lar. Hehe...I usually don't log on during the weekends.
My sandpapers are 240 or grade 7/0 which are very fine. Basically, the higher the number, the finer.
Hope that helps!

curiositykills said...

whats grade 7/0? hmm i went to a hardware store myself and i found out there are different brands. different sandpaper for different purpose. hence their number is not 'universal'.
my mom bought 400 for me. yet i found one in the store 250 which feels like mine.
there is 1000, but that is too fine! the man said that is to smooth iron/steels.

oh well, let's just hope mine is not too rough for ds.

thanks jessica!

and best of luck in preparation for little dragon!

MK Moon said...

Jessica,
how to play this game?

Jessica_littletiger said...

Hi Mun Keen,

Since I am not Montessori trained yet, I shall refer you to this site: http://www.infomontessori.com/language/written-language-sandpaper-letters.htm

More of learning letters through the sense of touch :)

MK Moon said...

thank!

Anonymous said...

Hi Jessica,saw from net,said vowels in blue consonants in pink.... but yours are the other way round. Which is correct...? Or any will do?

Thank you

Jessica_littletiger said...

You are right. vowels should be blue but his fridge phonics vowels are in red, so I wanted to make them the same. By right, vowels are blue and consonants are red

Anonymous said...

Can i know your sandpaper letter cards size?

Jessica_littletiger said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Jessica_littletiger said...

I mean half of A5...jeez. Typos :p

Anonymous said...

OK... Thank a lots Jessica. Your blog is very helpful, thanks again :)

Anonymous said...

hi, can you pls tell me what greed of sandpaper should be used

Jessica_littletiger said...

Hi, I suggest you go to the hardware store to actually feel the sandpaper which was what I did.

fatinfarah said...

Hi, can i know what is the length you use to cut cardboard into same size? Is it A4 or A3 you used? What is the size of arial font you used?

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