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Home » activities » Learning to Write the Alphabet with Cotton Swab Painting

Learning to Write the Alphabet with Cotton Swab Painting

Reluctant learners can get interested in learning to write the alphabet when you incorporate art into their activity. Idea for cotton swab painting at The Stay-at-Home-Mom Survival Guide.
Teaching children to learn letters and numbers does not always require a pencil or other writing tool. We tried to write the alphabet with cotton swab painting idea. Even my second child who is a bit more resistant to try out learning activities was interested in this activity because it involves painting-her love! Try a cotton swab for an easy-to-cleanup activity for painting letters and/or numbers.

Learning to Write the Alphabet with Cotton Swab Painting

All you need to set this up for your preschool-aged child is a piece of paper (we used construction paper), paint (we used Crayola tempera), a marker or pen, and a cotton swab.

Write the Alphabet with Cotton Swab

First, write the letters of the alphabet on the piece of paper.


We were learning upper case letters, so that is what I wrote. You can practice lower case if that is where your child is in their learning.

painting the letters with cotton swabs learning activity for teaching the alphabet to the creative child at The Stay-at-Home-Mom Survival Guide

Prepare the painting area.
Place a cookie sheet or kitchen towel on a flat surface (we do our projects on our dining table).

I like using an old baking sheet as a painting tray because it helps contain the mess.

My daughter wanted to use multiple colors of paint to alternate colors as she went along, but when I did this with my son when he was 3, he picked one color. You and your child can choose what you would like to do.

At first, my son was dotting along each letter, but it was ultimately better pre-writing practice to trace each letter using the cotton swab…it was quicker too.

Sometimes copy-work can be boring, or not engaging enough for the creative child, so this merges that need for art exploration with a more structured activity like tracing the letters. It is a nice go-to when you need to teach the alphabet to a reluctant learner!

My oldest daughter also painted the numbers 1-12 using this painting method.

Use cotton swabs to paint as a fun art exploration that is easy to clean up and a great fine motor activity for developing pre-writing skills. Check this out on The Stay-at-Home-Mom Survival Guide.

Even if your child is not yet ready for this structured activity of learning to write the alphabet with cotton swab, painting with cotton swabs is a nice alternative to paint brushes. Since it is easy to use multiple colors and simple to clean up!


Cotton swab letter painting-learn to "write" letters and numbers by painting.

 

Preschool activity kits.

Here are some more learning to write the alphabet activities:

Free printable Qtip letter painting pages from ABCs to ACTs

Cotton Swab Pre-Writing Painting Activity from Lessons Learnt Journal

Easter Egg Painting with Cotton Swabs and Fingers for a messy art activity at Danya Banya

View more easy to set up Preschool Activities here.

Successful Mom Daily Checklist to help you gain balance between housework and play time with the kids. Get more done, and feel more successful as a mom and homemaker.

Enjoy your time at home!

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February 14, 2015 by Jaimi Erickson 29 Comments Filed Under: activities Tagged With: alphabet, art, homeschool preschool, letters, painting, preschool

Comments

  1. Kathy J. Bowman says

    April 9, 2017 at 9:45 pm

    Wow! my 34 months old daughter loves to paint. Already painted on all of my walls. May be this can give her more drawing pleasure!

    Reply
  2. Angelecia Huggart says

    February 18, 2017 at 11:59 am

    i like these ideas. They definately are helpful.

    Reply
  3. Nancy Shaw says

    December 12, 2016 at 12:20 am

    I loved this post! I have a 19 month old boy & I love reading to his.

    Reply
    • Jaimi says

      December 29, 2016 at 2:14 pm

      Thank you! Reading to the little ones is so important. Enjoy!

      Reply
  4. Melissa Matters says

    February 18, 2015 at 6:44 pm

    How fun! My son is ready to start writing letters so I think this would be a great activity for him.

    Reply
    • Jaimi says

      February 20, 2015 at 10:42 pm

      Perfect! This will be a great exploratory activity for him. Have fun!

      Reply
  5. Susen Kuchta says

    February 17, 2015 at 11:57 am

    We just tried our hand recently at painting with cotton swabs too! I like your letter painting idea.

    Reply
    • Jaimi says

      February 17, 2015 at 8:47 pm

      Oh, fun! Thanks, Susen. This was a major break through for my "reluctant learner", so it was a really great experience.

      Reply

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