Eric Carle Tissue Letters

Here is a fun craft idea to accompany the book Eric Carle's ABC. My son is still a little young for it, but I loved doing projects like this when I was teaching, and I look forward to doing things like this with him in a few years. (Right now, he would just try to eat the tissue paper.)

Before you start you will need:

• Cut/Torn tissue paper of many colors. (As many or few as you want, but the more colors the more colorful the art project.)
• Drawing/Construction paper (the ticker the better) cut into the shape of your favorite letters. (Possibly the letters in your child's name.)
• Glue
• Paint brush
• Water

Mix equal parts of glue and water to make a diluted glue solution. You can put this in a bowl or on a paper plate. (Paper plates are sometimes easier and less likely to get knocked over.) Have your child paint the glue solution onto the letter, covering it completely. (If they don't cover it completely it's not a big deal. This is art. It is interpretive.) Then, take the torn/cut pieces of tissue paper and place them on their letter. They can use as many colors as they want. The tissue paper can overlap. The point of this is to make as colorful and interesting a letter as possible. 

Now, once your child is done adding tissue paper, paint another coating of the glue solution over the tissue paper. (Some of the tissue paper might come off, and that's OK. Just stick it right back on!) Let it dry.

Once the letters are dry, hang them on the fridge, on the walls or on the windows! (Which will create a pretty stained glass effect unless the paper is very thick!) You have made Eric Carle Tissue Letters!!! They are a great learning tool to go along with Eric Carle's ABC book! As you work on your letters you can talk about the sounds each letter makes.

Happy Crafting!