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Inexpensive and DIY Sandpaper Letters Plus Alternatives

August 6, 2018 By Deb Chitwood 28 Comments

Sandpaper letters are one of the most commonly heard-of Montessori materials. And they should be! They were an important part of my phonics work as a Montessori teacher and Montessori homeschooler … and now as a Montessori grandma.

 

Disclosure: This post contains some affiliate links (at no cost to you).

Montessori-School-Quality Sandpaper Letters

Montessori-School-Quality Sandpaper Letters

Montessori schools need to buy high-quality sandpaper letters (photos from Trillium Montessori and To the Lesson!), but you can purchase inexpensive sandpaper letters or make your own for home use.

Where to Purchase Inexpensive Sandpaper Letters

If you’d like to purchase sandpaper letters for home use, there are a number of inexpensive options:

Alison’s Montessori

Lowercase Sandpaper Letters from Kid Advance

Kid Advance on Amazon (These are the sandpaper letters I have. They’re also available in cursive.)

If you’d like tactile letters that are inexpensive and may or may not be sandpaper, there are many options on Amazon.

Here’s a more thorough list of Montessori material suppliers along with comments from parents who purchased from various companies: Where to Buy Montessori Materials.

How to Make Your Own Sandpaper Letters

If you’re crafty or enjoy DIY projects, you might like to make your own sandpaper letters. There are some great tutorials available:

Teaching Montessori in the Home: The Preschool Years

There are patterns and directions for making your own sandpaper letters (in addition to many other Montessori materials) in the book Teaching Montessori in the Home: Pre-School Years: The Pre-School Years by Elizabeth G. Hainstock.

DIY Sandpaper Letters

DIY Sandpaper Letters

  • Beautiful Sun Montessori has a tutorial for making handmade wooden sandpaper letters.
  • Royal Baloo used printable letters (free instant download) and colored sand to make sandpaper letters.
  • Making Montessori Ours has DIY sandpaper letters in D’Nealian and cursive.

Welcome to Mommyhood has templates (subscriber freebie) for making sandpaper letters using plywood and sandpaper.

Dancing With Dinosaurs has cursive sandpaper letters on card.

Little Tiger Growing Up made an attractive set of DIY sandpaper letters with sandpaper and colored cardboard.

Montessori Mom has a free sandpaper letter printout: Free Montessori Sandpaper Letters Printout.

Kaisu Parents has directions for making sandpaper letters from vanguard paper/manila card. Do It Yourself : Alphabet Cards (1) -Montessori Sandpaper Letters.

Happy Early Learning used cardstock and sandpaper along with printable templates.

There are some basic directions for making sandpaper letters at Family Education.

Playground Parkbench has letters made using printed letters on cardstock and textured materials.

How to make sandpaper letters from Momtessori: Do I need any white out for this? {Sandpaper letters}.

ABC Jesus Loves Me has both instructions and templates for making sandpaper letters (and numerals).

Montessori Materials has sandpaper letter templates.

Soul Food Time used sandpaper on plywood rectangles.

Montessori My Life used carbon paper to trace the letters to make sandpaper letters.

Practical Mama made sandpaper letters with poster board and sandpaper.

Practical Mom used thin MDF board and sandpaper.

My Domestic Monastery used sandpaper letters on wood pieces.

At Totally Tots, Julie from Nurturing Learning showed how to make simple sandpaper letters that used cardstock, sand, and glue rather than cutting letters from sandpaper.

Tried & True used a Silhouette machine to cut out the letters for sandpaper letters.

Sage-Ness made Hindi and Gujarati sandpaper letters.

Pumpkins and Me has a free printable template (instant download) for making phonogram letters.

DIY Alternatives to Sandpaper Letters

Tactile Nature Letters with Free Letter Templates

I have free printable templates (instant download) for making tactile nature letters.

Kingdom of the Pink Princesses made glitter glue letters that can be prepared easily in any language.

DIY Alternatives to Sandpaper Letters

DIY Alternatives to Sandpaper Letters

  • Jojoebi has directions for making a version of wooden sandpaper letters with pre-cut boards and sticky-backed felt.
  • Gift of Curiosity has hot glue letters (photo) and glitter glue letters.
  • Learn Play Imagine has puffy paint letters.
  • Teach Me Mommy has directions and free printable templates (subscriber freebie) for making pipe cleaner letters.

The Moffat Girls made DIY Montessori Sandpaper Letters with felt on wooden discs.

