Older pre-k kid sand kindergartners are ready to practice sight words to build their reading readiness skills. Hands-on learning is key for preschoolers (and even older kids). Handling letters and physically building words makes the abstract print even more real. This Valentine themed activity for practicing sight words is super simple yet still tons of fun.
Valentine Sight Word Activity
You can find most of what you need for this activity at the dollar store. You will need:
- one magnetic cookie tray or other magnetic surface per child
- paper Valentine hearts (These are pages from a notepad.)
- tape
- sight word cards
- magnetic letters
Tape the hearts to the cookie trays. I laminated mine first for durability.
Make an individual sight word ring for each child with the words they are learning. Details can be found on the sight word page.
Place the letters that correspond to the words in a small ziplock bag, one bag per child.
Building Sight Words
Give each child a magnetic cookie tray, a ring of sight words, and a bag of magnetic letters.
Invite students to spell the sight words from the rings on their cookie trays.
Not ready for sight words? You could invite the students match upper to lowercase letters on the trays. Or give each child his name on a card and letters to spell the name.
In case you are wondering how I can find so many magnetic letters without going crazy, I’ve included a picture of my magnetic letter storage container. It’s a nuts and bolts container from Wal-Mart. Each drawer is assigned a different letter. Using this storage container I can find the letters I need quickly.
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