Sandpaper letters are a lot of work to DIY, but it is totally worth it! Sandpaper letters have been very successful for my son- click here for the rationale behind my choice to teach him the letters in this way. My advice is to prep all of the wood and letters right away, and then sand just a few letters at a time, unless you have some sort of crafty sanding machine or an army of gullible teenagers at your disposal. My arms get tired after about 4 letters. Or 2. Or 1.
For this project, you will need:
- 1 sheet of 1/8 inch plywood cut into 26, 5x3.75 inch rectangles
- Plenty of sandpaper (enough to make letters and sand the edges of the rectangles)
- A hot glue gun
- Letter stencils or letter-cutting machine (like an Ellison machine)
- 1 sheet of 1/8 inch plywood cut into 26, 5x3.75 inch rectangles
- Plenty of sandpaper (enough to make letters and sand the edges of the rectangles)
- A hot glue gun
- Letter stencils or letter-cutting machine (like an Ellison machine)
After purchasing the materials you need, begin by cutting the board into 26, 5 x 3.75 inch rectangles. Use a stencil or Ellison machine to cut out the letters.
Then, carefully sand the edges and corners of each rectangle. Again, I only sand 3 or 4 at a time because it takes a few minutes to sand each one and my hand gets tired. Really, I'm a wimp. Just say it! But also, I only introduce 3 or 4 letters at a time to Reed, so there's no rush to get the whole set done in one day.
Because Reed only has 6 letters left, I decided to dig deep and knock out the six final letters in one day: v, k, y, x, z, and q (find out more about letter order here). I sanded the last 6 rectangles, warmed up my glue gun, and glued each letter in the center of a block. After a few minutes, they are finished and ready to use!
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We are so happy with how Reed's letters turned out. We use them like flashcards sometimes, but our favorite thing to do is play letter games. They will last us forever, I think, or at least until we are finished having kids and they all know their letter sounds. It is definitely a worthwhile investment of time and money.
Feel free to leave questions in the comments!
Feel free to leave questions in the comments!
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