I think probably one of the most popular activities in our house is to draw on the mirrors in our dining room with window markers.
More specifically, the boys really love to trace letters on these mirrored doors. Seriously, this particular activity has been a favorite for about two years now.
So, if you're looking for a more unique alphabet activity for your kids, then give this tracing bubble letters on mirrors activity a try. It's straightforward to set up and is great prewriting practice for kids. Then there's the sensory aspect of the mirrors and the whole writing on a vertical surface...it's just a lot of fun! (I mean, there's a reason it's been a favorite in our house for so long!)
What You'll Need for this Tracing Bubble Letters on Mirrors Activity
Here's what we used for this alphabet activity:
- Large vertical mirrors - We have two large mirrored doors in our dining room, but you could use a full length floor mirror or something similar.
- Window markers - You could also use dry erase markers if you prefer, but we like window markers best for drawing on mirrors and windows.
To set up this activity, I drew large bubble letters, both uppercase and lowercase, on the mirrors in our dining room using window markers. I did uppercase on one mirror and lowercase on the other mirror. Alternatively, you could write out sight words, you child's name, numbers, spelling words, etc.
Random facts: J always calls bubble letters, "New Letters," which makes me giggle every time. And yes, my mirrors are usually always that dirty and covered with fingerprints. I have small children. What do you expect?
A Fun Alphabet & Writing Activity Using Mirrors
Whenever I set up this activity, my two boys usually start off by tracing the letters with their fingers. Or they might point and identify the letters. In this particular instance, though, they sang the alphabet while pointing to each of the letters.
After doing that for a bit, the boys then each grabbed some window markers. I always try to leave out colors that are different than what I used to draw the bubble letters. That way they can easily see what they've drawn versus what I've drawn. Since K is still pretty little, he mostly just scribbles and colors over each letter, as you can see below. But, at least he identifies the letters before he colors all over them.
J, on the other hand, is a pro at this activity and writing in general, despite how young he is. He quickly drew all the letters inside the bubble letters.
As you can see below, J is pretty darn good at this. It's really how he learned how to write letters when he was around 2.5 years old. (Although I have since learned it's quite common for hyperlexic learners to learn to write early too. I just didn't know what hyperlexia was when this blog post was first published.)
We have done this same activity to practice writing sight words, the boys' names, numbers, and more. And thankfully the boys enjoy the cleanup part as much as the actual writing part! All you need is a spray bottle and some rags to quickly clean it up.
Other Alphabet & Literacy Activities Your Kids Will Love
This letter tracing mirror activity is part of the monthly Light & Reflections series where a few bloggers and I share fun ways for kids to explore and learn using light and mirrors. Here are the other alphabet and literacy activities from this month's series:
Flashlight Alphabet Game from Happily Ever Mom
Geoboard Letters on the Light Table from Where Imagination Grows
And if you don't have window markers for this tracing bubble letters on mirrors activity, you could always try making tape letters on mirrors instead.