Dabbling Momma has salt letters on wood pieces.

Make, Take  & Teach made tactile letters with outdoor tread on poster board.

Some alternatives to sandpaper letters from Momtessori: This is the next best thing …

Sandpaper Letter Presentations and Extensions

How to introduce sandpaper letters, including a video on introducing sandpaper letters:  How to Teach Concepts and Vocabulary to Your Preschooler Using the Three-Period Lesson (my post and a Montessori Primary Guide video)

In What Order Should You Introduce Letters to Your Preschooler?

In What Order Should You Introduce Letters to Your Preschooler? (another post of mine)

Teach Letter Sounds to Your Child Using Montessori Principles

My post with video on how to pronounce the phonetic sound for each letter: Teach Letter Sounds to Your Child Using Montessori Principles.

Montessori – Sandpaper Letters by InfoMontessori (This is a basic lesson for introducing three sandpaper letters.)

To the Lesson! has a post with helpful ideas for record-keeping for sandpaper letters.

Sandpaper Letter Extensions

Sandpaper Letter Extensions

  • The OT Toolbox has free printable cursive cards (subscriber freebie) for making letters with Wikki Stix.
  • Peaceful Parenting has a number of extensions for sandpaper letters and phonetic sounds (including a sandpaper letter with salt tray): On the Road to Reading: Eight Months of Montessori Literacy Work.
  • No Time for Flash Cards has sandpaper letter tracing, a fun extension.

Homeschool Creations has free printable playdough mats (instant download) for making playdough letters.

I typically have a writing tray using salt, sand, or another textured material for my monthly themes.

Printed Alphabet Tracing Board FromJennifer on Etsy

Printed Alphabet Tracing Board FromJennifer on Etsy

This printed alphabet tracing board FromJennifer on Etsy is a wonderful extension to work with sandpaper letters. Be sure to get the lowercase version.

More DIY Montessori Materials

How to Make Your Own Montessori MaterialsYou’ll find lots and lots of ideas for DIY Montessori materials in my post on how to make your own Montessori materials.

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Learn more about my eBook Montessori at Home or School: How to. Teach Grace and Courtesy!

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Filed Under: Activities - Language, Montessori Homeschool Classroom and Materials Tagged With: alternatives to sandpaper letters, DIY Montessori materials, DIY Sandpaper Letters, inexpensive sandpaper letters, phonics

Previous Post: « Where to Buy Montessori Materials
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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Sasha says

    December 19, 2011 at 4:23 am

    Thanks Deb, for featuring my photo in your wonderfully informative post and for the link to my record keeping idea. I can’t tell you how much I look forward to your posts which are always so well done, accurate, and full of ideas and inspiration! Thank you, thank you, thank you!
    Sasha

    Reply
    • Deb says

      December 22, 2011 at 2:17 pm

      Thanks so much for your very kind comment, Sasha! I always enjoy your posts – and find them very inspirational, too! 🙂

      Reply
  2. Julie says

    December 19, 2011 at 6:36 am

    Thanks for all those links to sandpaper letters. I also wrote a post for Totally Tots that shows I we made our sandpaper letters, without cutting out any sandpaper. http://totallytots.blogspot.com/2011/11/little-hands-on-abcs-and-123s-simple.html

    Julie from The Adventures of Bear

    Reply
    • Deb says

      December 22, 2011 at 2:41 pm

      Thanks so much for sharing your link, Julie! That’s a wonderful idea … so simple and a great way for kids to get involved, too! I added your link to my post. 🙂

      Reply
  3. heather at wordplayhouse® says

    December 19, 2011 at 6:16 am

    Nice resources to buy or make sandpaper letters. With all the cutting making would require on this project one might even choose to spend the extra to buy them ready-made… or enlist help of older children to help cut! -heather

    Reply
    • Deb says

      December 22, 2011 at 2:18 pm

      Thanks, Heather! Buying inexpensive sandpaper letters is a great option for many homeschoolers – and I love the idea of having older children help cut DIY sandpaper letters! 🙂

      Reply
  4. Discovering Montessori says

    December 19, 2011 at 10:20 am

    Thank you Deb! This post was right on time. Ken and DJ have a strong interest in writing cursive. I love the sandpaper letters, this should put them in the right direction. Thank you so much for sharing.

