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Here is a simple Sight Word Reading Game that we played the other day.

As learning sight words is all about repetition and exposure, we try to encourage the reading and writing of the words as often as possible. By turning the reading of the words into a game, you will find children suddenly want to play!

Ages: 3+

(See the Handy Tips at the bottom to simplify or extend to meet your child's needs)

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Even before Maddie (5) started school, we had begun working on some sight words as many commonly used words are unable to be "sounded-out" and knowing them instantly, helps aid in the flow of reading text and therefore, improves comprehension. Now that Maddie is at school, learning sight words is an actual expectation and something that we have to work on.

Reading and practicing words from a list is fine, but there is no way of knowing if your child has actually learnt to read that word automatically or not, unless you test them off the list. Children are fantastic at memorising certain things and whilst you may think that pointing to words out of order on a list, shows they are able to read the words, you may be surprised when they come across the same word in a book later and are unable to read it. This is because they have memorised the exact format of the text on the list as well as it's location. Remembering them like this is good, it's an important step, but there is still a bit more work to be done on them to ensure they are properly learnt.

In order to ensure that your child has actually learnt the word and is able to read it automatically (without hesitation), they need multiple exposures to the words in different contexts. Like with everything else, some children may pick them up very quickly with limited exposure, while some may need to have more exposure and practice.

Here is a fun game that has kids reading their sight words whilst burning off a bit of energy at the same time.

Age: 3+

(See bottom for tips to simplify or extend to meet your child's needs)

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Once your child has begun learning to read, there will come a time when learning and practicing Sight Words is something you'll be interested in.

Why learn Sight Words?

There are a number of reasons for learning sight words but put simply, two of the main reasons would have to be because:

- there are certain words that you can not "sound out" using the basic letter and blend sounds;  and because

- having a repertoire of known, commonly used words will help your child's reading to flow and therefore aid them in not just reading text, but more importantly, understanding and comprehending text.
The less your child has to stop to sound out a word, the more the text will flow and the easier it will be for them to read, (not just to decode symbols) for meaning.

SIMPLE SIGHT WORD GAME

"Spot-a-Sight Word"

M (aged 3) is very keen to read. She knows all her letters and letter sounds (which came about from her own interests and our activities. See here for more activities to help learn letters) and is now moving onto learning some of the common used words.

NOTE: At this stage and age, I do not force the learning. When she is interested and engaged, we play and learn, when she's had enough or it's not fun or she's not interested, we stop. There is no point pushing it at this stage as they will only resent and resist learning if it's not fun

Today's focus was on the word "The/the"

Materials: Favourite/familiar books, whiteboard and whiteboard/dry erase marker 

(instead of the whiteboard and marker, you could use paper/pen, blackboard/chalk etc)

Talk about the focus word. What letters can they see? How do we read it, what does it look like etc?

Write the word for them to find on their board and explain that when they spot a word they place a mark on their record. 

Have you child "read" through their favourite book (or another familiar text) and find as many of the chosen word as possible

Note: For added handwriting practice, have your child write the word each time they spot it

Extensions: 

• Which page has the chosen word written on it the most?
• Add up the total amount found in each book.
• Which book contains the most of the chosen word? etc

9 More fun ideas from our friends on 

"Learning Sight Words"

Sight Word Bowling  by Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas

Creating Sight Word Books by Boy Mama Teacher Mama

Sight Word Sensory Bin by Here Come the Girls

Word-Wac-Woe Sight Word Game by This Reading Mama

Boy Mama Teacher Mama

Printable Sight Words Charts and Find the Same  by 3 Dinosaurs

DIY Sight Word Cork Board by Glittering Muffins

Sight Word Connect Four by Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas

Roll and Write Sight Words by This Reading Mama

Sight Word Practice Made Fun by Boy Mama Teacher Mama

Do you have any fun ways to Learn Sight Words? 

Feel free to leave a link in the comments :)

Happy playing,

Debs :)

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Welcome to TUESDAY TOTS. Brought to you weekly by Learn with Play at home (that's us), Rainy Day Mum and One Perfect Day.

