DIY Preschool Number Cards

A while back, I considered ordering some tactile, Montessori-style number cards for my three year old.  Then, thanks to the awesomeness that is pinterest, I got the idea to make some instead.  I first saw this tutorial, but I decided that was way too many tiny cuts into sandpaper.  My fingers hurt just thinking about it.  Plus, I didn't think my printer could handle the sandpaper, so that would be an extra step to trace the numbers on there first.  Then I saw another tutorial, which gave me the fantastic idea to use glue and sand to make the cards.  Brilliant, right?  Even better, we needed to fill in some holes in the backyard, so I planned to use some of the extra sand from that project.  Surprise.  My husband came home with top soil.  Um, I didn't think dirt number cards were the best idea.  So there I was, ready to make my number cards with my green poster board, glue, and no sand.  But . . . . I had glitter.  Pink glitter.

The process is simple.  Cut up a poster board or card stock into equal sized cards.  Mine are about 7" wide and 5 1/2" tall, but you can make them any size you want.  Squeeze some glue in the shape of the number (or letter) you want on the card.  Leave some space on the side for your child to hold the card down while tracing.

Sprinkle some glitter (or sand, if you have that instead of top soil, colored sand would be fun also) over the glue to completely coat the number.  Shake off the excess.  Put a little green dot at the "start" of the number, and put a red dot at the "end" of the number.  Add some arrows to help guide their little finger, allow time for the glue to completely dry, and voila!  Tactile number cards.  Sparkly tactile number cards.  My kid loves them.  Sure, a few pieces of glitter fall off now and then, but it's so worth cleaning up a few specks of sparkles to have her excited about something.  I only made through five, but I guarantee I'll be making the rest of the numbers and later the lowercase and capital letters on different colored poster board.