In this week’s installment of my 101 Ways to Teach the Alphabet Series, I’m sharing a DIY alphabet making opportunity to create your own letters your kids and manipulate and play with.
So before I say anything else, let’s start with two caveats:
First, It took me a few tries to find the right surface for making these hot glue letters. I tried making them on wax paper and also on cling wrap, but it was too difficult to peel the letters from the surface once they were dry. Eventually I decided to try making the hot glue letters on one of our trays. This actually worked fairly well, although it did leave the tray a little scratched up at the end.
Second, making the hot glue letters is a task for an adult. (Playing with them afterwards, however, is a task for children.) Hot glue can burn a child if it gets on their skin before it dries. Please use appropriate caution when making the hot glue letters.
How to make hot glue letters
I started by warming up our hot glue gun to let the glue stick melt for a few minutes.
Then I began writing the letters of the alphabet with hot glue on a tray.
The letters dried quickly – in about 10 minutes.
Then I peeled them from the tray. I didn’t have too much difficulty, but I did use a flat head screwdriver to help me peel up some of the letters.
The kids were fascinated by the letters. They looked pretty cool, because they were kind of a clearish-white. The kids really enjoyed just holding them and feeling their shapes.
They also put the letters together to form their names.
One thing we tried was to put the hot glue letters in a tray of water.
It turns out that the letters float! It was fun to simply swish the the letters around in the water. You can also invite your child to pick up letters from the water with a spoon or tongs and tell you what letter it is.
The play possibilities for these hot glue letters are practically endless. What would you do with hot glue letters?
More ways to teach to the alphabet
More alphabet posts from Gift of Curiosity:
- Letter hunt sensory bin
- Erasing letters with a Q-tip
- Making letters with straws and play dough
- I spy letter hunt
- Spaghetti letters
- Letter puzzles
- Montessori sandpaper letters
- Making “alphabet soup”
- Smash the puffy letters
- Mini letter hunt with a magnifying glass
You can find more ways to teach the alphabet on my Literacy Activities for Kids page and my Letter Learning Pinterest board.
Hi I’ve never responded before but I am curious if you tried parchment paper. My cookies and muffins never stick. Just a thought and it wouldn’t mark up your tray.
I did try parchment paper, actually, and I didn’t have much success with it either. 🙁
This is a cute idea, thanks for sharing! Did you happen to try a laminated piece of paper? That way you could print the letters out and have a kind of stencil to work with for making the letters.
I didn’t try that, but it would be a great idea to try. I love the idea of laminating a printed version of the alphabet so you could “trace” the letters with the glue on top of the laminated page. It would be worth a try to see how well the letters come off the laminated page!
I have glitter hot glue Christmas colors. sure it comes in others. that would be cool. might do the letters we r doing soon.
A glass sheet works great.
Thanks for the tip!
Hi! I know this is an old post, but thought I’d see if you’re still getting questions…! How long did these last?? Like can I make them a few days ahead or is it a “make and use” that day? Thanks!!
Yes, you can absolutely make these ahead of time and they will last a long while.
Parchment paper worked awesome for me. It’s different than waxed paper.
Thanks for letting me (and others) know!