Olaf Sight Word Game

We have been working on teaching my son how to read before he starts Kindergarten. He is definitely a kinesthetic learner, so I had to get creative when showing him some sight words. He loves games and competition, and most kids I know love Olaf from Frozen, so I tried to put those two things together to make learning a little more fun for him. 

I started with some large styrofoam cups. I drew my best Olaf on the cup with a Sharpie. Then I cut the bottom out of the cup. I covered the bottom of the cup with a white balloon. (I cut off the tie part of the balloon so it fit over the cup.) I drew on the balloon so it looked like Olaf's sticks that are on the top of his head. 

Next I wrote words on some ping pong balls. (I used 8 words from the list found here: http://www.education.com/magazine/article/prekindergartensightwords/

After he masters these words, I will add different word balls. 

He picked a ball and placed it inside the cup. We said the word a few times. We decided to "shoot" the ping pong balls into their little basketball hoop. You could use any bowl or other object to shoot the balls into. 

To get the ball to come out, he pushed the palm of his hand against the balloon. The ball came flying out of the cup. If he missed the basket, he picked up the ball, read the word, and then tried again. After he made that ball in the hoop, he put it in a "done" cup. Then he picked a new ball and repeated the process. 

In 15 minutes of playing the game, we had pretty much mastered these words. Much more exciting than flashcards!!