Ways to make spelling engaging
The Four Letter Word: D-U-L-L
As a homeschool mom I am constantly challenging myself to make learning as fun and engaging as I can. Reason being is because I firmly believe that where there is fun, there is learning. Throughout our homeschooling years, teaching my young learners everything from their A,B,C's to their division skills, there is one area in particular that from my learning experiences always seemed quite dull-
spelling.
Spelling is certainly an important area of study, but from what I remembered of spelling work and tasks, it was always just memorizing, memorizing, and more memorization. Not to say it wasn't effective to an extent, but being as how my whole challenge to myself is to make learning fun and engaging, spelling just couldn't be left at that. It needed to offer more... it could be more... it could be F-U-N!
And I was going to find the fun!
W-O-R-K
As all of us homeschooling parents know, with great ideas, comes some extra work. Thankfully, putting some extra work into creating activities for my kids is not anything I've ever shied away from, especially if it aids in their learning. So with some work, I create two spelling activities each week that are hands on fun, engaging, and more than "here's a list to memorize".
Here's hoping that by sharing a few of these spelling activity styles, your young learner will find enjoyment and interest as they learn to spell.
Letter Searches
Get them hands on by having them hunt for missing spelling word letters. Whether it's inside of items or buried beneath, letter searches have proven to be a favored way of learning their spelling words. Pair each letter search with a list of their words, omitting the letters they will need to hunt for. As they find the letters, they can plug them in or write them into their list to complete their words.
Here are a couple variations on the letter search concept.
"Panning for Letters"
For our unit study about mining, I used this fun spelling exercise to give them the idea of panning all while working their spelling skills too. With a few inexpensive supplies, they were on the job and striking it rich with letters!
"Fizzy Finding"
This letter search went along with our unit study on soda pop. Prepare their spelling word sheet leaving letters missing. Next, pair it with cups of fizzy colored water with hidden plastic letters inside. Searching for missing letters in this game was one sweet task!
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Letter Reveals
Another way to add fun to spelling is by using the reveal method. Using this technique has brought on some really great laughs, along with some tangible spelling skills. When creating letter reveal style activities, place letters in or on items that can melt, dissolve -or in some cases- resist liquids.
See what you think of these letter reveals we've used in our past lessons.
"Melting Monster Eyes"
It was our week study all about monsters, so I was sure to use the letter reveal for this spelling exercise. All it took was a package of plastic eyeballs, a warm water "melting mixture", and some freeze time, and my little monster's eyes were widening to get their paws on revealing the missing letters.
"Wax Reveal"
One unit study that will forever be one of my favorites, was our wax unit. This mystery letter reveal was not only an aid in spelling, but also demonstrated the water resistance properties of wax. It may not look like much at the start, but that was the point- add watercolor to reveal a secret letter to fill into the paired game sheet.
Wipe out Misspellings
By far the most enjoyable and favored style of spelling fun my kids absolutely love, is the "wipe out misspellings" style activities. Although this style usually does come with some extra cutting out work on my part, it is a great technique to enhance their observation and editing skills. With this method, the correct spellings are shuffled in among the misspelled versions of the words, and it is up to them to identify and "wipe out" the incorrect spellings. Wiping out comes in different forms, such as, spraying, shooting, crushing, smooshing- it really just depends on what medium you want them do away with. No matter which is chosen, this activity style is one of the best styles!
Here's some examples of our wipe it out classics.
"Melt the Snowman"
"Bye, bye snowman!"
It's for a good cause though- spelling fun! Although unfortunate to see the snowmen go, spraying out the snowmen with the misspelled words was a must do.
With some water soluble paper and a squirt bottle, only the correct spelled snowman make it in this winter wonderland.
"Rid the Rats"
I used this technique for our Nutcracker unit, where they had to use a sword to stab the rats that were on the misspelled crowns in, "Rid the Rats". Yellow paper and some homemade dough was all that was required to fuel this spelling fun. A word of caution though, if your young ones are anything like mine, they'll probably want to keep all the mice you make, haha!
Their new desk buddies!
With these varying styles of spelling activities, we have been able to master spelling words in engaging and unique ways, and it keeps my kids guessing as to which great spelling activity will come next.
One word they definitely know how to to spell is
F-U-N!
Do you have any spelling activities to share? Be sure to leave it in the comments!
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