Bottle Cap Sight Word Game

The other day I shared with you our very simple to make bottle cap word sort.  So far we have used those bottle caps from the word sort for one other activity:  this fun bottle cap sight word game.

For this sight word activity I used the plastic bottle caps that I had written the “th,” “sh,” and “ch” diagraph words on.  I simply flipped these caps over and wrote a number 1-3 inside.

These numbers are for “points” during the game, so I wrote a 1 on the easiest words, with the letter blend in the beginning of the word, and I wrote 2 or 3 for harder words where the blend was at the end of the word.  Of course, you can assign points as you see fit.

We have played our game two different ways, both ways we started with the words lined up, easy to see.

To play the sight word game in pairs: Each child takes turns reading a word on a bottle cap.  If they read the word correctly they place it in front of them.  When all the words have been read they flip the caps over and add up their points.  The one with the most points wins!   (See how I sneaked a bit a math in there, too?)

To play the sight word game alone: The child sees how many words they can read in a minute (or longer, depending on the level of your child).  Again, when they finish, they flip the words over and add up their score.  The next time they play they try to beat their previous score until they are able to read all the words in the time given.

Yes, I am aware that the words we used aren’t necessarily thought of as “sight words.”  However, this activity could be done with any list of words — including the popular Dolch and Fry word lists often used at school, making it a fun way for sight word practice at home.  (It could also be done during center time in a classroom.)

Bottle caps make a great tool when it comes to learning.  We have had lots of fun with our bottle cap game this week, and I plan to add words to it in the future as we work on other letter blends.

For more sight word practice at home, check out our 15 Fun Ways to Practice Sight Words.

You may also like our apple-themed skip counting activity, which also uses plastic bottle caps.