I’m a huge fan of many of the Montessori teaching methods and try to implement many of the exercises throughout the day for both of my boys. One unfortunate thing about Montessori, however, is the cost of materials. It’s like shopping for clothes during pregnancy, once a tank top label has “maternity” on it, you’re going to be paying three times the normal price. Same goes for Montessori. So, whenever possible, I try to make my supplies and not only do I save money but I have fun doing it!
Before we get to the tutorial, I should disclaim that I’m absolutely positive the Silhouette people would not advise using their machine to cut sandpaper so you know, proceed with caution. Here are my two arguments on why I think using a cutting machine in this manner is ok:
1. I’m using an old Silhouette blade that I don’t mind destroying to cut out the sandpaper letters and
2. The super fine sandpaper I bought is thinner and smoother than most of the glittered cardstock and there’s already a setting for in Studio so I know that’s ok to cut.
As always, if you don’t want to use your Silhouette or don’t have one, you can always choose to hand cut this project with plain old scissors and a whole lot of patience/time. Perfectly doable. Just pop in a season of Dr. Who and you’re good to go!
Montessori Sandpaper Letters
Materials:
- Free Montessori D’Nealian Alphabet (01, 02)
- Extra Fine Sandpaper
- 4.5×3.5 Unfinished Wood Plaques (I ordered two packs (48 plaques) from The New Image Group and bought another pack of four from Michael’s to have enough to make upper and lower case letters)- Spray Adhesive
- Mod Podge
- Spray Paint (I chose a red/blue combination for the consonants and vowels but you can always go with the traditional pink/baby blue)
1. Paint five of the plaques blue and the other 21 red with a few coats of spray paint.
2. Cut out the letters either by hand or with a Silhouette machine. I used the glittered cardstock setting on my Silhouette Cameo. I had to tape the sandpaper down around the edges because it wasn’t sticking well but I think it was because my mat was somewhat old. Working with only a few letters at a time, apply a fine layer of spray adhesive to the back.
3. Use previously centered letters (like “u” in the picture above) to align ascenders and decenders. I was also consulting a picture of the D’Nealian alphabet to make sure the letters were angled in the right direction. I placed a few heavy books on the cards to decrease curling as much as possible.
4. Once glue has dried completely, apply an even coat of Mod Podge over the cards to seal and protect. If any of the letter edges are curled up, use a little bit of Mod Podge to set back in place. Allow to dry completely.
5. Watch and enjoy your child interacting with these beautiful handmade Montessori Sandpaper Letters or…
Try to avert a full blown meltdown when your one year old wants a set of his own! Poor baby, your time will come, Sweet Max.
Check out my other Montessori projects:
Trilingual Number Cards
Tactile Matching Game
This project is a part of The Silhouette Challenge hosted by The Thinking Closet . Stop by each month for a new and exciting free tutorial and studio file. Here are my projects from previous months:
January: Martin Luther King Window Art
February: We’re Better Together Card
Check out all the other TSG projects for this month:
Gender Neutral Onesies & Free Cut Files - (The Thinking Closet)
Personalized Kindle Fire Cover - (Daily Dwelling)
Vintage Numbered File Organizer: Office Organization - (Whole New Leaf)
Make Montessori Sandpaper Letters with Silhouette - (Tried & True)
Steampunk Lime Fog Plus Free Stuff - (Creative Turn)
Their WORD for 2013: A Gift - (An Elegant Touch)
Pinch-Proof Shamrock Pin - (Coley’s Corner)
Lucky - (Sugar Bee Crafts)
How to Not Lose Your Sunglasses – Silhouette Style - (Crafty Jac)
Interested in joining us for our group posting event next month? We’d love to have you. Simply contact Lauren from The Thinking Closet by email.
triedandtrueblog
I like this, when i was little i went to the montessori school as well.
I loved it all, all the beautiful learning objects, it was always fun to learn by yourself.
When i went to the kindergarten it was in the early 60ths and because in the Netherlands we all had less because of the IIWW all the parents had to made those learing objects.
So i like it that you share this great tute with us all.
Later when i went to normal traditional school i still had profite of this school system. So i’m still grateful that my mum choossen for this new system.
Most people asked me to wich system i went during my childhood and when they heard wich one , they telling me that’s i thing why your so creative. I think it’s a part of it’, i came from a very creative family.
