Fun ways to practise your words at home

Tricky Words

 

There are words within each of the phonics phases that cannot be decoded and sounded out. These words just need to be learnt by sight.

Sometimes a tricky word can become a decodable word once your child moves up the phonic phases, for example ‘out’ and ‘like’

Here are some fun ways you could practise your sight words at home.

 

Write the sight words on the ground with chalk. 

 

Game 1 - Call out a word and ask your child to find the word and jump on it. 

 

Game 2 - Have your child read the sight word aloud and then they can try to toss a water balloon on to the word.

 This could be adapted to squirting the word away with a water pistol or scrubbing a word away with a brush. 

 

Play word hide and seek

 

Write the sight words on some cups. Hide a toy under one of the cups. Children have to read the words to guess where their toy is hiding.

Play skittles

 

Attach the key words to skittles. Can they read the words they have knocked down? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Musical Words

 

A variation of musical chairs. Play some music and have a dance. When the music stops call out a word and see if your child can find it. 

Tricky Word Toast

 

You can even practise your tricky words while eating breakfast?  Press letters into the bread (you’ll need to push fairly hard) and then put it in the toaster (without the letters!).  You could use wooden letters, stampers or playdough letter cutters to make the words. Can your child recognise the word before eating their toast?

Tricky Word Twister

 

 

Do you have a game of Twister at home?

 Instead of colours put the tricky words your child is learning on to the spots.