I am always looking for fun ways to work on early reading skills with the kids.  

We love using sight word games as a way to practice not only sight words, but phonics skills as well.  

This week we had fun with several apple themed word games, including DIY word sort games with plastic bottle caps to review letter blends we’ve been working on.

We used this as one of our apple activities for kids during an apple unit in our homeschooling adventures.  But plastic bottle cap activities like this are simple to make and use any time of year.  

Bottle Cap Word Sort Game

Materials Needed:

• Plastic Bottle Caps
• Black Permanent Marker
• Several Small Containers for Sorting
• Sticky Notes or Masking Tape

This word sort activity can be modified to fit each child’s individual needs.  

We have been working on the following diagraphs:  “sh,” “ch,” and “th.”  So these are the ones we used for this activity.  

You can choose to use words with any variety of letter combinations your child is working on.  

Use masking tape or sticky notes to label your plastic containers with the letter blends you choose.  Using tape or sticky notes allows you to reuse the containers for other diagraphs later.  

Next, use your permanent marker to write several words with each letter blend on your plastic lids.  Write one word per bottle cap.  

Have your child sort all the words into the correct containers.  

As they sort the words, have them practice making the sound that each letter blend makes.  So, for “s-h” words, they would say, “shh.”   

Then have them read the whole word as they put the word into the correct container.  

You could do this to sort words with any letter blends your child is working on.  

I plan on adding to our bottle cap word collection throughout the year as we work on new diagraphs and blends for more word sort games. 

Check out how we also used our bottle caps to play this sight word game.

You may also like: 

• Apple Sight Word Game 
• Drive to the Sight Word Activity 
• Using Beads to Work on Spelling Words

The post Bottle Cap Word Sort first appeared on There's Just One Mommy.

I’ve been on a journey to make learning to read more fun.  Reading scavenger hunts, playing games like sight word smack… games always make learning fun!  This week we turned a favorite game, Simon Says, into a reading game.

Before starting our game, I carefully wrote out several simple directions on strips of paper.

We played just like Simon Says, only, instead of me telling them what to do, they had to read the directions from the strip of paper.  I’d start off with “Simon says…” and hold up one of the sentences for them to read.

It was fun to see those minds working!

(Of course, this may have been my favorite direction.)

Sometimes the best games are super simple!

I love that as their reading skills grow, this game can grow with them, using more complicated directions.

Looking for more ways to make learning to read more fun?

• 15 Fun Ways to Practice Sight Words at Home
• Reading Scavenger Hunt

The post Simon Says with a Reading Game Twist first appeared on There's Just One Mommy.

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!

The post Early Reading Scavenger Hunt first appeared on There's Just One Mommy.