Kindergarten Preschool
Gross Motor ActivitiesPrintablesLanguage Arts
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When it comes to learning a new concept like sight words, the process is a whole lot easier, for both the teacher and the student, if you can find a way to make it fun.
This is true for nearly everything, but especially so when it comes to teaching young children to read.
Learning to read can seem like a very daunting and overwhelming task, but you make it fun and you’re already halfway there!
So, to introduce and practice sight words, we decided to make it a game!
A game of swat the sight word!
Swatting Sight Words
Swat the sight word is probably one of the easiest games in the world to prep and your kids are going to absolutely love it!
All you need to play is one of the printable bug sets (below) and a flyswatter.
Once you have those, you’ll be able to use this particular game with multiple age groups!
The sets available below include all of the sight words from both the Dolch pre-primer and the primer lists, so whether you’re introducing these words to your preschooler or kindergartner or your first grader needs a little extra practice, you’ll have plenty of sight words available for them!
Prepping the Swat the Sight Word Game
This isn’t the first time that we’ve played this game!
In fact, we made an alphabet version a couple of years ago that we’ve played more times than I can count!
The kids love it because it gets them up and moving while giving them the opportunity to swat things with a flyswatter.
I love it because it’s a quick and easy game to prep!
Just print the sight word bugs off, cut them out, and run them through your laminator so they’ll hold up against that flyswatter.
Then, grab a flyswatter or two and you’re ready to play!
Playing the Swat the Sight Word Game
When you’re ready to play, lay your sight word bugs out on the floor or on a large table.
Now, you can use all of the bugs at once, or pick and choose the ones that your students need practice with, but keep note of which ones you use.
Give your student a flyswatter and have them stand back a bit so that they can see all of the bugs.
Then, when they’re ready, call out a sight word for them to find.
Their job is to read the sight words and swat the bug with the right one.
If they swat the correct bug, remove it from the pile and continue on until they’ve eradicated them all!
They’ll have an absolute blast practicing not only their sight words but their gross motor skills and hand-eye coordination at the same time!