So thank you for this sharing and i hope it will all goes well with the youngest one which had to wait for a while. I understand his sadness;XD
What wonderful memories you must have!
These look amazing! Awesome job.
Thanks! Good thing I had someone to watch Max while I finished them!
Wow! I love that you were courageous enough to try cutting with a new material…and I think your reasoning is totally legit. The finished product turned out lovely…and that photo of your little one in tears is too precious. If only all kids were so eager to learn!
Here’s a link to my project that works! Sorry for the blip on my shortcode. Getting it all worked out for next time. http://www.thinkingcloset.com/2013/03/11/gender-neutral-onesies-free-cut-files/
Thanks, Lauren! I fixed your link so no worries. :)
Those are really sweet. I like the idea of tactile stimulation as well as visual.
Thanks for sharing.
I couldn’t agree more, Lynne. Everything just clicks when both are intertwined!
These turned out so great!! I’ll pin these for my besties with little ones!
Thanks, Keri!
This is great! I did this years ago with a Big Shot Cutter though, and I mounted mine on pieces of chipboard. They’ve lasted 3 years and 3 boys so far though-such a great tutorial, pinning to share!
3 years and 3 boys? Yours must be awesome!
We had these letters too! Still have them stored away in a box cause they were so darn expensive! :) Love your DIY version!
No kidding, right? Let me know if you ever want to sell anything off! ;)
Those are wonderful! I don’t know a ton about the Montessori method, but I’ve have a friend that taught and she loved it…
I knew absolutely nothing about it until I started looking at stuff for Jack. It just fits with his learning personality.
Way to be brave! They turned out awesome!
I was worried the entire time they were cutting. :/ Thanks!
When I’m cutting any material I get really nervous on how it’s going to turn out and what it’s going to do to my blade. I’m scared to try this but it turned out really cool. Sorry I don’t know much about Montesorri, is the reason for the sandpaper to incorporate a sense of kinesthetic touch and texture into learning?
Thanks for the idea!
In reply of Vanessa Brady.
Yes i have, i’m still grateful of my mothers choice, it was at those times hard to send your children to a different school system. In the Netherlands we were specialied in to compartmentalizing.
For every thing you had a club or a church or school or … by wich compartment you belonged .
We were of religion protestands, so i had to go normally to a protestands school.
For all people there were things that they must join, My mother had to explain many times why she didn’t send us to the school that the church preferd. But this is now lesser. Happely.XD
My sis told me when i asked her did you loved the small fences with the colour gradients.
I love them but not for the real job to make a big fence of them all.
my sis did the same, so we all have our own memories and fun stories.
My sister is now a specialist montessori teacher, i’m still proud of her.
But later when i was older i still loved all the beautiful made materials. I loved it all.
So often i liked it to go to school. I think for me it was a sort of playtime , but i have learned my skills as well.
I realized later years ago how lucky i was and how much profite i still have of this school system.
I have learned to do my things without restrictings of others, it made all of us more indipendent and and self motivated abd tge ability to manage on one’s. My hubby often became mad of that.LOL
What a great idea! I’ll have to remember this for my friends with kids…
These are great, love that they are mounted on the wood….another idea instead of cutting actual sand paper is to do the trick I use for glitter. Cut them out of heavy cardstock, then run them through a Xyron machine upside down, then sprinkle with sand (you could even use colored sand this way, or add some glitter… because well…. everything is better with glitter, right?) That way you have no worries about cutting sand paper :) The Xyron puts a perfect layer of adhesive on, even glitter stays put so sand should work fine too. I think I’ll try this for my little one.
That’s a great idea!
Hi Vanessa,
I’m just getting around to blogs to check out these fabulous Silohuette projects and love this. My boys both attended Montessori – my youngest will enter his final year next fall :,( as a 6th year- so naturally I loved this. I’m not certain if our early childhood classroom has these or not, but I will be sure to inquire. The cost of materials for the classrooms are incredibly expensive and we are so blessed to have our little gem of a school in our tiny community that I like to help out where I can. So far I have only used my Cameo for signs for our fundraiser, but you opened my eyes to some other possibilities. Thank you!
I’m so glad you liked them! Your Montessori school sounds amazing!
I cannot download the letter templates, is there anyone that has been able to download them?
Thank you!