Sight Word Bingo

I don’t know why this wasn’t the first afterschool educational activity I blogged about. It’s definitely my son’s favorite. When he was just starting to read, his kindergarten teacher sent home a list of the sight words each child should know by the end of the school year. I did exactly what was suggested. Yep, you got it. I made flash cards. Getting through the cards was a struggle for my son and every time thereafter that I pulled them out, high-pitched whining ensued. What was a mother to do?!?

That’s when I read this idea online: turn the sight words into a bingo game. Using Microsoft Excel® I created a grid of 5 by 5 squares, and typed the sight words into each square, making sure to label the middle one FREE. I printed two copies of the game card on cardstock, and laminated one with clear household contact paper. I cut the squares from the other card out and put them in an envelope.

When my son got home from school, I gave him the game card and a bag of fruit snacks, which I told him NOT to eat until the game was over. As I pulled each word from the envelope and said it aloud, I watched astonished as his eyes coursed back and forth over the card until he placed the fruit snack on the correct word. When he had 5 in a row, he yelled “Bingo!” excitedly and gobbled down his edible bingo markers.

After mastering this list of words, I made a second card with color words and additional sight words I found online. While he knows all these words by heart now, when given a choice for our afterschool activity, I can almost always count on him to choose Sight Word Bingo.

If your son/daughter doesn’t like fruit snacks, consider using Cheerios, Reese's Pieces, Goldfish crackers, or for a non-edible alternative, buttons.

Download a PDF of both of these game cards today!

Dinosaur Hunt

While my son’s infatuation has matured from dinosaurs to Star Wars, he still finds the prehistoric reptiles interesting. To teach him a little about these creatures, I developed this dinosaur game. I hid five of my son’s plastic dinosaur toys in our living room and gave him a worksheet with this little rhyme to instruct him on what to do.

  

Look in the living room.

Look all around –

up high and down on the ground.

You’re looking for dinosaurs,

so get going!

It’s time to start exploring.

When you have found all five,

bring them to me.

We’ll figure out what their names must be.

After he read this, he set out on the task of finding five hidden dinosaurs. After he’d found a few, I tested his subtraction skills by asking, “You found two. There were five hidden. How many do you have left to find?”

Once all five dinosaurs had been found, he cut out short descriptions I’d typed up about each (I found the information I needed in the World Book's Learning Ladders "World of Dinosaurs" book). I helped him read each description and then he matched them to the corresponding dinosaur.

Missing Letters Mystery

Everyone loves solving a mystery, right? This activity is proof that my son is among the masses that enjoys a little sleuthing now and then.

I typed up 8 short clues in Microsoft Word® that would help my son answer the ultimate question of “What am I?” I looked at the words in my clues and deleted some letters and phonic blends, inserting blanks instead. It was up to my son to read the clues (with help) and fill in the missing letters. When all the clues were complete, he looked out the window and realized that the mystery object was our mailbox.

I found some alphabet stamps in the dollar bin at our local craft store and snapped them up. While the stamps and ink aren’t necessary for this project, they added to the fun of the activity. If you decide to have your son or daughter stamp the answer, invest in some washable ink. When you see his/her hands and your table, you’ll be glad you did.

Flip It Word Game

Learning to read is hard. I figured that if my son could recognize patterns and similarities in words, reading would be easier. After all, if he knows how to read and spell “mast,” then spelling “last” should be a breeze, right?

Since I wanted to reuse this game again, I laminated it using some packing tape we had lying around the house. Hand your child a tissue and a fine-tip dry-erase marker and this game becomes reusable and portable (because doesn’t getting food at a restaurant and driving to grandma’s house take FOREVER for a 5 year old?!).

Supplies:

6 ruled 3x5 (or larger) index cards

Stapler

Packing tape

Scissors or a cutting tool

Pencil

Fine-tip dry-erase marker

tissue/paper towel

small clipboard (optional)

2 rubberbands (optional)

Instructions:

On one card, draw four vertical lines down the ruled side of the card, dividing it into 4 equal rectangles. Put two strips of packing tape over the top, completely covering the card. Cut the remaining 5 cards into the same equal-sized rectangles (you’ll have 20 strips). Cover each with packing tape and trim the excess. Stack each of the strips into four piles of 5. Staple each stack (above the red horizontal rule) on top of the full-size card you’ve already laminated. Now bend each stack of cards back where the red rule is.

Write your first word (one letter per box) on the bottom card. Instruct your child to pull down one or two flaps and write a new letter (or phonic blend, such as “sh” or “ch”) to transform that word into the next word on the list.

Tips: Use ruled index cards to encourage good handwriting. Don’t use tissues with lotion to wipe the letters off with (it’ll smear the dry-erase ink and leave a film on your cards). A small clipboard (approximately $1.50 at an office supply store) and two rubberbands can be used to secure the cards and tabs for your child so it’s easier for him/her to see which tabs have been flipped down.

Like the idea but don’t want to go to all the work? Take the easy route and buy a small whiteboard instead.

Below are some Flip It word lists. Click on the lists to enlarge the image.

Where is My Money Made?

My son is lucky to have a grandmother who collects coins. She got him started young with a collection of all the state quarters. A week ago, my son pulled out his collector’s book and we began to read the introductory pages that discussed where the coins are made – at a mint (which I explained was NOT the same as candy) in either Philadelphia or Denver.

The book went on to explain that you can tell which mint the coins were made at by looking at the “heads” side of the coin. Either a small “P” or “D” will be stamped on the coin to indicate either Philadelphia or Denver.

A few days later, I printed a blank U.S. map from ColoringCastle.com and had him look for and color the states where these two mints were located. Then I gave him 10 of each type of coin (quarters, dimes, nickels, and pennies). First he sorted the coins into four piles. Then, he looked at each to find the “P” or “D” and charted where each was made on a worksheet I’d created. The question we were trying to answer was where most of our money was made. (I have to admit, even I was intrigued.)

When it was all done, he counted the boxes on the chart and discovered that an overwhelming majority of our coins were made out west. To finish the activity, I had him circle Colorado on the U.S. map. This was a fun activity that we both enjoyed; it taught him a little about geography and a lot about money and counting.

If you want a copy of this worksheet, download it here.