Make Spelling Fun!

Regardless of the age of your child, spelling can be fun with these activities.

1. Shape Words.

Have your child choose vocabulary words that name objects. Encourage creative thinking as your child writes the words so that the letters conform to the shape of the object. For example, the word “caterpillar” may be written to take on the curved shape of the insect, or the word “kite” may be written with tall letters to fit the diamond shape of the object.

2. Invisible Words.

Squeeze some lemon juice into a saucer. Invite your child to dip a cotton-tip swab into the lemon juice and write a sentence or message on white paper. Encourage your child to use new spelling words in the sentence. Then watch. As the juice dries up, it becomes invisible! Then have your child give you the invisible message to see if you can read it.

TOP SECRET FOR TEACHER ONLY: To make the words reappear, place the message facedown on top of an old towel. Iron the back of the paper with a warm iron. Share the message with your child and see how many words are spelled correctly.

3. Spelling Volcano.

Begin by drawing boxes in the shape of a volcano: two boxes at the top, followed by a row of three boxes, a row of four boxes, a row of five boxes, and so on to seven. Then have your child write a two-letter word in the top row. Add one new letter to the previous word to spell a new word. Write the new word on the second row. Continue in this way, adding one new letter each time, going as far down the volcano as possible.

Happy Homeschooling!