DIY Letter Puzzle in the Sun {101 Ways to Teach the Alphabet}

In this week’s installment of my 101 Ways to Teach the Alphabet Series I am sharing a DIY letter puzzle activity you (or your child!) can make outdoors on a sunny day.

For this activity, gather the following materials:

• Construction paper
• Letters (we used letters from our Montessori moveable alphabet, but letters from this crepe rubber puzzle would work as well, as would plenty of other options)
• Optional: Tray to hold all the materials

You’ll want to do this activity on a sunny day.

Start by selecting the letters you want to include in your DIY letter puzzle. These should be letters that your child is working on learning.

For younger children, you may want to select just 2 or 3 letters to begin. Older children who are more familiar with the alphabet can make a puzzle with a greater number of letters.

Take the materials out into the sunshine, and place the letters onto the construction paper. I allowed my daughter to place the letters so she could create her own puzzle.

Leave the puzzle in the sun for a while. Depending on your brand of construction paper, anywhere from 2 to 48 hours outside in the sun should be sufficient time.

The area under the letters will remain the original color of the construction paper. The area not covered by the letters, however, will quickly fade in the sun.

And now the fun begins! Remove all moveable letters from their spots and mix them up.

Then have your child place each moveable letter onto the corresponding letter imprinted on the construction paper.

This activity helps children to really focus on the strokes that make up each letter. You could also discuss the names or sounds of each letter with your child as he does the puzzle.

More ways to teach to the alphabet

More alphabet posts from Gift of Curiosity:

• Road Letters
• Letter hunt sensory bin
• Erasing letters with a Q-tip
• Making letters with straws and play dough
• I spy letter hunt
• Letter puzzles
• Montessori sandpaper letters
• Making “alphabet soup”
• Mini letter hunt with a magnifying glass
• Letter hopscotch
• Crystallized letters
• Yarn wrapped letters
• Letter tic-tac-toe
• Rainbow letters

You can find more ways to teach the alphabet on my Literacy Activities for Kids page and my Letter Learning Pinterest board.