that your child can remove them with his fingertips.
What to Do
• Place a variety of coins flat on a table or other hard surface.
• Encourage your child to fill up the piggy bank or coin holder with coins.
More Fun!
• Make this a game and see how many coins he can put in the bank or holder in one minute. Help him count the coins while putting them inside or when he finishes.
Furry Letters
Helps your child use her in-hand manipulation skills in play and to recognize and form letters of the alphabet
What You Need
chenille sticks | 3” x 5” or 5 x 7” index cards, heavy paper, or card stock | marker | scissors (adult-use only)
What to Do
• On each card, write a letter large enough to use as a pattern for chenille sticks (adult only).
• Cut several of the chenille sticks in half; also cut some into fourths (adult only). Make three sizes of chenille sticks (whole, ½, ¼).
• Show your child how to create a letter by bending the chenille to follow the pattern on the cards.
• Encourage her to make “Furry Letters” that spell her name or other words of interest.
More Fun!
• Glue the “Furry Letter Names/Words” onto heavy paper.
• Play a game with the “Furry Letters.” Place the letters in a shoebox or storage container. Your child closes her eyes, reaches into the box, and pulls out a letter. See if she can identify the letter by touch.
Glitter Letters
Develops your child’s eye-hand coordination and gives him experience with letters
What You Need
construction paper | marker | glue | small bowls or containers | cotton swabs or craft sticks | glitter (store in jars for shaking or in open containers to sprinkle with fingers) Note : For easy cleanup, cover the work surface with a shower curtain, newspaper, or vinyl tablecloth.
What to Do
• Use a marker to write letters or your child’s name on construction paper.
• Put glue in one container and glitter in another.
• Ask your child to use a cotton swab or craft stick to trace each letter with glue.
• Encourage him either to shake glitter from a jar or to use his fingers to sprinkle glitter over each letter.
• Gently shake the completed paper to remove excess glitter, and allow the paper to dry.
More Fun!
• Once the glitter letters are dry, he can use his fingers to trace over the letters. Ask him, “How do the letters feel?”
Rainbow Letters
Gives your child practice with writing letters and holding paper in place while writing
What You Need
plain white paper | colored pencils or thin washable markers
What to Do
• Write some letters or your child’s name on white paper. Space out the letters so she has plenty of room to trace around them.
• Show her how to trace around the outside of a letter, using a different color each time. When you finish, you will have a “rainbow” letter.
• Give her paper and encourage her to trace around the letters to make her own “rainbow” letters or words.
More Fun!
• Give her glitter pens or watercolor paints and small brushes so she can make “rainbow” letters with different materials.
• Suggest that she cut out her “rainbow” letters to give her practice using scissors.
Sandbox Writing
Develops your child’s finger strength and his
confidence in his writing ability
What You Need
shoeboxes and solid-color contact paper (red, blue, black, and green work well) | white sand (clean and sterilized, available at home improvement stores) | letters of the alphabet for children to use as models
What to Do
• Cover the inside bottom of a shoebox with contact paper and coat the bottom of the box with white sand until the sand is ½” deep (adult-only step).
• Encourage your child to write letters in the “sandbox” using his index finger. If he presses his finger hard enough, he will be able to see the colored contact paper under the sand.
• Show him how to shake the sandbox gently from side to side or smooth the sand with his hand to erase his
What to Do
• Place a variety of coins flat on a table or other hard surface.
• Encourage your child to fill up the piggy bank or coin holder with coins.
More Fun!
• Make this a game and see how many coins he can put in the bank or holder in one minute. Help him count the coins while putting them inside or when he finishes.
Furry Letters
Helps your child use her in-hand manipulation skills in play and to recognize and form letters of the alphabet
What You Need
chenille sticks | 3” x 5” or 5 x 7” index cards, heavy paper, or card stock | marker | scissors (adult-use only)
What to Do
• On each card, write a letter large enough to use as a pattern for chenille sticks (adult only).
• Cut several of the chenille sticks in half; also cut some into fourths (adult only). Make three sizes of chenille sticks (whole, ½, ¼).
• Show your child how to create a letter by bending the chenille to follow the pattern on the cards.
• Encourage her to make “Furry Letters” that spell her name or other words of interest.
More Fun!
• Glue the “Furry Letter Names/Words” onto heavy paper.
• Play a game with the “Furry Letters.” Place the letters in a shoebox or storage container. Your child closes her eyes, reaches into the box, and pulls out a letter. See if she can identify the letter by touch.
Glitter Letters
Develops your child’s eye-hand coordination and gives him experience with letters
What You Need
construction paper | marker | glue | small bowls or containers | cotton swabs or craft sticks | glitter (store in jars for shaking or in open containers to sprinkle with fingers) Note : For easy cleanup, cover the work surface with a shower curtain, newspaper, or vinyl tablecloth.
What to Do
• Use a marker to write letters or your child’s name on construction paper.
• Put glue in one container and glitter in another.
• Ask your child to use a cotton swab or craft stick to trace each letter with glue.
• Encourage him either to shake glitter from a jar or to use his fingers to sprinkle glitter over each letter.
• Gently shake the completed paper to remove excess glitter, and allow the paper to dry.
More Fun!
• Once the glitter letters are dry, he can use his fingers to trace over the letters. Ask him, “How do the letters feel?”
Rainbow Letters
Gives your child practice with writing letters and holding paper in place while writing
What You Need
plain white paper | colored pencils or thin washable markers
What to Do
• Write some letters or your child’s name on white paper. Space out the letters so she has plenty of room to trace around them.
• Show her how to trace around the outside of a letter, using a different color each time. When you finish, you will have a “rainbow” letter.
• Give her paper and encourage her to trace around the letters to make her own “rainbow” letters or words.
More Fun!
• Give her glitter pens or watercolor paints and small brushes so she can make “rainbow” letters with different materials.
• Suggest that she cut out her “rainbow” letters to give her practice using scissors.
Sandbox Writing
Develops your child’s finger strength and his
confidence in his writing ability
What You Need
shoeboxes and solid-color contact paper (red, blue, black, and green work well) | white sand (clean and sterilized, available at home improvement stores) | letters of the alphabet for children to use as models
What to Do
• Cover the inside bottom of a shoebox with contact paper and coat the bottom of the box with white sand until the sand is ½” deep (adult-only step).
• Encourage your child to write letters in the “sandbox” using his index finger. If he presses his finger hard enough, he will be able to see the colored contact paper under the sand.
• Show him how to shake the sandbox gently from side to side or smooth the sand with his hand to erase his
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