Learning Activities for Kids

Stamped Sight Word Banners

February 9, 2018 By Terri Thompson

There are so many fun ways to practice sight words, which is great because they are a super-important part of learning to read.

With this project, we’re going to make a fun craft project with our sight words, Stamped Sight Word Banners, and use it all year long to support learning.

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Supplies Needed

White paper
Empty cardboard tubes
Several colors of craft paint
Black marker
Scissors
Yarn
Tape

How to Make Your Sight Word Banners

You’ll first want to prepare your paint. Pour or squeeze out a bit on a flat surface. I like to use a clean plastic lid from an old food container (like a sour cream container). Spread it enough for your cardboard tube.

Next, take your cardboard tube, place it in the paint and then use it to stamp circles on your white paper. Stamp enough circles so that you have one for each sight word.

You can use all one color or multiple colors. But, you will want to use a clean end of a cardboard tube for each color.

Let the paint dry and then write each sight word in a circle.

Use the sight words from a list sent home from school, or find a online resource to find the sight words for your child’s grade level. You can also use the Dolch sight words from our Flower Sight Word Cards.

Next, cut out each of the circles.

These fun stamped sight word circles would be fun to play and learn with on their own, but we’re going to go one step further and turn them into banners.

Decide what order you want your sight words. You can put them in alphabetical order or a random order.

Take a length of yarn and tape each circle a standard length apart. If you tape the yarn near the top of your circle, it won’t flip over as often.

Make several sight word banners or one long sight word banner, depending on where you would like to display it.

Finally, hang your sight word banner on the wall.

How can you use your Sight Word Banner?

This sight word banner make a fun display in a homeschool room, at your homework station, or in the classroom, but you can also have a bit of fun with it as well.

Here are some other fun ideas:

Keep it off the wall and use it to read sight words every day. Instead of reading flashcards or a list, you can read a fun chain of words.

Put all the circles in a bag, reach in and pull one out. Read that word and then choose another circle. Or, you can use the circles to play a game like our -AT Hat Word Family Game.

Use the banner as a word prompt when playing a fun game like Sight Word Tallies from Creative Family Fun. Can you find each of the words in a book you’re reading?

How would you use this Stamped Sight Word Banner?

If you enjoyed this post, the above photo is perfect for sharing on Facebook or you save the photo below on Pinterest.

You may also enjoy one of these fun reading activities:

IN Word Family Game: Hide and Seek Words

Stacking Rhyming Words

Word Family Four Square

Bats in a Cave Sight Word Game at Creative Family Fun

Sight Word Eye Charts at JDaniel4’s Mom

Printable Spring Flower Sight Words

February 6, 2018 By Terri Thompson

Are you working on sight words?

If so, I’ve got a fun tool that you will love, these pretty watercolor spring flower sight words printable cards.

Print what you need and use them in so many fun ways to practice reading.

Disclosure: This post contains Amazon Affiliate and other affiliate links. Please see my Disclosure Page for more details.

Dolch Spring Flower Sight Words

These printable Spring Flowers Sight Word cards contain all of the Dolch sight words (a popular list used by many classrooms). It’s divided by level: pre-k, kindergarten, first grade, second grade, third grade, and nouns.

You can print out all the words or just the set that you need. Print on cardstock or laminate the cards for extra durability.

You can get access to these fun printable sight words by subscribing to the Better Than Homework weekly newsletter in the form below. Don’t worry, I won’t clog your inbox, but I do love to send you fun learning ideas each week.

Fun Ways to Use Your Flower Sight Words

Play a Match Game

Print out two copies of each set, mix them up, and play a simple match game. Or, flip them all over and play a fun game of Memory.

Try a Sensory Writing Activity

Use these cards alongside a fun sensory writing idea. You can write with paint in a bag or write your words in shaving cream. Another fun idea is to use them alongside this Slime Writing Tray from Sugar Aunts.

Explore with Flowers

Use the stem of an artificial flower to trace all the words. Or, you can play hide and seek with these words in the garden.

Turn them into Secret Codes

Use your Flower Sight Words alongside our Spelling Word Secret Code sheets to turn your sight words into a fun secret code.

