If you have younger elementary school students in your home, you are probably familiar with the term “sight words”. Sight words are words that our children need to be extra familiar with and know how to read without doing so phonetically. In other words, they need to know them by sight. These words appear frequently throughout most texts we read each day. Therefore, it is important for us to help our children practice these words and become comfortable reading them. Today we will look at some creative ways we can help our little ones learn their sight words!
Go Outside
You don’t have to sit at a table to learn sight words; you can practice anywhere! Why not enjoy some fresh air and sunshine while practicing? We found some great ideas from others and we think you might enjoy them too! One mom (thegoldengleam.com) wrote her child’s sight words on her wooden fence. After reading each word, her daughter took the water hose and erased them. Another mom (momto2poshlildivas.com) wrote her child’s sight words in the squares of a hopscotch board and had her kiddo read the words as she played. You could also have a sight word scavenger hunt – just write your sight words on several different cards and hide them around the yard. Give your kid a basket and have him hunt for words! When he finds one, have him read it before placing it in the basket. As you can see, you are only as limited as your imagination.
Get Crafty
If your kiddo enjoys making crafts, incorporate craftiness into your sight word practice! For instance, you could let your little one finger paint her sight words on paper. One blogger (maketaketeach.com) had several good multi-sensory ideas for practicing sight words. A few of them included making words out of Play-Doh, Bendaroos, and glitter glue. If your child has an artistic flair, you could write his sight words on different shaped and colored pieces of paper. When you are done, have him make a collage with the word pieces (be sure he reads them aloud while placing them on the paper). These are all affordable projects that can be done with items you probably already have in your house. Put a little thought into how you can get crafty with sight words!
Play a Game
Do you have a child who always asks to play games with you? Great! There are several ways you can play games using sight words. Remember the mom (momto2poshlildivas.com) from above with the great sight word hopscotch idea? She also created sight word Twister! By simply taping sight word cards onto a Twister mat, she combined playing and learning. Visit the No Time For Flashcards website to see how you can make a sight word domino game for your kiddo! If your little one enjoys playing cards, why not create sight word Go Fish? Instead of asking, “Do you have any sevens?”, you could ask, “do you have the word ‘of”?” The potential game playing possibilities are endless! What game would your child enjoy playing with sight words?
Time spent helping your child learn does not have to be dull and frustrating. Hopefully, there are some some good ideas here that you can use when practicing sight words with your little one. You probably even came up with one or two fun ideas of your own! When you put these ideas into practice, your kiddo will not only be learning, he will also be having fun. If you are interested in more sight word activities, visit Red Apple Reading on Pinterest. We have a whole board devoted to sight words!
