25 Ways to Keep Spelling Fun

Published:
January 20, 2020

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Do you know that Webster’s Dictionary contains more than 470,000 words? That means that at a rate of 15 spelling words a week, the English language contains more than 31,000 spelling lists or just over 600 years’ worth of words.

25 Ways to Keep Spelling Fun

Although your child isn’t expected to know how to spell every word in the English language, spelling is an important aspect of a child’s education. However, that doesn’t mean it needs to be boring.

Try these 25 spelling practice ideas from Caitlin Hynst to keep spelling fun for your homeschool students.

  1. ABC Order: Write your words in alphabetical order.
  2. Repetition: Write your words 3 teams each.
  3. Sentences: Write a sentence for each spelling word.
  4. Word Art: Draw a picture and write your words in the picture.
  5. Story Time: Write a short story using all your words.
  6. Creative Letters: Write your words by cutting out letters in a newspaper or magazine and glue them on a paper.
  7. Pyramid: Write your words adding or subtracting one letter at a time. The result is a pyramid shape of words.
  8. Good Clean Words: Write your words in shaving cream on a counter or another surface that can be cleaned safely.
  9. Handwriting: Write each word 3 times in your best handwriting.
  10. Cheer Your Words: Pretend you are a cheerleader and call out your words.
  11. Sound Words: Use a phone (with permission, of course) to record your words and their spelling. Then, listen to the video, checking to see that you spelled all the words correctly.
  12. Choo-Choo Words: Write your entire list of words end-to-end as one long word, using different colors of crayon or ink for different words.
  13. Flashwriting: In a dark room, use a flashlight to draw letters in the air.
  14. Timer: Set a timer for 3 minutes. See how many times you can write your words before the timer goes off.
  15. Scramble: Have a parent scramble your spelling words. Then, unscramble them correctly.
  16. Chalk: Write your words outside using sidewalk chalk.
  17. Letters: Write each word as many times as there are letters in the word.
  18. Out Loud: Spell your words out loud 2 times to a family member.
  19. Trace Around: Print your spelling words neatly. Take a colored pen and draw an outline around the word, closely following the shapes of the letters. Close your eyes and remember the shape.
  20. Colorful Words: Use two different colored pens to write your spelling words. Use one color to write the consonants and the other for the vowels.
  21. Military Spelling: Do a jumping jack and clap for each letter as you spell your words.
  22. Finger Tracing: Use your finger to spell out each of your words one letter at a time on your mom or dad’s back. Then, it’s your turn to feel and spell to guess the word.
  23. Practice Test: Use the old faithful method of an adult giving a practice test.
  24. Scratch and Sniff: Write letters with glue on paper and sprinkle gelatin mixture over the glue. When it dries, you have a super scratch and sniff to use for tracing over the letters.
  25. Computer Words: Type your spelling words ten times on the computer. Use different colors and fonts and print it out.

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