The Question:
Does anyone has any fun ideas for word work besides play dough, wiki stix, shaving cream?
I’m looking for some fun creative ideas to use all year but also to pique their interest these last few weeks of school.
The Answers:
Sarah
My kids love dry erase markers on white boards & their table tops
Sandy
Ink pads and stamps…. Smelly markers too. I’m interested in other’s responses too.
Anemarie
I like to use rubber stamps. The kids love stamping out the words and I put out an assortment of ink pads for them. to use.
Melissa
Sidewalk chalk! I use it inside in the winter on chalk boards and then when it is nice, we go outside. My kiddos love it!
Angelan
Glitter, sand, sandwich bags with hair gel with word under to trace..
Beth
Do 3 columns ….. list the sight word in one, they ink stamp the letters in the 2nd and write the word on the 3rd. You can make your own, but to get started in the beginning of the year I use some off of Hubbard’s Cupboards, under the printable books section.
Tulasi
I wrote the sight words in glue on cardstock. Let them dry and then the kids put them in business sized envelopes. Then let them rub the envelope with a crayon to reveal the word.
Abigail
Rainbow letters/words….the kids trace the same letters over and over with different colored pencils. Dot letters….use a really sharp pencil (I use little golf pencils) or thumb tacks if you can trust your class. Put a piece of cardboard under the paper and have the kids poke the letters to make dot imprints in the cardboard. Letter tiles are fun, so are magnetic letters on cookie trays and sight word memory games.
Maria
Write words on cards and cut them up. Stick them in easter eggs. Kids break the egg and “fix” the word. We call them scrambled eggs.
Page
We use word work packs that we put on teachers pay teachers. The link is to a free one. We also have end of the year theme.
Sylvia
Bubbles… Oobleck… and finally time for the old volcano (baking soda, vinegar with some red & yellow food coloring)… Make a big batch so everyone has a couple of turns… We read the book, Hill of Fire the day before and watched some volcano videos the morning of… They were excited! They also made their own little mini volcanoes out of paper with red and orange tissue paper coming out the top.
Erica
Check out A Differentiated Kindergarten. Marsha McGuire has a “dino dig” that I did this year–dog biscuits painted white with sight words and nonsense words written on them, then sprayed with clear coat. I put the bones in a plastic bin with a combination of sand, rice and dried coffee grounds. The students “dig” out the bones, read the words, and write them under “Real” or “Nonsense” on a recording sheet. The activity was a freebie except the cost of the dog biscuits, because I had the rest of the supplies at home or school.
Erin
Wet playground sand (or soft beach sand) works well and I also had a table with reading rods where the kids would choose a word and race to put it together
Robin
Chocolate pudding on a plastic plate
Teresa
I saw an idea on Pinterest: hot potato/musical chairs with sight words. Sit in a circle, pass sight words around to music, when the music stops, the student with the sight word says the word & sits in the middle. Repeat. You can also do it the same way with chairs, put words on chairs & start the music, stop the music & wherever the students stop, they read the words. Tried it with my kiddos & they loved it.
Jennifer
Pretzel sticks, licorice strings, Cheerios, and mini marshmallows. They find lots of words to spell, numbers, and shapes to make!
Debra
I used pipe cleaners and had the kids bend them to shape the letters in each word. I also used uncooked spaghetti and had the kids form the letters and glue them to paper. A newspaper letter search was fun, too. The kids found the letters for the words, cut them our, and glued them on paper to spell the words.
Buena
Paint on outside walls or sidewalks with water
Stephanie
We made caterpillar words during butterfly science unit. Each child got a picture and three to four yellow circles (differentiated for number of letters in words). Then they sounded out their words, wrote the letters in the circles, glued them on a paper in order, and added a green face with cute, caterpillar decor. Then I hung them up for all to read. I made sure there were enough different pictures for everyone in the class to have a different word. We also use a class set of iPads like white boards to change the first letter of words to make new ones.
