5 Sight Word Games to Try Right Away

Sight words….they can be so, well….boring!  Drill & Kill can drive anyone CRAZY!!!  I’ve always tried ( very hard ) to think outside the box when it comes to sight words and making learning them #moreengaging.  I’ve included some sight word game ideas I’ve used over the years that have been popular and engaging for my students that I hope you can find easily implementable — haha I made up a word there just for you!  Actually it’s a legit word #gofigure

Crocodile Chomp

One super fun, super engaging beloved activity involves a toy that runs under $10 – for reals people.  Well worth the investment I’d say.

It’s the crocodile toy that looks like this:

click here for link:  https://amzn.to/2ZxhU1y

(amazon affiliate link included)

This toy is soo much fun for the kids – here’s how it works, parent helpers show a small group sight words – when a child gets the word correct they push down on a tooth, continue until a child pushes down on a tooth the alligator CHOMPS down on their finger.  It doesn’t hurt – the kids laugh and laugh!

I’ll have a side of McFries with that!

This activity gets the kids all silly and hungry.  It costs almost nothing to make:  yellow sponges: $1 Dollar Tree, tongs: $1 Dollar Tree, red construction paper + 10 year old origami kid on you tube = perfect french fry holder for center.

  Have students take turns picking a fry out of the container with tongs ( doubles as fine motor practice ) , then they need to read the sight word and write it down on their white boards.

you tube tutorial  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgIUN0bvo2Y

** NOTE** I used a large piece of red construction paper to create a bigger box to hold more sight word french fries. **

Hulk/Hammer fist pound

This is an all time favorite and my students ask and ask if they can use the hammer or hulk fist.  I’ve shared this idea before but it bears sharing again for any who missed it.  I purchased this fist on amazon – it was a great investment but if you don’t want to pay that much the hammers are a much better deal:

(amazon affiliate link included)

hulk fist:  https://amzn.to/36jcBpb 

Pack of 12 hammers: https://amzn.to/2SBL9Pf

There are several variations of this game…

a)  spread out flash cards word facing up and have them take turns punching the word of their choice/saying it at the same time.  They collect the word they say.

b) spread out flashcards facing down they fist punch any word, flip it over and if they can read it quick as a snap they can keep the card.

c) set a sand timer and have them fist punch or hit with hammer any and all while saying them before sand timer runs out.  They can compete with themselves or timer to see how many they get and try to beat the number next time.  Below is a sample with the inflatable hammers, you can use letter recognition, sight words, etc. for this idea.

Vroom, Vroom

It’s time to dig through your little brother’s old box of matchbox cars from the 80’s/90’s or your own child’s box in the garage.  They can be put to good use with this game!

 I came across this game first on you tube from my friend  Susan but I have modified it just a tad.  You can use matchbox cars for this – trucks work best for the first game and any race car will work for the 2nd game.  

1st game:  place a unifex cube in a truck with a sight word on it, have child load up the ‘cargo’ and say the word.  Then they will drive around the truck to the matching sight word and take out the cargo and place it on top of the sight word to match it.  You can also do this with math problems ( answer on ‘cargo’ number sentence on map ) etc.

2nd game:  have child choose a car and flip the sand timer over.  They have to zoom around the track as fast as they can.  When they go over a sight word they need to say it quick as a snap.  Say as many and drive over as many as you can before the sand timer runs out. 

Flip it, Swat it

( amazon affiliate )

Optional Talking Fly Swatter: Says things like “Gotcha!”, “We got it!” “Smack that!” etc.  This just adds an element to the fun.  https://amzn.to/39mvl8Z

Regular Fly Swatters: 10 for $6.93

https://amzn.to/2rJ6MCk 

This game is an oldie but a goodie, I’m sure most of you have seen this game floating around pinterest for years.  There are a couple variations I’d like to share with you to spice it up a bit.

1) spread out the flies or eggs and flip over a sand timer.  See how many the kids can swat or flip and SAY in that time before it runs out.  They race the clock and have fun with this.

2) Use a cube or spinner – I have one here:

and have them say the words in the voice that they land on: for instance read the words like a pirate, or a cowboy, etc.  This gets them super motivated as well.

ALSO:  It’s more fun to put the eggs on a cookie sheet and the flies on what looks like picnic place mats to make it more fun for them. I purchased red plaid tissue paper from CVS and put them in sheet protectors but you could cut up a vinyl table cloth or use place mats too.

BONUS GAME: 

Another fun game I came across on Instagram – gotta love the gram.  I tweaked it just a bit only because I didn’t have the wind up toy. That’s what I love about these games they can be easily tweaked and still work.

I didn’t have a wind up toy so I just used a squishy toy and the kids tossed the toy across the ‘sea’ of sight words written on paper pumpkins.  They read the word or letter it landed on.

You could use a wind up snowman: https://amzn.to/36aurKC 

Spread out sight words on snowflakes and twist the wind up toy to walk across the snowflakes whichever one it lands on the student has to read that sight word.  

Chattering teeth would be fun too:  https://amzn.to/39nnaJr

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