Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve loved word games, so it makes sense that I still enjoy letters and fonts and having them around me. And as I work with children on a regular basis, I see the great value in getting kids excited about letters and words too.

Keeping old Scrabble tiles at hand or playing with Bananagrams (even if only for exploration!) is a fun start, and printing out some letter tiles in bright colors will extend the letter love, and create nearly endless opportunities for crafting with words!

What You Need

• Printable letter tiles (download here)
• Heavy card stock
• Scissors or paper cutter
• Variety of crafting supplies

For each of these projects, you’ll want to print onto heavy card stock for more stability and longer lasting tiles. Each page has one of each letter, plus numbers and some blanks, so print as many as you want. You can cut the tiles apart using a regular scissors or a paper cutter.

The simplest way to use your tiles is for word play. You can play a crossword game like freeform Scrabble or Bananagrams, practice spelling words, or even create your own memory game of letters!

To make some letter picks for decorating a cake or other treats, wrap a piece of jewelry wire around a pencil, then tape one end to the back of a letter tile.

For a fast and easy jewelry project, perfect for a birthday party or crafty get-together, glue a strip of felt to the back of a letter tile, forming a hanger. Slide a necklace chain through, and your initial accessory is ready to wear!

My favorite way to keep letters around is with little banners. For this mini garland, choose letters for the message you want to display, then punch two small holes in the top corners of each tile (I used a 1/8-inch punch). Thread the letters onto string and have a happy day!

These are just the start of what you can use basic letter tiles for. You make magnets, use them for card making and scrapbooking, and more. Have fun with them and encourage the little ones in your life to love letters!

Happy crafting!