Lynne
I will be using some of these ideas! Also I write with white crayon on white paper and have the kids paint over it to reveal the words…also hide letters in sand table to find and match to words, we have magnetic letters that they love too.
Denise
I found an idea on pinterest to write the words on beans and put them in a bag with other beans and have them find the words and write them down. I’m thinking stamp the words too or rainbow write.
Laurie
Use rubber stamps to stamp words in Playdoh. It’s less messy than using ink pads.
Janet
Use a word list, old paint brushes and a can of water and paint the words on the playground or side walk. They love it.
Kirsten
Highlighters to locate words they know in newspapers for kids and magazines, wikki stix to make words and record on paper with pencil, scrabble letters to make sentences…
Nancy
Blubber – doesn’t dry out.
Joan
Colored pasta, sand, jello, Kayro syrup with food coloring, individual dry erase boards. You can make the individual dry erase boards from Home Depot and then let the kids take them home on the last day of school. You just buy shower laminate and have the guys at home depot cut into the sizes you like.
Sarah
OMG you teachers are over and above!!! Incredible ideas. Good thing my students don’t know what they are missing!!
Donna
Icing playdough . . . 1 Can of frosting (regular, not whipped) and 1 box of Powdered Sugar. I use Chocolate, vanilla, strawberry and lemon to create a yummy smell in classroom. Then in my sensory box are we have cake mix with all the usual cooking tools!
Brittany
Magnetic letters
Aimee
Tape paper to the underside of a table, students lay on their backs to write words.
Sara
Water on a chalkboard
Paula
Screen under the paper. Lots of sensory feed back
Sandy
Going to have some great new ideas for next year… Can’t wait
Katie
I use the back of my desk to put word cards in it. They use magnets to spell them.
Jessica
If you have a chalkboard, use wet paint brushes to write the words.it automatically erases.
Candi
I use what my kids call letter sticks. They are large craft sticks with velcro dots on both ends and both sides. The kids stick them together to make letters, numbers, shapes, and words. I have about 20 or so in a bag. They grab a bag and take it to a quiet place in the room. I had a parent make it for me and my students absolutely love them!
Patricia
Legos to make words and letters
Patricia
Make sentence strips into hats with Velcro. Put a slot in the front like in the game Hedbanz. Each child gets a sight word on a notecard for their hat, a paper with the sight words, a pencil and a clip board or book to put the paper on. They cannot talk and have to stay on the rug in my class so they cannot see their word in the mirror. Place their sight word in the slot on the front of their hat without letting them see it. They walk around looking at everyone else’s word, crossing each off or putting the first letter of that persons name next to the word when they cross it off till they figure out what word is on their own head. This is a very quiet game and they love it.
Trudy
Quick and easy: sight words and a one minute timer. With a partner they try to read all the sight words before the timer runs out. I start using this in the fall and keep adding words. They love it!
Stephanie
I have students use magnetic letters to spell our word study words for the week. The kids enjoy it on their desks, floor, table, or a cookie sheet. You can also look on teachers pay teachers because they have sight word Uno and other fun games.
Deborah
Popcorn Words: Sight words printed on pieces of “popcorn” at top of page, letters in boxes to cut out along the bottom for cutting and pasting, three columns for each word to – write the word (pencil), “butter” the word (highlight the dotted word with a yellow highlighter to “butter” it) and build the word (cut and paste the letters.) Kids love it and it keeps them busy for the length of a small group work period.
Sheri
You can find all kinds of FREE ideas on Pinterest as well. It is my “go to” for Daily 5. . Just type in word work and you will be surprised at what you find!
Joan
Matching/memory games with sight words, Hide a sticker under a sight word and have the children guess where it is. Love doing whatever theme we are doing.
Patricia
Sight words on flash cards. Random cards with “Buzz” written on them, along with a bee . They call out words until “Buzz” comes up, then they buzz around the carpet like bees. When I flip to the next are they sit down and start calling words until “Buzz” comes up again.
Miss Bindergarten's Classroom 