Writing letters on sandpaper {101 Ways to Teach the Alphabet}

Sandpaper letters are a common material in the language area of the Montessori classroom. I previously shared a post showing how I’ve used sandpaper letters to help my kids learn their letters.

My son, especially, has always enjoyed the sensory aspect of sandpaper letters. He likes to use his fingernail to scratch the sand off the sandpaper.

Because he enjoys sandpaper so much, I thought it would be fun to find other ways to use sandpaper for teaching the alphabet.

The next installment in my 101 Ways to Teach the Alphabet Series involves writing letters on sandpaper. This is a fun activity to try with kids who enjoy the sensory aspect of sandpaper.

For this activity, all you need is some sandpaper and a crayon. You could substitute chalk or pastels for the crayon, if desired.

Encourage your child to write letters on the sandpaper. Because of the sandpaper’s bumpy texture, smooth writing may not be possible and the letters may be a little funky. But the point here is to provide a fun and motivating writing surface for your child to practice writing letters.

Once your child has written some letters, your child can then trace those letters with a finger. This makes the activity a lot like using Montessori sandpaper 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
• I spy letter hunt
• Spaghetti letters
• Montessori sandpaper letters
• Making “alphabet soup”
• Smash the puffy letters
• Mini letter hunt with a magnifying glass
• Kinetic sand letters
• Crystallized letters
• Letter hop
• Yarn wrapped letters
• Letter tic-tac-toe

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