Sight Word Game

You don’t need an easel for this activity, you can draw a tree on a window with window markers, use some butcher paper and make one, or take the time I didn’t want to pretend to have and make one from brown paper like this (when I did have time). I love my easel because I can make these super fast activities that work for my schedule and my daughter’s. She is at school full time now and the last thing I want to do is stress her out at home. Full day kindergarten is a HUGE transition for many kids and so quick and playful activities like this one on the weekend or after school is a great alternative to more worksheets.

Has your child come home with sight words? Or maybe their list was titled high-frequency words? The difference is technical and there is debate about what the exact definitions are BUT what we need to focus on as parents are helping our kids know those words without taking the time to sound them out. A great way to practice this is with games.

Sight Word Game

Gather your materials. You will need some post-it notes ( you don’t have to have acorns but ooh they are so cute), a marker or dry erase marker, a list of sight words ( use the one suggested by your child’s teacher if you have one) if not a good one to start with is the Pre-Primer list.

Make a tree. 

Add sight words to the tree.

Write the sight words out on the post-it notes.

Place the on the bottom of the tree and invite your word detective to the easel ( or wall, or window…). 

She was SO fast at this that I only got one shot of a smile, but trust me she loved it. She loved that she could fix mistakes that one tends to make when they are going at super speed, and I liked that she naturally said each word as she picked it up off the board. The less I step in the better. If your child doesn’t speak up naturally you can always say in a really conversational tone ” Which word did you find?” “What’s that?” keep it light and fun! 

All done! I will be doing this one OFTEN because it gets her practicing sight words and it gets her away from all technology in our house ( there is none in the playroom) and once she is in there she stays in there playing and creating and forgetting all about screen time!

More After School Learning for Kindergarten

What quick and easy after-school activities do you do with your kids? Tell me about it here in comments or pop over to my No Time For Flash Cards Facebook page and chat! For more learning after school activities check out our whole section here.