Preschool at Home: Spelling Spoons

During school drop off one morning I noticed one of the activities for the morning were "alphabet spoons". It looked interesting and the kids really seemed to enjoy it. They were sounding out words and learning to spell in a fun way.

At first I wondered why they weren't using regular flashcards but then I realized that the spoons made it fun and different. I decided to make Savannah some of her own spelling spoons. There are so many ways to use them. I've thought of a few different games already.

All you need to get started is a bag of plastic spoons and a sharpie. Write each letter of the alphabet on a spoon.

That's it. Here are some of the games and activities I've thought of to use our spoons...

-Make a phonetic sound and have your child find that spoon.

- Say a word and have your child spell it out using the spoons. Have them sound out the word as they look for the right spoons.

- Play a rhyming game. Choose an ending sound and teach them how to identify words that rhyme.

- This game is for 2-4 players. You will need at least three sets of spoons. Hand each player 10 spoons. Place the remaining spoons in a plastic cup scoop down. Have each player create words using the spoons in their hand. If a player needs another letter have them choose from the cup. You can only pull from the "deck" once per turn. Using a timer, each player has 60 seconds to spell out their word. The first player to get rid of all the spoons in their hand wins.

- Spell a word and leave one letter space blank. Have your child fill the blank with the missing letter.

- Scramble up the letters of a word and have your child move each spoon to their correct place to spell the word correctly.

What do you think? Sounds fun, right? I'm looking forward to playing more games like this over the Summer with the kids. Will you be trying 'spelling spoons'? It's a fun a alternative to flashcards!