DIY Felt Alphabets

A frequency chart tells you how often letters occur in a block of text.

Manipulatives help young children learn skills such as math and spelling. The manipulatives reinforce tactile and kinesthetic learning modalities. Making letters from fabrics such as velour, felt or brocade give the letters a texture that makes working with them more memorable and enjoyable. Craft felt provides a relatively inexpensive craft medium available in 9-inch by 12-inch sheets or by the yard. Purchase various colors of felt, making five or more pieces for more common letters such as the vowels, t, h, s, m, n, r and d, and including upper- and lower-case letters.

Things You'll Need

• Stencils
• Felt
• Pencil
• Scissors
• Flannel board (optional)
• Magnets (optional)

Instructions

Process

1. Take a commercial paper stencil and punch out all of the letters. Use a pair of manicure or embroidery scissors to eliminate any small paper tags left behind after the letters are removed.

2. Lay the stencil on top of your craft felt and outline one of each of the letters.

3. Add additional letters based on the relative frequency with which they appear in the English language. Add three "e"s. Add two of each of the following letters: "t," "a," "i," "n," "o" and "s." Add one additional "r," "l," "d," "h" and "c."

4. Repeat Steps 2 and 3 with two or three more colors of felt. You may choose to use different font styles of letters to provide more variety.

5. Cut out each of the letters.

Uses

1. Use the letters on a large board covered with flannel. This will encourage the letters to stick to the board so you can spell out spelling words or write complete sentences using the felt letters.

2. Place a small, adhesive-backed magnet on each letter to use it on a whiteboard, refrigerator or other metal surface.

3. Lay the letters on fabric and pin them in place to use them for appliques. Sew around the outside of each letter and around the inside of the cut-out sections for letters such as "a", "e" and "o."

4. Toss the letters and mix them up on a tabletop. Use them to leave a message for a family member or friend. Lay a piece of clear plastic over the letters to keep them from blowing off the table.

References

• Central College: Relative Frequencies of Letters in General English Plain Text