Letter recognition using watercolors!
Your child is sure to have a blast and explore letter recognition with this watercolor activity! This is one of my kids’ all-time favorite learning activities! It includes creativity, art, letters, fine-motor skills, and more!
My children are always so excited about the art they create, which makes it even easier to review letters with the cards they make in this activity!
You can use this to help recognize letters and their names or even work on their sounds.
See the end of the article for lesson extension ideas!
Alright let’s get to it!
Step 1 Gather your supplies.
You will need:
- A white crayon (Yes! Finally a use for that white crayon)
- Watercolor paper cut into squares. (We used 2″ squares here) (also regular card stock works fine)
- Watercolor set. We use simple Crayola watercolor sets.
- Optional I do recommend having your child use a larger paint brush than the one that comes with the kit.
Step 2 Create the magic!
Using your white crayon write the letters of the alphabet neatly on the squares of paper. Remember to write in a font that is easy for your child to learn to read.
Step 3 Time for fun!
Let your child paint away!
It might be a good idea to show them how to lightly paint over the cards to reveal the letters. If they really scrub the paint on the letters may not show up as well.
Tip: Don’t worry if the paint does dry over the top of the wax, simply wipe or scratch the paint off of the letter!
Step 4 (Optional)
Laminate the cards for future use in activities. You can even use them as flashcards. See below for more ideas on how to use these little art pieces in future lessons!
Teaching notes
You can extend this activity over several days if your child becomes bored with painting, although that’s never happened to mine! Or you could use this as part of a “letter of the week” type activity. So many options!
While your child is painting and discovering letters you can encourage your child by staying positive and talking about the letters they’ve discovered. For example you might say something along the lines of: ” Wow! What letter is that?! Hmm, that’s the letter C! C says /K/ as in Cat /K/ /K/ /K/. C says /K/! “
Simply sitting nearby while your child creates these little works of art and talking about what letter they’ve discovered will help them retain their names and sounds. But let’s have a look at a few ideas you can use to extend this watercolor activity even further into more fun and learning.
Lesson extension activities
Letter Matching
Letter matching activities using these watercolor letter cards! Check out this blog post on exactly what you need and how to set these activities up!
Letter Banner
Letter banner that your child gets to make with their art! How proud they would be to be able to have this hanging in your homeschool area! It makes a great letter reference sheet too! Check out this blog here to see more info on this idea!
Letter recognition using watercolors
I hope your child has fun painting and learning! I hope these activities have provided you with some quick, easy ways to foster a love of learning in your child(ren)!
Coming soon: More learning ideas for preschoolers, kindergarteners, and older!