How would you use your Flower Sight Word Cards? There are a million ideas! So download, print and have fun!

10 Ways to Explore Nature In Winter

January 24, 2018 By Terri Thompson

I don’t know about you, but winter is always the hardest season for me to come up with ideas to get us outside and exploring nature. It’s cold, it’s windy, everything is dormant… you know what I’m talking about, right?

So, what can you do?

I did some searching and came up with 10 fun kids activities to help us get out and explore nature in winter. Get out and explore those things that are unique to winter. You won’t even notice the cold.

10 Ways to Explore Nature in Winter

1. Feed the birds.

Use existing bird feeders or make your own, like our simple bird feeders. Put the bird feeders close to a window and provide small notebooks, binoculars and a bird book. See what kind of birds live in your neighborhood in the winter. (Special note: if you do decide to feed the birds, please continue to feed them until spring comes and they are able to find their own food.)

2. Explore ice.

What are its properties? When does it melt? Try to break it. Mama Smiles recently spent some time exploring ice. Check out all the fun they had!

3. Learn to read an outdoor thermometer and check the temperature outside.

Use the opportunity to learn a little about weather and the characteristics of winter in your area.

4. Learn about snowflakes.

Look at them up close with a magnifying glass. What do you see? Teach Preschool shows you how to catch snowflakes on black paper so you can examine them up close.

5. Explore rocks.

It doesn’t matter the season, rocks are always in abundance. Have fun exploring and learning about rocks. Or, you can do like Kitchen Counter Chronicles and make rock art.

Even when the world is covered with snow, there are many fun ways to explore nature in winter with kids. Bundle up, go outside, and learn about snow, ice, and other things that are unique to winter.

6. Look for signs of life.

Winter is the time of year when many plants are dormant. But, not everything! Go exploring and see if you can find any signs of life. If you need inspiration, Rainy Day Mum recently went searching for fairy homes (aka mushrooms).

7. Give your kids a camera and see what they can find.

Go on a photo walk with your kids. What do you notice? See the beauty in the details. Here are some great tips from Peanut Blossom for going on a photo walk.

8. Read a book about winter animals and look for signs of wildlife.

Try finding foot prints near a wooded area. Learn about which animals hibernate and which ones need to forage for food in the winter. Animals in Winter (Let’s-Read-and-Find-Out Science) by Henrietta Bancroft is a great resource for this activity.

You can also find some great Winter Nature Books here that will encourage you and your kids to get out and explore.

9. Bring it inside.

If it’s too cold to go outside and explore, bring some nature indoors. Set up a nature table with all the nature treasures you’ve collected throughout the year. Or, you can do like Mama Smiles did and bring some snow indoors to play. You don’t always have to be outside to explore nature!

10. Make art.

Get creative. Use the natural items that you find and make beautiful art. The Chocolate Muffin Tree made this beautiful snowy land art for Valentine’s Day.

Bonus activity:

PLAY! Throw snowballs, make a snow angel, collect sticks, and most of all have fun!

No matter the season, there are always great things to discover in nature. Bundle up and have some fun while you explore nature in winter.

Fun Hundred Chart Games and Activities

January 5, 2018 By Terri Thompson

If you’ve got a child in elementary school, chances are you’ve seen a hundred chart.

Lots and lots of hundred charts.

Hundred charts are so useful, and they’re also A LOT of fun.

Check out all of these awesome Hundred Chart Games and Activities. You’ll love them and your kids will have lots of fun learning!

Learn and play with one of these 12 Fun Hundred Chart Games and Activities. The ideas are varied from gross motor to quiet time activities.

Disclosure: This post contains Amazon Affiliate and other affiliate links. Please see my Disclosure Page for more details.

What is a hundred chart and why do we use it? This post offers a great explanation about why hundred charts are such great learning tools.

Fun Hundred Chart Games

Guess the number with this simple Hundred Chart Hidden Number Game. (And grab a printable hundred chart here too!)

Can you put a hundred chart back together? Try this fun puzzle game, Wacky Mixed Up Hundred Chart.

