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Making letters with straws and play dough {101 Ways to Teach the Alphabet}

1 Comment Preschool, Kindergarten

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If your child enjoys play dough, he or she will love the activity I’m featuring in today’s installment of my 101 Ways to Teach the Alphabet Series. With a ball of play dough and some cut up straw pieces, your child will be learning letters and developing fine motor skills while having a lot of fun.

I call today’s activity making letters with straws and play dough.

Making letters with straws and play dough is a great way to teach the alphabet. Kids will love learning letters with this tactile sensory and fine motor experience. Part of the 101 Ways to Teach the Alphabet Series from Gift of Curiosity

For this activity, you need some play dough and a bunch of cut up straw pieces. I cut my straw pieces to about 2″ tall. Then I put the materials on a tray.

Making letters with straws and play dough is a great way to teach the alphabet. Kids will love learning letters with this tactile sensory and fine motor experience. Part of the 101 Ways to Teach the Alphabet Series from Gift of Curiosity

My daughter began by flattening out a ball of play dough to a pancake about 1″ thick. The exact thickness of the pancake isn’t important, as long as it is thick enough to stick the straws and keep them standing upright.

Making letters with straws and play dough is a great way to teach the alphabet. Kids will love learning letters with this tactile sensory and fine motor experience. Part of the 101 Ways to Teach the Alphabet Series from Gift of Curiosity

I provided my daughter with some sandpaper letters to give her a model for the letter she was to create.

Making letters with straws and play dough is a great way to teach the alphabet. Kids will love learning letters with this tactile sensory and fine motor experience. Part of the 101 Ways to Teach the Alphabet Series from Gift of Curiosity

She selected straws and poked them into the play dough in the shape of a ‘v.’

Making letters with straws and play dough is a great way to teach the alphabet. Kids will love learning letters with this tactile sensory and fine motor experience. Part of the 101 Ways to Teach the Alphabet Series from Gift of Curiosity

Then I gave her another letter to copy, and she began again.

Making letters with straws and play dough is a great way to teach the alphabet. Kids will love learning letters with this tactile sensory and fine motor experience. Part of the 101 Ways to Teach the Alphabet Series from Gift of Curiosity

This time she made a ‘d.’

Making letters with straws and play dough is a great way to teach the alphabet. Kids will love learning letters with this tactile sensory and fine motor experience. Part of the 101 Ways to Teach the Alphabet Series from Gift of Curiosity

If the play dough pancake gets too thin or hole-y to support more straws, your child simply needs to gather it into a ball and flatten it again. Then it will be ready for more letters!

101 Ways to Teach the Alphabet: Hands-on, multi-sensory activities for teaching the alphabet to children ages 2 to 7.
Making letters with straws and play dough is a great way to teach the alphabet. Kids will love learning letters with this tactile sensory and fine motor experience. Part of the 101 Ways to Teach the Alphabet Series from Gift of Curiosity

More ways to teach to the alphabet

More alphabet posts from Gift of Curiosity:

  • Letter hunt sensory bin
  • Erasing letters with a Q-tip
  • I spy letter hunt
  • Spaghetti letters
  • Letter puzzles
  • Making “alphabet soup”
  • Smash the puffy letters
  • Kinetic sand letters
  • Letter hopscotch
  • Crystallized letters
  • Letter hop
  • 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.

Filed Under: Alphabet, Preschool, Kindergarten, Fine Motor

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Reader Interactions

1 Comment

  1. Diana Avallone

    May 20, 2016 at 11:20 am

    Cute & Creative Ideas!!! 🙂

    Reply to this comment

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