Ideas for Practicing Spelling/Vocabulary Words

Below, you will find ideas to use for spelling activities. Some were found on the internet and some are ‘old school’ traditional activities. Hopefully you will find them useful.

• Spell words with alphabet macaroni (can be glued to paper) or alphabet cereal (yummy to eat!). 

• Spell words with magnetic letters on cookie sheets.

• Use alphabet stamps and stamp out the words on paper.

• Squirt a bit of shaving cream on a table or tray and write the words. 

• Cut letters from magazines or newspaper to spell the words. 

• Write words as "stair steps"
  s
  sp
  spe
  spel
  spell
  spelli
  spellin
  spelling
  It is fun to do on graph paper. 

• Use Wikki Sticks to bend the sticks into the desired letters to form each spelling word. After forming the Wicki Sticks, do a crayon rubbing of each word on a piece of paper.

• Paint Bags: Fill a ziploc bag (freezer bags work best - they are heavier) about 1/3 of the way full with tempera paint. Squeeze out the air and seal it. Tape the top with duct tape just in case there is someone who might want to make a mess. Lay the bag on a table or desk and write the spelling words on it. 

• Sandpaper rubbings: Cut each letter out of sandpaper and glue it to an index card. Spell out each word, one at a time, and put a piece of paper over it and do a crayon rubbing. 

• Window spelling: Buy a pack of Crayola window markers and practice writing the spelling words on windows. 

• Make a wordsearch or crossword puzzle at Puzzlemaker.com with the spelling words. 

• Fun Pens/Pencils: Copy the list of words using "fun pens or pencils". (light up pens, fancy colored pens or pencils, sparkling pencils, gel pens, glitter pens, etc.)

• 30 Second Words: Fold paper into quarters. Write the spelling word in one corner of the quarters. Set a timer and write the word as many times as possible in 30 seconds. 

• Rainbow Words: Write each spelling word with a pencil first.  Then go back and trace each word with a crayon or marker or colored pencil. Do this two more times with a variety of colors.

• Sign Language: Practice spelling the words with sign language. 

• Give each letter of the alphabet a value. Find the value of each spelling word. (A=1, B=2, C=3, D=4...and so on.)

• Sorry! Write the spelling words on wooden sticks along with two saying SORRY! Put the sticks in a cup. Play with two or more people. Choose a stick, spell the word correctly without looking at the stick in order to keep the stick. If the word is misspelled, the stick goes back into the cup. If the SORRY! stick is picked, that person has to put all their sticks back in the cup. The one with the most sticks at the end wins. Keep adding new spelling words to old spelling words as a review as the year progresses. 

• Write spelling words in white crayon -or any light colored crayon, then paint over them with watercolor paint. The white crayon acts as a resist and the words "magically" appear. 

• Scramble the words as you write them then go back and see if you can figure out how the words should be written.

• Guess the word: One partner "writes" a spelling word with his/her finger on his/her partner's back.

• Sing the spelling of each word to the tune of a favorite song.

More traditional activities:

• Alphabetical Order:  Put the list of words in alphabetical order.

• Using a dictionary, look up each word and write down the correct definition for each word.

• Write each word backward and forward.

• Write sentences for each word.  (To make it more challenging, see how many spelling words can be put in just one sentence and still make sense.)

• Write a story or poem using as many spelling words as possible and still make sense.

• Highlight all the vowels in each word then categorize each word by its vowel sound.  (Long ‘a’, short ‘a’, long ‘e’, short ‘e’, etc.)

• Classify each word by its part of speech.  For example:  list all words that are nouns, adjectives, verbs, etc.

• Draw a picture that represents each word.

• Write each word with crazy or decorative lettering.

• Make flash cards and practice spelling each word without looking.

• Take a practice spelling test.

• Write each word 3, 5, or 10 times each.