Practice Reading with a Word Hunt

What You Need:

• 20 index cards
• Pen
• Basket or bag

What You Do:

1. On each of the 10 index cards, write a different word. Then make a second set of cards using the same words. Words like "the," "was," "have," "all," and "some" are all great examples of words you might want to put on the cards.
2. Have your child close their eyes or go into another room while you place the cards from one set around a room. Put them in easy-to-find places, like on the floor, on the coffee table, or on the arm of the couch. If your child is an expert at finding things, feel free to make it a bit more difficult by hiding the cards in less obvious places, like sticking out of a book or leaving them half-hidden under a coffee cup--just be sure you don't forget where you hid them!
3. Hand the other set of cards to your child and ask them to read the word on the first card. If they struggle, help them sound it out.
4. Tell them they are a detective and need to find the matching word for the card. Maybe even create a story to make it more fun; say the two cards are friends but one got lost and it's up to your child to reunite the two.
5. The object of the game is to have them hunt for the match to each card. They might come across a card that doesn't match the one they're looking for. If this happens, they'll have to recognize that it isn't the same word and keep searching.
6. When they find the match to the first card, instruct them to put the pair of words into the basket.
7. Have them continue until all of the cards have been found and paired up with their matching cards.
8. Once they can easily find the matches to the words, try a new variation of the game. Instead of giving them a second set of cards, this time you can read off the word that they need to find and they'll have to hunt for the card with the word on it.
9. Once they've mastered these words, make another set of words and keep on playing!