Headband Vowels (a Guessing Game)

Last month, several families met friends at a lake for the weekend. One of the moms brought the game Headbandz for Kids, which the tween girls had a blast with. Watching them play was a real inspiration.

I’ve been looking for a clever way to help my son practice vowels. The headbands were it!

For this activity you need three main supplies: cardstock, five square post-it notes, and five index cards (or cut up cardstock). You’ll also need a stapler and black marker.

Write each of the vowels (a, e, i, o, u) on a post-it note; make sure the sticky part of the note is on the bottom. Stick these to the index cards.

Cut the card stock into strips (between an inch and 1 1/2-inches wide). Staple the strips of paper together to make a headband the size of your child’s head.

If your child does not know the vowels from memory, print them on a piece of paper so they can refer to it as they play.

Next hold the vowel cards and ask your child to select one without looking.

Peel off the sticky note and tack it to their headband. Provide clues like the sounds the vowels make (depending on your child’s knowledge of phonics, the short vowel sounds will be more challenging). Also say several words with the vowels in them. 

If your child is like mine, you can literally tell when the light bulb goes on. My son practically lit up when he'd figured out which vowel was on his headband. After each guess, I had him remove his headband to check his answer.

If through process of elimination your child guesses the last vowel, ask them to tell you what sounds that letter makes and what words it’s in.

This headband activity would be great to practice phonics too. Because sometimes the best way to get letters engrained in your child’s head, is to put them on their head.