Sight Words Hands-On Activities
Teaching children how to read can be a daunting task. But it doesn’t have to be! With a few sight words hands-on activities in your toolbox, you’ll have everything you need to make teaching your kindergartener to read a breeze.
Not only will these ideas give children an opportunity to practice sight words, but they will also keep them entertained and engaged with fun and exciting activities.
Sight words are an important part of a child’s education, and being able to recognize them can help your child become a better reader.
However, memorizing sight words can be a challenge for some children. Luckily, there are plenty of fun and engaging hands-on activities that can help your child learn and practice sight words.
What are sight words?
Sight words are common words that appear often in text but are difficult to sound out. Because they are so common, children need to be able to recognize them quickly and automatically.
Some examples of sight words include: the, of, and, a, to, in, you, that, it, he, was, for, on, are, as, with, his, they, I, at, be, this, have, from, or, one, had, by, words, but, not, what, all, were, we, when, your, can, said.
Why are sight words important?
Learning sight words is an important part of a child’s reading development. Once children know a few sight words, they can begin to read books and other text with greater ease.
According to Reading Rockets, “Sight words make up 50 to 70 percent of any given general text, and knowing them greatly improves reading speed and comprehension.“
Sight Words Hands-On Activities
There are a variety of ways you can teach sight words to your child.
But one of the best ways is through hands-on activities.
Here are a few fun and engaging ideas:
Adapt your family-favorite game of Guess Who to help your kids learn sight words with this fun game!
Play this sight word game inside or outside by combining literacy and puddle jumping in this fun activity!
Send your kids on a scavenger hunt to learn sight words with this fun literacy-themed scavenger hunt idea.
Teach kids to read color words with the help of this fun color word sight word game!
Help your kids learn color words with this fun and interactive sight word game.
What preschooler wouldn’t love a game with race cards and bright colors?
This sight word game will help them learn color words in a fun and interactive way.
Teach your kids to learn and remember sight words using this fun drag racing game using matchbox cars.
The perfect addition to any fall literacy center is this apple sight word game combining dot markers and sight words.
Make reading sight words more fun by using crayon resist art to make reading sight words more engaging.
Forget flash cards for sight reading when you can play this fun high-frequency word game: OH SNAP!
If you’re looking for a fun phonics game with your kids, this shark sight word read and play is perfect!
It goes great with the book Shark in the Park.
Learn sight words and help your kids learn to read in this cool sight word post-it note match game.
If you’re looking for sight word practice that doesn’t include flashcards, you’ll love this fun squish and seek sight word game.
Use play dough to make and practice sight words using just a few simple materials.
Use this sidewalk chalk game to create a fun and interactive sight word game your kids can play outside.
Using a muffin tin and some cupcake liners, your kids can play one of these four easy-to-prep sight word games.
Practice mapping sight words in this fun Orthographic mapping color cards for sight word learning.
If your kids love hot chocolate and marshmallows, they will love this fun sight word sensory bin activity.
Make learning sight words fun with this beach ball sight word game.
Bring the pond inside with this fun Jello pond sight word recognition game.
Sight words are an important part of a child’s education. By using hands-on activities, you can help your kindergartener learn and practice these tricky words.
With enough practice, your child will be reading sight words with ease in no time!