Alphabet Book-Making Kids' Craft

Who wants to make a fine motor skill-building alphabet book? Here’s the inspiration behind this kids’ craft: When my son was in kindergarten his teacher made him (and the other students) sit and write letter after letter as a way of building fine motor skills and learning the alphabet. When he got home from his brief half-day of school he had homework. To sit and write more letters – over and over and over and over again. It wasn’t fun. It wasn’t anywhere near fun. It wasn’t even in the same zip code as fun.

I’m not saying that all learning has to be fun. But, why go only with rote work at such a young age? Yes, I get the educational rationale behind what my son’s teacher was doing. That said, the end result wasn’t that he learned his letters (he had actually mastered the alphabet in preschool) or that his penmanship grew to become perfect. What was the result? He began to hate school. At 5-years-old he hated school. That just shouldn’t happen. If your child isn’t into the rote work, you can always add a bit of creativity into his home learning. This doesn’t mean that you have to home school. Just add a few extra lessons during the course of your day, week or month.

Book-making is a favorite kids’ art activity of mine. This one helps your child to build fine motor skills and learn letters – all without writing them over and over again. It’s also reusable, so it’s not a onetime deal. It’s built out of other school supplies. If you happen to have some extra folders (or other school supplies) left over, you can use these for this project.

Here’s What You’ll Need:

·        A plain manila folder – It can be any color of paper folder.

·        Clear/clear colored folder dividers

·        Construction paper

·        Pipe cleaners

·        Scissors

·        A hole punch

·        A marker

·        Felt/fabric scraps

·        Modeling clay

·        Optional: Other ‘building’ materials such as twigs, pebbles, beads or anything else that can shape a letter.

Here’s What to Do:

1.     Line the clear dividers up with the folder – making the left edges even.

2.     Punch three holes in the folder where the holes are in the dividers (if your dividers don’t already have pre-made holes, punch them out now).
 

3.     Repeat with the construction paper. You need one clear divider and one piece of paper for each letter.

4.     Stack the alphabet book together with a clear divider on top of each piece of paper.

5.     Cut the pipe cleaner in half. Your child needs three halves.

6.     Thread a pipe cleaner through each set of holes, twisting it together at the ends to bind the book.
 

7.     Starting with the first piece of construction paper, write the letter A. Either you or your child can write the letters, depending where he is with his writing. Make the letters large size and legible.
 

8.     Use the book! Start with the A. Flip the clear sheet over the letter. Your child can build the letter on top of the drawing, with the divider separating it. Use clay, put pieces of felt/fabric together or use another building material. Clear the letter off and repeat for the other ones.

 

Are you looking for more kids’ crafts? Follow my Pinterest board for ideas!

Follow Mini Monets and Mommies's board Creative Kids Crafts on Pinterest.