I am quite intrigued by the way kids today are taught phonics and the emphasis on reading. In a lot of ‘Mommy conversations’ its normal for us to hear how are you teaching your kids phonics, or have you got someone doing phonics with your kids ? Even though I am not a pro at this and am just another mom who can learn anything to teach her kids I thought these activities were a lot of fun to learn sounds and spellings. If you are looking for more activities on reading, phonics and sight words then read on.
1. Word Rolls: You will need 2 toilet rolls, sticky tape and a pen. Cut down the length of the second toilet roll and reconstruct the small pieces by making them a little wider than they were originally. Ensure they slip over the other toilet roll easily enough. Use your fingers to widen the gap and stick it in place using tape.  Begin by making a few notes on sound Blends (When two or more consonants are together and you hear each sound eg. fl, cr sm) and digraphs (Two consonants stand together but make one sound eg. sh, th, ch).  Make as many rolls to teach your kids various words. Pair other activities with the Word Roll. Ask them to read and write the different words, Find the words in the dictionary or write the words alphabetically. Read more here.
2. ABC Scavnger Hunt: This a fun and completely different way to teach kids their alphabets better. You can do this at a park or an outdoor place. Ask the kids to find alphabet shaped structures. For instance the handles at the monkey bar could look like a letter or the tyre swing could look like another letter. Read more here.
3. Caterpillar Spelling:  This is a fun way. Create a caterpillar out of circular craft paper. Glue the ends as long as you like and write paired letters like en, ad, at etc. Let the head be loose so it  can be replaced with single letters like m, d, t, h or p. Kids will love the caterpillar and will try news words. Read more here.
4. ABC Books: Kids can make their own books. Take sheets of paper and staple them together. Ask the kids to write a letter on each page. Ask them to find different pictures from magazines or newspapers or they could even draw things that begin from that alphabet. Read more here.
5. Muffin Tin Game: You will need 1 muffin tin, 15 small post-its, 1 marker and a word list. Select spelling patterns and write each on a post-it. Place in on the rim of the muffin pan. Then write four words for each spelling pattern on post-its.  Shuffle the post-its and lay out on the table. The child selects a word and decides what category to place the word under. Ensure there are even number of post-its. Read more here.
6. Toss and Answer: You will need 1 muffin tin, 12 small post-its or small paper slips, 1 marker and  a soft object to toss into the tin. Select  vocabulary words which your child knows and write each on a post-it or small paper slip. Place one word in each tin. The child takes the soft ball and tosses it into the tin. Whatever word it lands on is the word to utilize for that turn. For round one have the child define the word in their kid language. Or ask the child can use the word in a creative sentence.  Read more here.
7.  Magazine Cut outs: Cut out photos of words your kids might know it could be three-letter or  short-vowel words such as pan, cup, bed, etc from magazines. Staple several sheets of paper and paste the magazine pictures into the book, show your kids the words and then ask them to try and remember how to spell the words. Then write the words below the pictures! Read more here.
8. Word Checkers:  Buy a cheap checkerboard of paper. On the black squares, stick papers on which you have written  high frequency words on them.  Explain your kids how to play and tell them if they want to move to a space, they need to read the word on that space.  Read more here.
Image Source: Highhillschool, meaningfulmama, kcadventures, growingbookbybook, laughingkidslearn
Rushita Sheth
KSP Team
Kanishka Pariani
