My 5-year-old son has come a long way this past year.
When he started his alternative kindergarten class in the fall, he'd forget a
huge chunk of letters in the alphabet song. Come May, though, he had mastered
his letters, many of their sounds, and was even pointing out sight words in the
books we read each evening.
It's my personal mission to see to it than when he begins
kindergarten in the fall, he's not lost any of this knowledge. This little game
is the first of what I hope to be many fun ways to continue practicing some of
what he learned this year.
Want to make this
too?
Download the free PDF of sight word bugs (4 pages with a
total of 24 sight words) from Google Drive here.
Want to practice other words
or another skill? Download a free 2-page PDF of blank bugs for you to write on
here.
Print on heavyweight cardstock. Cut out. If you
anticipate heavy use, laminate to increase durability.
Grab your fly swatter and you're ready to play. (Note: I
cleaned my fly swatter before we played this.)
How to Play
Spread the bugs out on the table. Make sure they are
orientated properly for easy reading by your child. One by one, read a sight
word from the following list:
Have you child find the bug with that word on its back
and smack it! When smacked, remove that bug from the table and continue until
either all the bugs have been smacked or your child's interest is waning.
Boy, oh boy, did my son love this activity. There was no light tapping; these insects truly took a beating!
Boy, oh boy, did my son love this activity. There was no light tapping; these insects truly took a beating!
Read
We read two great books along with this activity. The
simple easy reader by Margaret Wise Brown (author of Goodnight Moon) was a
great fiction book that points out just how diverse bugs and insects are. The
other book we read was non-fiction and told us how to identify an insect (i.e.
count its legs and body parts). It also taught us the three body parts of an
insect and how to tell if an insect is a bug.
What a marvellous game! You could extend this idea by using short sentences and phrases such as: that's mine, good morning, yes please, it's for you, once upon a time, under the trees, along the road, etc. Or you could use the names of friends. Or the names of insects. The idea of combining reading with a physical movement, a sound, and a laugh means the words will go into the long term memory much faster than with many other activities. So many senses are involved.
ReplyDeleteI pinned this activity and went to the dollar store to get a fly swatter. The only one they had was a frog shaped one, it is perfect! And thank you for including blank ones! This can be used for so many things
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for this activity! My 5 yo has been humoring me when we go through sight words, but it's getting harder and harder to keep her focus. I think this will do the trick!
ReplyDelete