Alphabet Art for Parents and Home School Curriculum

Children in both traditional and home school environments require frequent exposure to letters of the alphabet to firmly grasp letter recognition and sounds. They need to practice using letters in new and varied ways before they can freely recognize them. Because of the amount of time and activities required for successful alphabet learning, it can be difficult for parents practicing the alphabet and/or home schooling their children to present letters in new, fun ways their children will enjoy. Enjoyment is key, as bored children become frustrated with alphabet learning and lose interest in memorizing letters altogether.

The activities provided here are appropriate ways to incorporate the alphabet into any young child’s home school art curriculum, and they are great alphabet activities for parents of traditional school students to help children practice their letters at home. Any needed supplies are inexpensive and found easily in local stores, but chances are you already own most of them.

Letter Prints
An inexpensive set of plastic alphabet cookie cutters is a good home school supply to invest in, as they can be used for an endless variety of alphabet learning activities. By dipping cookie cutter letters into paint, home school children can practice their letters and quickly print words with your assistance that otherwise might take a long time and become frustrating. When setting up for this activity, pour a small amount of paint onto a Styrofoam tray. Too much paint will make the letters unclear. Placing a folded paper towel on the tray before adding the paint helps control the amount of paint the cookie cutter picks up (something of a stamp-pad effect).

The same home school activity can be done with letter shaped sponges for sponge painting. Letter shaped sponges are sold with children’s art supplies, but you may find they are very soft and flop around, making painting with them something of a chore. Dollar stores and home centers often sell large bags of cheap sponges, sometimes the ends of a run, and these can be easily cut into all the letter shapes you need.