Sight Word Soccer

Ask a young child what his favorite part of the school day is and he is likely to say, “recess” so this sight word game is inspired by a  popular playground activity: soccer. It’s addictively fun and sneakily educational.

Supplies:

• Soccer printable (available in the righthand column).
• Scissors.
• Bottle tops.
• Glue stick.

To Prep:

After printing out the soccer pages (available in the righthand column) cut out the circle sight words.

Use your glue stick to attach one sight word to the top of each bottle cap. This one is a milk jug top.

Easy peasy! You’re ready to play.

To Play:

Teachers often help children memorize sight words by having them spell it out loud, cover it and spell it again, and then open their eyes to check their spelling. Called “spell, cover, check”, this strategy is surprisingly effective. You will be using a similar procedure when you play Sight Word Soccer.

Have your child pick a bottle cap, place it in the center circle, and spell it out loud. In this example, your child would say, “{Are} A-R-E.”

Then ask your child to close his eyes and spell the word again without peeking. After he spells the word, he will open his eyes and check the spelling. If he spells it correctly, he can take a shot. Using two of his fingers, he will flick the top toward the goal. If all edges of the top pass through the goal without touching the sides, he earns a point.

If the top does not clear the sides, he must place the sight word back in the pile and try again later.

The next player then takes a turn spelling, covering and checking a sight word. The first player to earn ten points wins the game.

A Fun Next Step

Thanks to Shelisa over at Think Magnet, there is one more page included in the printable. Each time that your child shoots a sight word bottle top, he can record it on a T-chart with two columns: {Goals I Made} and {Goals I Missed}.  It’s an entertaining way to encourage your child to write the words too.

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