Practice makes perfect right? Repetition is a common way to learn sight words. Also called high frequency words, they are just that because they can’t really be sounded out, so lots of repetition is needed. Rote memorization can be boring though!
While it seems like a slow form of torture to throw flash cards and spelling tests at your kids every day, there are plenty of things you can do to mix it up and make learning their sight words fun.
Do you have students getting bored and can’t remember sight words? If your learners are struggling remembering their sight words these hands on activities will help tremendously.
Here are some sight word activities that are engaging and hands on! These sight word practice ideas will give you tips, tricks, and strategies to teach so your little learners will be spouting off their sight words without boredom, tears, or protests! Read on to find out.
Sight Word Practice with Musical Chairs
Nothing like music to add life to sight word practice.
Play musical chairs as you normally would with your kiddos, except place a sight word card on their chair. Once the music stops and students grab their seat, they have to read the word back to you. Keep the same cards throughout the game, or swap them for new ones after each round.
Sight Word Activity: Parking Lot
This sight word activity drives the fun!
This partner activity requires one child to play teacher and the other to be the student. Laminate a large piece of construction paper that looks like a parking lot with sight words in its spaces. Give each pair their own toy car. One child calls out a high frequency word and the other drives their car into the correct “spot.” Students switch roles and then repeat the process.
Sight Word Practice: Pass the Word
Practice sight words with a game of Hot Potato!
Start by passing a sight word card around and around! Play some of your students’ favorite tunes as they assemble in a circle and one person passes the word to their neighbor. Continue the process until you stop the music. Whoever is holding the card must read the high frequency word. Give the child a new card to start passing and repeat!
Sight Word Games: Sight Word Hop
Hop around to practice sight words!
Using painter’s tape, set up a hopscotch board (this can be setup with chalk for outdoor fun) and place laminated sight word cards in its spaces. Play traditional hopscotch, asking that students pick up a card along the way to their destination and read it out loud.
Spelling Word Activities: Magic Words
This spelling word activity makes learning magical!
Perfect for a small group, use a white crayon to write some sight words on white paper. Give students a brush and a watercolor paint set to swipe some paint on top of their paper, which will reveal their words. Children should read each high frequency word as it gets unveiled. If watercolor paint isn’t your jam, the words should still be able to be revealed with the use of some washable markers.
Sight Word Lists with Pancake Practice
Have a hungry bunch? Get your students learning their sight word lists with pancakes!
Great for centers or small groups, make paper pancakes. Write a sight word on both sides. Place the pancakes on a baking sheet and give a student a spatula. Ask them to read the high frequency word before flipping the pancake over to read the next one. Repeat the process with different words and students, or even set a timer to see who can flip and read the fastest.
Sight word practice by no means has to be boring. These simple activities will delight your students and encourage them to practice, practice, practice (with a smile!)!
Sight Word Homework and Centers
Now of course games all day every day would be awesome, kids also need hands on practice writing their words and using them in sentences. A super easy was to do this, but still have some fun, is using rainbow words! For this, the kids will need to unscramble the letters to make the correct sight word spelling, write it in their best handwriting with pencil, and lastly, they will use a different color crayon for each letter making the word colorful! They can also write the whole word in one color, then go over it a few more times with different colors. Give them the choice for which they want to do!
Grab a sight word freebie here!