This week we are showcasing

"6 Games to practice Reading"

Learning to read is one of those very important developmental milestones for kids. The completely awesome thing about learning to read is that really, all you need to do to learn to read, is to read (and read, and read, and read).
Ok, so generally there is a starting point to learning to read formally, which is by learning letters. But learning to read should start long before individual letter learning and it comes from being read to as a child. For children to learn how to read they need to be read to continuously and they need to have opportunities to read text in all forms.
To help with the comprehension of text, children often practice sight words so that their reading flows more easily and understanding is not lost. Just reading over letters and lists of sight words isn't the most interesting activity for kids though, so here are 6 games from last week's Tuesday Tots link-up, that make practicing reading fun.

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Today's activity is part of an ongoing series, Exploring Reggio. Our co-creators for the series are, The Imagination Tree, An Everyday Story, One Perfect Day and Twodaloo

Maddie (almost 5), is starting school next year so we've been filling out a lot of transition paperwork lately. I was asking her about what she's looking forward to learning at school and one of the main things she was interested in was, "writing and reading new words."

She's always shown a great interest in reading and writing and in the past we've done many activities around learning letters, writing your name and basic sight words. Like most children her age, things like letter formation are still yet to be perfected as she continues to develop her fine motor skills and coordination.

As a way to help her in her quest to write and read new words, as well as paying closer attention to how letters are formed, I set up an invitation (or provocation) to entice her to hopefully want to read, write and play around.

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This post is sponsored by ABC Reading Eggs and Nuffnang

For children to learn to read, they need to do just that. Read! They should be read with and to every single day. In addition to reading stories and words that we see in everyday life, there are numerous activities and games that children can play, in order to help further develop the essential keys to reading success;

• phonemic awareness - hearing and manipulating different sounds in words
• phonics - recognising the connection between letters and the sounds they make
• vocabulary - understanding the meaning of words, their definitions and context
• reading comprehension - understanding the meaning in text, and 
• fluency - reading aloud with speed, understanding and accuracy. 

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This week the theme of the MeMeTales Readathon is Character Development and there are 3 gorgeous free books that you can read with your child.

While we are always busy practicing physical skills, creativity and so on, it's important not to neglect emotional development. In fact, I think it is incredibly important. 

Inspired by the books and the theme, we came up with this fun and thoughtful activity that you can do with your child at home.

First, you could start like we did by reading this book with your child

It is about a Butterfly who learns about trying new things and colourful wings :)

We loved the butterfly and the colour so we decided to make our own butterfly.

Here is what you'll need to make your own

A piece of thick paper (fold in half, unfold then draw the shape of half a butterfly). Paints, Painting tools (we used little round sponge brushes), Coloured Paper, String, Marker and Sticky tape.

Paint the butterfly staying in the drawn-in side

Let your child have control and get creative with the design

Opportunities like this allow you to talk about colour mixing

Finish painting the butterfly. Fold in half while still wet. Press and rub your hands over the paper.

Carefully peel open the Butterfly

Allow the Butterfly to dry. Fold in half, painted side out and cut around the outline. Open back up.

Cut out a few butterflies from your coloured paper

Read/re-read Good Habits to Have 

It's such a cute book & free on MeMeTales (this week only so be quick!) by fabulous Australian Publishers, Ice Water Press.

After reading this M just had to go and gently pat and cuddle our cat

Talk with your child and ask them, "What do you think makes you a good person?" 

Make a list of good characteristics and then write one on each butterfly.

Cut lengths of string/ribbon and tape one end to the back of each smaller butterfly. 

(What great fine motor skill practice)

Arrange how your butterflies will hang and tape the other end of the string/ribbon to the large butterfly

Display your butterfly and use it as a positive reminder. Use it for sight word practice as well.

(Later we will be changing the "don't be mean" to "be nice" as I much prefer positive statements over negative ones. I wrote it like this for now as that's how M said it, but it will give us another opportunity to talk about it and how we can put a positive swing on it)

Handy Tips:

- Simplify this activity by letting your child focus on the fine motor and creativity of the butterfly painting. If you feel they are ready you can talk about being a good person and suggest some ways they could show this. It's up to you whether you add the additional sight words. Still read the books together regardless of age.

- Extend this activity by allowing your child to do more of the tasks like the cutting or writing. Ask them what they think it means to have Good Character. Explain what character means etc. If your child gives negative statements (ie. "Don't be mean".. talk about opposites and how we can say it positively. ie. "Be nice"...)

- Mix it Up. Try painting different butterflies a number of different ways. Corks, sponges, finger painting, brushes etc).

