Sensory Letter Writing

Activity Overview
Letter writing is an activity intrinsic to older preschool children. When thinking about early literacy for young learners, we find there is much more engagement when the activity is hands-on and stimulating to the senses. When we add a sensory component to an otherwise straightforward writing exercise, we find the skills stick easier and the student retains the information more readily. This is because we are engaging another one of the child’s sensory systems for information to be processed and stored. All that said, writing letters in sensory materials is just plain fun and very satisfying.

What You Need

• A plate, dish, pie plate, or container with a flat bottom

• A sensory material (salt, rice, quinoa, lentils, cornmeal, flour, sugar, sprinkles, shaving cream, or anything else you have handy)

• Letter cards- These are not mandatory for the activity, but can be used as a guide for younger learners

Steps

1. Place your letter card on the bottom of the plate.

2. Add 1-2 cups of the sensory material to the plate (enough so that the material can be parted to see the letter underneath).

3. Using their finger, allow the student to find the underlying letter and trace it with their index finger.

4. Allow them to explore letters that excite them – perhaps the first of their name or a letter that is more familiar to them.

5. Repeat the activity with as many letter cards as suits your student.

Guiding Questions

• How does this material feel? Rough, smooth, soft, crunchy?

• What else could we use to write our letters?

Extensions

• Add lowercase letters for tracing

• Have the student prepare the guiding letters

• Have the student write letters and words in the material without the guiding letters

• Instead of using their finger to part the sensory material, have the student place the sensory material on the line to draw the letter

• If your children are not yet to a letter writing phase, trace shapes, or simply make marks in the sensory material