Sight Word Fun

(43 Months)

We started a sight word search.  We were looking for just the word "the".  They have seen and practiced reading the word "the" in their BOB books (here is our first post about BOB).  When we were reading one of the apple-themed books, and I saw the word "the", I asked them to put on their spy glasses and start looking (that's a Grandma trick, thank you Grandma!).  I love seeing their faces when they discover it.  "I found it!" "There it is Mommy!"  Love it!

Awhile ago, I purchased these tin jelly roll pans from The Dollar Tree (love, love, love The Dollar Tree).  I used a dry erase marker to write some words on the pan (CVC words for Wild One and sight words for Little Miss), then invited Wild One and Little Miss over to find and place the letters.  Wild One went straight to work.  Little Miss decided that she wanted to erase the letters using her finger.  I tried encouraging her to match the letters, to which she replied "no, thank you."  I offered her a Q-tip to erase with, instead of using her fingeon't know why I didn't grab two Q-tips at the same time.  The activity went from matching letters to build words, to erasing letters.

Little Miss decided that she wanted to erase the letters using her finger (notice the pout).  I tried encouraging her to match the letters, to which she replied "no, thank you."  

I offered her a Q-tip to erase with, instead of using her finger, so that she can practice pre-writing and holding a pencil.  This, she liked!  In fact, they both liked it.  I don't know why I didn't grab two Q-tips at the same time.  The activity went from matching letters to build words, to erasing letters.   

We've had this puzzle for awhile now.  When they first received this gift from Grandma and Grandpa (thank you Grandma and Grandpa), the kids would sit down for almost an hour putting it together, and taking it apart and putting it together again.  Fast forward almost six months, and it's been sitting on our shelf untouched for the last two months.  I knew we would eventually find a fun activity to repurpose this puzzle.  The other day, I saw this on Pinterest at The KinderKid.  Isn't that great timing?

I used the back of an old packing box to trace each puzzle piece (it only took a couple of minutes) to make the template.  Then chose eight sight words to begin with (they came from the BOB books that we are currently reading).  Once we master the first eight, I'll introduce a few more sight words at a time.  It's amazing, all I did was create a puzzle template and write some sight words on the once-passed over puzzle and now it's one of their favorite items to play with!

We love our Mickey pointers, thank you Dollar Tree.  Wild One enjoys learning when there is a lot of movement involved.  So I created a spot the sight word game.  I taped the same eight sight words that I used in the puzzle around the playroom/preschool and kitchen.  Then, I would drum roll and say a word and they would quickly try to find and use their pointer to identify the word.

Do you need a storage place for your magnetic letters?  What about a metal lunch box?  If you have a flat top instead of a formed top, then you would be able to write the letters in dry erase marker and the child could place the letters on top.  Since our lunch box has a formed top, I write the word on an index card and leave the card next to the box.

Legos are also one of our favorite ways to build words.  

Here are some more ideas.

Have fun learning and playing.