Word Wall Activities

My 10 Favorite Activities to do with Word Wall Words

Please feel free to share your favorites, too!

1. Cheer, Chant, or Spell the Words Out Loud.

• Jump on an indoor trampoline, saying each letter of the word, then jump off and say the entire word.  Example: s-a-i-d, jump off=said!
• “Bounce” the ball on each letter (s-a-i-d), then “shoot” when you say the entire word
• Spell words out loud with your opera, baby, robot, daddy, dinosaur voice (let your child create a voice!)

2. Card Games: Play Memory Match (Concentration) or Go Fish with the cards.  Using 20 index cards-cut in 1/2 (or reuse scraps of cardstock paper), pick 10 words and write each word 2 times, so you have pairs of each word.  Then play the classic games together.  If you don’t remember how to play these games, you can google how to play them.

3. Flash Cards:

• Keep words written down on flash cards and carry in a Ziploc bag.  Take them to the doctor’s office, grocery store, or anywhere you might have to wait and go through them together.
• Play “I Spy” with your flash cards.  Scatter several cards face-up on the floor and spy a word.  See if your child can find it.  Reverse roles and let her spy a word for you to find.
• Put the cards in a stack and time your child to see how fast she can read the words.  See if she can beat her own time.
• Place cards in ABC order.

4. Mind Reader: Can your child can “read your mind”?  Have her number her paper 1 through 5.  Give 5 clues to see if she can guess which word you’re thinking of.  With each clue, she writes down her guess and by the 5th clue, she should be able to figure out the word.  For example, if the word was look; this reading mama might say: 1) It’s a word on the word wall.  2) It has 4 letters.  3) It has 2 vowels in the middle of the word.  4) It rhymes with book.  5) It ends with the letter k.

5. Integrate into Everyday Life: One of the ways we do this is by spelling these words throughout our day.  The first word ALuv learned to spell, even before his name, was go because I would say to him, “Are you ready to g-o?” or “It’s time to g-o to the store.”  I spelled it in every day phrases.   His new thing to ask me is, “Mom, can I go o-u-t?”  It’s funny to hear him spelling words, but it really works!

6. Go on a Word Hunt.  Can your child find the sight words in the texts you’re reading?  How about on a billboard riding in the car?  Or a sign in the doctor’s office?  Sight words make up about 50% of what we read, so finding them shouldn’t be too hard.

7. Create texts/stories together with the words.  When we studied like and to, we wrote a book ALuv could read.  On each page, it read, I like to _________.  ALuv completed the blank and drew a picture to go with it.  Then he practiced reading it.  We placed it in his “ALuv Can Read” bin (see picture below) so he could re-read it on his own.

8. Play Bingo.  Click here for Blank Sight Word Bingo and have your child write word wall words in each square.  You do the same on your blank board.  Use your flash cards, putting the words in a pile.  Take turns pulling the top card, reading it, and placing a counter (pennies, beans, etc.) on your board to get Bingo!  You can also use these pre-made bingo boards.

9.  Write the words.

• Write sentences using the words.
• “Rainbow write” the words.  Write the word first in pencil, then trace with one color of crayon/marker.  Trace back over it again with another color.  Keep doing this until your word looks like a rainbow!
• “Write” the words on each others’ backs with your finger.  Can you guess which word was just spelled?

10. Make or spell words with...

• play-doh
• Wikki sticks
• magnetic letters
• letter beads strung on pipe cleaner or shoe lace
• abc stamps
• abc stickers
• letter tiles (if you don’t have tiles, click here for letters you can print off, laminate, and use over and over)

Misc. Info:

• Right now, I only do 1-2 new words a week with ALuv.  When I taught 1st grade, we did 5 new sight words a week.
• Here’s a great website for more word wall activities
• Which words should a reading mama go through?  Try: Dolch list or Fry’s List.  You don’t have to go in exact order, but these are designed to begin with easier words and progress to more difficult ones.
• Here is the link to the info on my blog about word walls & sight words
• This link will give you some sight words ready to print cards

Enjoy!

~Becky