Early Reading Scavenger Hunt

I love to read.  My husband loves to read.  Our son loves books and is excited to finally be starting to read.

The other day my daughter caught me off guard with, “Mommy, I hate just sitting and trying to sound out words.”

I could have panicked, I mean, how can she hate reading?  But then I realized something…she is a mover!  She didn’t say she hated reading, just that she hates “just sitting” and trying to sound out the words.  So lately our reading has incorporated a lot more movement.

This week we had a reading scavenger hunt,  a simple idea that helps make learning to read more fun!

Yes, we’ve had scavenger hunts before. I used to draw the clues for them when they were younger.   But for some reason I haven’t done one with written clues before.  Sometimes you just need inspiration to remember those simple ideas!

While the kids were otherwise entertained, I jotted down very simple clues on Post-It Notes, and then quickly hid them in the appropriate spots.

I left the first clue on the kitchen table, where I was sure it would be found.

At first my daughter told me, “I can’t read this.”

But eventually curiosity got the best of her, and she started sounding out the unknown words, and she found the next clue.

With each clue she got a little more confident in herself.

With each clue I saw a little spark, a light if you will, going on when it came to reading.

This time around I used very simple clues, but this idea could easily be adapted for older children to give them more of a challenge.

And, since it’s a scavenger hunt, don’t forget the “treasure” at the end!  (We were working on a gingerbread man book at the time, so our treasure was a few small gingerbread man-shaped marshmallows I had hidden in the pantry.)

I’d love to hear how you’ve made reading fun for the kids!  Leave a comment below, because we are all in this together!