- Use new language and descriptive words like, "character" This will help with their language development.

- Listen to your child talk as they go through their experiences. This will help you determine where they are at with their learning, knowledge and understanding and help you to develop the activity (or future activities) to their level and interests.




Happy playing,
Debs :)

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This post is sponsored by Finlee and Me. 

A while back I started seeing people online playing with something called, "Kinetic Sand". It looked like quite an incredible substance from what I could gather, so when I was contacted to see if I'd like to try some out, I didn't hesitate.

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Drawing is an important way for children to develop their fine motor skills, creativity, cognitive skills and language development. It is very closely related to Literacy as well as emotional development and should be part of a daily routine for children.

Here is a slightly different way that you could draw today. I set it up as an Invitation to Play.

Ages: 2 and up

Materials: Large sheet of cardboard, small squares of coloured paper, stapler, markers/textas

 On a large piece of cardboard on the floor, I stapled down one side of little squares of coloured paper to create little flaps. I provided some thick textas/markers and left it at that.

 I anticipated that she would be drawn to doodle under the flaps but I was still keen to see if she'd do that or draw on top of them or around them.

Turns out that underneath them was all she was interested in. They were her "Secret drawings, shhhhh!"

Some tips:

- Instead of always giving your child directions as to how they are expected to play, I like to mix it up and create "invitations" to play where children can explore and figure out for themselves what they can do. This type of open-ended activity allows the child to take the activity to a level they are comfortable with while giving them the freedom to explore different angles.

- Extend this activity for older children to practice literacy skills such as writing and identifying letters, sight words etc. It probably won't surprise you to know that a child is more likely to want to write their words under a secret flap then just on a plain piece of lined paper. Keep mixing it up!

- Practice correct pencil grip with your child from around 3 years of age, possibly earlier depending on your child's fine motor skills. The more practice and the earlier they do it will help with their writing in the future.

- Giving children a different scale to work on or a different surface, etc, will effect their behaviour and will involve problem solving processes that they're unaware they're even using. They require concentration and identification

- Talk to your child about what they are drawing in order to develop their cognitive skills (thinking) and language development. Not to forget the important bonding that takes place between you both.

- Change the writing or drawing materials to see the differences it makes. What will they do with paint?

Happy playing,
Debs :)

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This activity provides a fun and sensory way for children to get creative whilst personalising something for themselves or as a gift.

This would be great for making personalised canvas art, pictures for framing or as we used it, to make gift cards.

Ages: 2-6+

Materials: Paper (or cardboard/canvas), stickers, inkpads

We used the foam stickers as they are good for little hands

Our little inkpads are not technically "child fingerpaints". These were purchased from Kmart and are intended for use with scrapbooking and stamps. 

I am always present and only use these with children that won't put their fingers in their mouth. 

The ink washes off fine afterwards.

 Stick stickers in any design. Here is a name card we did

 Let your child put fingerprints all over the card, ensuring that all around the stickers is covered

Carefully peel off the stickers and your design is done.

 Let your child get creative with their own designs and patterns

Little stickers are fabulous for children developing their pincer grip and fine motor skills

 3 different designs

 Wonderful rainbow of fingerprints

We decided to leave the stickers on a couple of the designs as we thought they looked really cool

Handy Tips:

- Simplify this for younger children by assisting them with peeling the backs of stickers. Allow your young child to stick and arrange stickers as they like and then encourage them with the fingerprinting around/over the stickers

- Extend this by providing number and letter stickers and using for learning spelling, sight words, making number posters and more

- Mix it up by using paints instead of inkpads. You will find the colours blend more with paints

- Depending on the type of material you use as the base of your creation, you may find the stickers difficult to get off without ripping the paper. So as to avoid disappointment, test sticking some stickers and peeling them off your surface first. Note: the harder your child presses the stickers down while fingerprinting over them, the harder it may be to remove the stickers cleanly. Using canvas should alleviate this problem completely or just be careful removing the stickers from paper.

- Use this time to talk about the different colours being used or the letters/numbers, stickers, patterns etc.

- Practice new words such as "overlapping" to assist your child's understanding and language development.

- Remember that sometimes children just create, they don't need it to be a specific item at the end. It could just be an abstract creation. Allow this and don't push them to think they must make something "real."

Happy playing and creating,
Debs :)

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