Teaching a toddler or preschooler letters doesn’t have to be boring. Make it interesting with this very simple and hands on literacy activity that’s just right for taking letter learning to the next level.
I’ve recently started creating videos of every EYT activity I write up and share with you guys.
Sometimes I’ll set one up or test it out during nap time if it’s a tricky one to film with the kids. Occasionally, Elena catches me.
Now Elena hates going to bed. There are some nights when she was around 2.5 years old where she would sneak out after bedtime and observe Ben and I watch TV.
She was convinced that once she went to bed, we ate all her favorite snacks–veggie straws and blueberries–and watched all her favorite shows, Doc McStuffins and Little Baby Bum.
And recently I’ve been proving her theory from a year ago correct, only during nap time instead of bedtime.
So she caught me doing this activity, and I pretty much had no choice but to let her cut her nap/quiet time short and have some letter tracing fun with me.
It’s educational, so it’s OK, right?
How to Set Up Pom Pom Letter Tracing
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Supplies used:
- Con-Tact paper
- masking tape
- computer paper
- marker
- 1″ pom poms
For this literacy activity, I made a sticky tray using Con-Tact paper that I taped sticky side up using masking tape.
I taped down three sides and left one open so I could slide the letters I had written on computer paper underneath the Con-Tact paper.
(BTW, Con-Tact paper is this awesome craft supply that you can find online or in the shelf liner section of many stores. I use it a lot for crafts and indoor activities where I don’t want to mess around with glue. Tap this link for a round-up of our mess-free Con-Tact paper activities.)
Con-Tact paper comes in many different styles and colors, but I always choose this one because it’s the most versatile and also perfect for this type of activity.
The letter should show through the sticky paper. Kids can trace it with pom poms.
The great thing about using Con-Tact paper with pom poms is that the pom poms stick in place without having to use glue, so you can reuse the sticky tray over and over.
Once one letter is finished, take the pom poms out, switch out the letter sheets and trace a new letter.
Creating Teachable Moments Through This Activity
Of course, you can sit back and watch kids explore the sticky paper, letters, and pom poms.
Sometimes though, you can create teachable moments as kids do activities like this.
I’d like to preface this section by saying, I’m not a children’s literacy expert. These are just prompts I came up with on the fly as Elena did the activity.
- What is this letter? What sound does it make?
- Let’s say some words that have this sound in them.
- What shapes does this letter have?
- How many lines does this letter have?
You could also talk about the number of pom poms used to make each letter, or about the feel of the pom poms and sticky paper. I decided to focus on literacy prompts during this activity.
My one tip if you’re going to use prompts during this activity is to allow plenty of space for your child to work in silence and to express his/her own thoughts and ideas. So, don’t just blow through the whole list so you can check each one off.
Elena really surprised me by naming some words that had the letter B sound in it. She also noticed it on a cake mix box we had out on the counter and asked me to read the word.
She added it to her little list of words: butter, bake, Betty. (We like to bake around here, can you tell?)
Your Turn to Try Pom Pom Letter Tracing
I did single capital letters on each page, but you could certainly do upper- and lowercase pairs together or even simple words.
Just make sure to use smaller pom poms (less than an inch) or write with enough space for each letter to be outlined.
Think you’ll try this activity? Let me know in the comments what you think!
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