100 Fun And Effective Ways To Practice Sight Words
I put together a comprehensive list of fun and effective ways to practice sight words – because learning to read shouldn’t be boring!
It’s about that time.
It happens to me every single school year, no matter what our circumstances.
I joke about it with my homeschooling friends. Plan all you want, happy little September homeschooling momma, but the resistance is coming. It’s part of homeschooling a struggling learner.
When the resistance begins, I start to regret my life choices and wish for a full-time tutor or an easy, free, and suitable school option. All I want to do is sleep a little and watch a good movie.
After eight years, I know it’s going to happen and so I have started to plan for it a bit. Essentially, this means I plan a few field trips (virtual, right now) and focus on not fighting with my dyslexic son every day of practicing reading until the end of the school year.
Here’s the thing – my son is making serious progress in reading. The improvement from this time last year is noticeable and I don’t want this slump to impede his learning. (Learn more about the importance of sight words vs. phonics in your homeschool.)
This year, I have proactively put together a list of every single thing I could find to help with practicing sight words. This is the one aspect of reading that we have to keep fun. He has been practicing sight words for seven years, y’all. Seven years. He deserves a little creativity for the sheer tenacity he shows every single time we pull out the word list!
I thought you might find it useful as well. Homeschool preschool activities often lay the foundation. These activities help you take sight words practice to the next level.
In no particular order, here are more than 100 ways to practice sight words!
100 Fun And Effective Ways To Practice Sight Words
1. Bubble Wrap Stomp – still one of our all time favorites!
4. Sight Word Hopscotch
5. Shoot The Sight Words With Nerf Darts
6. Window Writing With Chalk Markers
7. Ping Pong Ball Jump – Write sight words on ping pong balls and have your child jump to each of them. (This works really well if you have a trampoline.)
8. Ping Pong Ball Throw – Same as above except that you place the balls in a basket. Have your child pick one up, read it and then throw it at a bulls-eye.
9. Spinny Chair Sight Words – Place flashcards all over the floor. Then, have your child roll in the “spinny” office chair to each one and read it.
11. Bathroom Mirror Writing with Chalk Markers
12. Sight Word Water Play
13. Sight Word Shredder – Write the sight words on large pieces of colorful paper. Once your child reads the word proficiently, allow him to shred it.
15. Sight Word Slime
17. Sight Word Bean Bags
18. Sight Word Water Balloons
21. Sight Word Swat
22. Sight Word Bingo
23. Sight Word Blackout
24. Sight Word Dot Markers
25. Sight Word Pancakes – Playdough to Plato
27. Sight Word Go Fish.
28. Free Sight Word Coloring Pages
29. Sight Word Stomp!
30. Thread Sight Words and Pipe Cleaners
31. High Five Your Sight Words
32. Roll a sight word
33. Sight Words I Have, Who Has
35. Sight Word Pick up Sticks.
37. Hunt For Your Sight Words
38. Squish and Seek Sight Words
40. Sight Word Gumballs
42. Sight Word Showdown
43. Squish and Seek Sight Words
47. Light Saber Sight Word Practice
49. Spider Web Sight Word Match
50. Bean Bag Toss Sight Word Game
53. Hippity Hop Sight Word Game
64. Coffee Grounds Writing – I spilled coffee everywhere one morning. Instead of cleaning it up right away, my son sat down on the floor and wrote his sight words in it for a while. Sensory input and sight word practice in one!
66. Paper Plate Frisbees – Write sight words on paper plates. Have your child read them as you throw them back and forth.
67. Clothes Pin Match Up – Write sight words on clothes pins and have your child match the words to the corresponding flash cards.
68. Dice Roll – Make of list of six sight words. Have your child roll the dice and read the corresponding word.
69. Use Letter Beads To Make Bracelets
70. Good Ol’ Alphabet Fridge Magnets
71. Pick Up Sticks Sight Words Game
73. Chocolate Sight Words Tray
74. Popsicle Stick Sight Word Puzzles
77. Cut and Paste Sight Word Sentences.
81. Sight Words Cafe
86. Monster Munch Sight Word Eater.
87. Popsicle Stick Sight Word Game
88. Playdough Sight Word Writing
90. Sight Word Games with Felt
91. Sight Word Sentences for the Year
92. Marshmallow Sight Words Free Printable
93. Sight Words Fall Scavenger Hunt
95. Free Printable Sight Word Outlines
97. Chalkboard Sight Word Eggs
98. Jello Pond Sight Word Game
99. Building Sight Words Activity
101. LEGO Duplo Sight Words Towers
102. Monster Munch Sight Word Eater
103. Sight Words With Alphabet Stamps
104. Sight Word Scavenger Hunt
107. Sight Word Zingo (affiliate link – We love this one!)
Shawna Wingert is a former training and development professional turned education specialist, and has homeschooled her two children for the last ten years.Shawna has written four books about homeschooling unique learners and has been featured in homeschooling discussions on Today.com, The Mighty, Simple Homeschool, My Little Poppies and Raising Lifelong Leaners.
You can find her online here at DifferentByDesignLearning.com.
