Assalaamu 'alaikum.
When I first posted about the sandpaper letters I was full of enthusiam and excitement because the project would be my first arty-crafty project where I get to do everything. I actually didn't really know what I was in for and to be honest, I think my instructions made it seem a little airy-fairy [please excuse my funky terms - they pop up from nowhere].
Anyhow, I decided to embark on the journey – what a journey it is!
Here is what I did [I'll insert pictures where I can inshaa`Allaah] – please bear in mind that I did not do all of this in one day, rather over a two-week period (major procrastinator!).
1. First, I printed off the letters from here – actually, what I did was save each image onto my desktop, inserted them into a word document and edited them so that there was an outline of the letters rather than a filled background – gotta save ink!
2. Then I cut out each letter; there're no shortcuts for this one, you've gotta cut each individual letter.
3. Trace around each letter on the back of a sheet of fine (FINE) sandpaper. Remember: the letters must be traced back-to-front so that when you cut them, they'll appear the right way around.
4. Again, cut out each individual sandpaper letter – yes, it can be tedious, but stick with it. For letters with holes – i.e. a, e, o etc. – I used a stanley-knife blade to get an accurate cut.
5. I got an A4 sheet of card (blue for vowels and red for constanants) and cut them in half by hand; a paper cutter would have been useful here, but we use that which we have.
6. I glued a letter in the middle of the card to ensure that it was relatively even all round. For this I used PVA glue to stick the letter down, I'm not sure what else would work.
Let it be known that I've only actually done two letters because I realised that I don't have enough card to do all the letters of the alphabet. This will probably mean that the letters won't be finished anytime soon. Inshaa`Allaah, I plan to back each card with cardboard to make it less flimsy… this will probably lengthen the time it takes to finish these, but inshaa`Allaah they will be.
I hope this has been of some help. Feel free to ask any questions if I haven't been clear with any of the above.
Was-salaamu 'alaikum
~ Umm Junayd.
[...] Yes, you read right, I’ve finally got some work done with projects I had begun or intended to begin. No, don’t get too excited, I didn’t design them myself, nor are they the Sandpaper letters I began way back in… May (gosh it was THAT long ago?!). [...]
Do one letter a week .
It is all we need to teach our 2 to 3 years- old
you may want to use rubber cement.
The paper will stay flat.
Thanks for the info on how to make sandpaper letters. I just wanted to share some info I learned from my son (19) about a glue that artists use. It’s called Contact Cement and it looks like Rubber Cement, but it is stronger. It can be found in hardware stores.
Hope this helps.
Patty Richards
[...] Sandpaper Letters II – a great idea for the kinesthetic learner Posted on: September 6, 2008Category: Alphabet, Language Arts, PreschoolersTags: abcs > Alphabet > letters [...]
Maria and Patty,
Thank you for your suggestions and comments.
Assalamualaikum sister
I tried to edit the image but didn’t work well…How did u do it?Can you give me the copy if you still have it?It would be a great help because i’m not very good with computer…Thank you.
Good. Every mother should visit this website.
[...] Sandpaper Letter Name (sandpaper letters used in her name both seperate and all together to spell her name) directions to make sandpaper letters [...]
As salamu alaykum, sorry that was my son, who decided to praticing his typing skills. JazakAllahu khayr for the directions. What grade sandpaper did you use?