Playtime Learning
Magic letters activity – wax resist art
As they paint over the paper the letters magically appear and your child will become more familiar with their shapes and forms.
You can start by writing one letter several times on your piece of card. Or you can write your child’s name or write a simple word. Let them play around with different letters and most of all have fun with it!
Summary:
Time: 5 minutes
Age: Toddlers to Little kids
Difficulty: Easy peasy
Skills: Writing first letters
You will need:
- White card
- White wax crayons or candles
- Watercolour paints, different colours
- Paintbrushes
Step 1: Write your letters
Write your letters on the card, using either a white crayon or a candle as a crayon.
You need to press down quite firmly for the ‘magic’ to work well once your child paints over them.
We recommend starting with lower case letters as these are commonly the first letters preschoolers learn.
Step 2: Mix up some watery paints
Add a small amount of paint to water and mix well. You may need to dilute the paint quite a bit.
Step 3: Time for the magic
Now for the fun bit. Give your child a paintbrush and ask them to paint over the card to see what letters they can reveal.
Can they say the sound it makes?
What words start with that sound?
Are there any more letters to discover on the page?
As they get older, your child might like to have a go writing their own letters with the crayon and then painting over them until they appear.
If they have started ‘blending’ letter sounds together, why not write out short words like ‘at’ or ‘cat’. After the big letter reveal they can then try to figure out what the word is, by sounding out the letters.