    Reply
    • Deb says

      December 22, 2011 at 2:42 pm

      Thanks, Discovering Montessori! Your kids are so great at helping prepare activities that I bet they’d have fun helping you prepare the letters, too! 🙂

      Reply
  5. Mommy to the Princesses says

    December 19, 2011 at 11:03 am

    Great post, as always! I cut sand paper and glued it on card stock for English Alphabets. Another easy idea is to use glitter glue. I used this to create our native language alphabets. Here is my post on that ->http://pinkprincesskingdom.blogspot.com/2011/04/glitter-glue-letters.html

    Reply
    • Deb says

      December 22, 2011 at 2:44 pm

      What a great idea … thanks so much for sharing your link! I added your photo and post to my post! 🙂

      Reply
  6. Cherine says

    December 19, 2011 at 12:54 pm

    I remember looking for ideas to make these… It is so nice to see all these resources in one place ready to share!! Fantastic post!!

    Reply
    • Deb says

      December 22, 2011 at 2:45 pm

      Thanks so much for your kind comment, Cherine! I had fun finding the resources … and I’m glad my post is helpful! 🙂

      Reply
  7. Emily says

    December 19, 2011 at 8:39 pm

    Thank you so much for this great post! You went above and beyond with all of the ideas, links and resources. I’ve saved many of your posts for when my son is a bit older. Thanks!

    Reply
    • Deb says

      December 22, 2011 at 2:47 pm

      Thanks for your kind words, Emily! I’m so happy to hear you’re saving my posts for when your son is older. 🙂

      Reply
  8. Sierra says

    December 19, 2011 at 9:09 pm

    Ohh, I have been thinking that I really want to make some sandpaper letters for Boogie! You read my mind 🙂 Thank you for all the great resources!

    Reply
    • Deb says

      December 22, 2011 at 2:48 pm

      Thanks, Sierra! I’m glad my timing is right for you! 🙂

      Reply
  9. Lulu says

    December 20, 2011 at 5:48 am

    I have not decided what to do about sandpaper letters yet. Definitely something to think about! Making my own seems like something I could do but my crafty skills are somewhat lacking!

    Some of my Tot School activities have a montessori feel- we did a ton of art and craft too!

    Reply
    • Deb says

      December 22, 2011 at 2:50 pm

      Thanks for your comment, Lulu! It’s nice that the tutorials make it easy for those of us who are somewhat craft-challenged! 🙂

      Reply
  10. JDaniel4's Mom says

    December 20, 2011 at 7:12 am

    What an array of resources! I am off to check them you.

    Reply
    • Deb says

      December 22, 2011 at 2:52 pm

      Thanks so much, JDaniel4’s Mom! I’m impressed with all the inexpensive and DIY options that are available online now. 🙂

      Reply
  11. Katie says

    January 10, 2012 at 10:03 pm

    I LOVE the letter with the salt tray! What a fantastic idea! Fantastic post.

    Reply
    • Deb says

      January 11, 2012 at 5:56 pm

      Thanks so much for your kind comment, Katie! 🙂

      Reply
  12. Melissa says

    August 27, 2012 at 7:31 pm

    This is a wonderful collection of resources, Deb. I linked to it in my post about introducing the letter sounds with the Sandpaper Letters.

    Reply
  13. Sara - My Merry Messy Life says

    January 6, 2013 at 6:52 pm

    Hello! I love your site and am doing Montessori preschooling with my son. I am making sandpaper letters and have a question – is there a certain purpose and importance of using the d’Nealian letters or is it okay to just use Arial?

    Reply
    • Deb says

      January 7, 2013 at 11:14 pm

      Thanks so much for your kind comment, Sara! Many Montessorians use d’Nealian letters because they connect together easily. Many others use a simple print font, too. Some choose a font based on what their children will use later on. It’s really up to your preference. Have fun!

      Reply
  14. Anik says

    February 17, 2014 at 4:01 am

    Thank you so much for featuring our sandpaper letters in your post 🙂
    So many great ideas here! I love your Blog – full of information and activities to try! 🙂

    Reply
  15. tropie says

    November 24, 2014 at 6:13 pm

    I have not decided what to do about sandpaper letters yet. Definitely something to think about! Making my own seems like something I could do but my crafty skills are somewhat lacking!

    Reply
  16. Anel Winney says

    April 4, 2016 at 4:32 pm

    Hi Deb, thanks so much for sharing this! I’ve been coming back to it as a reference as I gather the materials for my DIY sandpaper letters. My question is, should the letters be a certain size? I have found that the letters I have printed look awfully small on the wood slat that I have. Thank you!

    Reply

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