Take it outside and play with a huge Driveway Hundred Chart. Creative Family Fun shows you how to make one and some fun ways to play.

Fill in the missing numbers with this fun hundred chart puzzle at Creative Family Fun. This is such a fun idea!

Make a big, hands-on sticky hundred chart from Coffee Cups and Crayons and go on a scavenger hunt to find the missing numbers.

Create some colorful Hundred Chart Puzzles like these from Playdough to Plato. This is such a fun and simple game to have on hand.

Combine math with art when you create 100 colors to make a colorful hundred chart from NurtureStore.

Uncover a missing letter in your hundred chart. Find these printable Mystery Letter Hundred Chart printables at This Reading Mama. They’re a fun quiet time activity you can take anywhere.

Turn a hundred piece puzzle into a hundred chart with this fun idea from Miss Giraffe’s Classroom. Check out the entire post for several more fun hundred chart activities.

Make a hundred chart out of sticky notes. Check out Reading Confetti for inspiration.

Turn your hundred chart into a game of Battleship with this fun idea from 123Homeschool4Me. Fun!

Take colorful craft sticks and turn them into a fun Rainbow Math Hundred Chart from The OT Toolbox.

Which of these fun hundred chart games and activities do you want to try with your kids?

Learn and play with one of these 12 Fun Hundred Chart Games and Activities. The ideas are varied from gross motor to quiet time activities. #math #hundredchart #BetterThanHomework

Thanksgiving Word Family Game: Word Family Turkeys

November 8, 2017 By Terri Thompson

Word families and turkeys go together like…

Well… hmmmmmm…

Do they go together? They do now when you make this fun Thanksgiving word family game.

Build the turkeys’ tails when you choose the correct word family. This game is fun to play and so simple to make. Let’s get started!

Disclosure: This post contains Amazon Affiliate and other affiliate links. Please see my Disclosure Page for more details. CraftProjectIdeas.com sent me some of the supplies used for this project. All ideas are my own.

Supplies needed:

1 small bathroom cup for each word family
Brown construction paper
Yellow construction paper
Glue
Double-sided tape
Black Sharpie
4 colored craft sticks for each word family

How to make your turkey cups:

These turkey cups are very easy and quick to make. Decide how many word families you’re going to use. I made four, but feel free to make more or less. You’ll need one cup for each word family.

Cut one brown circle for each of your cups. I traced the bottom of my little cup and found it was the perfect size for my turkeys’ heads. Also, cut one small triangle for each turkey. This will be your beak.

Glue the small beak in the middle of each brown head. Then, use your black Sharpie to make two eyes. Simple.

Use the double-sided tape to attach your turkey head to your cup. Place it near the bottom to leave room to write your word family on the cup. Use the black marker to write the word family on the cup.

Make your tail feathers

Choose four craft sticks for each Word Family Turkey. I chose four different colors for each word family.

Write a different word on the end of each craft stick.

For example, I chose the -op word family. My words were flop, chop, top, hop. Write four different words for each word family.

If you need help coming up with word families, you can check out my word family printable resources here.

How to play this Thanksgiving word family game

Set up the game by placing all your turkey cups on a table. Mix up your craft sticks and place them face-down near the cups.

This game can be played individually or in pairs. It’s very easy. Pick up a craft stick, read the word, and then place it in the correct turkey cup. When all the crafts sticks are in the correct spot, your turkeys will have tails!

When you’re done playing, stack the cups and place all the craft sticks inside. This game stores easily and is ready to play over and over again.

Fun variations to this game:

Add more feathers to your turkey. You don’t have to stick with just four craft sticks per cup. Add as many as you would like. Although be careful, you can easily knock a turkey off balance if the craft sticks get too heavy.

Make it a busy bag. This game stacks together and stores easily. Add it to a bag or a small container and it’s easy to take on the go or to use for quiet time.

Leave the words off the craft sticks. Add an extra challenge and have your child come up with words that go with each word family. Let them write the words on the craft sticks themselves. Once they’ve made the game, they can play it over and over.

What variation will you try?

If you enjoyed this Thanksgiving word family game, the above photo is perfect for sharing on Facebook or you can save the photo below on Pinterest.