Need spelling games and science projects for kids? Whether you’re looking for your classroom or to use with kids at home, I’ve got some great ideas.
3 spelling games
- 4-in-a-Row. This board game is super easy to play with just two people and requires minimal work to set up. To play you will need:
—A laminated copy of the game board (if you can’t laminate, put it in a plastic sleeve)
—Paperclip and pencil to make a spinner
—2 different colored dry erase markers (if you have to use just a paper version of the board, use colored pencils or markers)
Each player takes a turn to spin a word, read the word and then write it on the grid. The winner is the first player to get four words in a row in any direction.
- Spelling Sort. Make a list of words with the same sound / different spellings like make, break, weigh, gray, rain, lane, stay, aid, freight. Make a card for each way to spell the sound. Set up stations around the room or house with different ways to spell the sound. Have students write their word on a card and deliver it to the station with the correct spelling of the key sound.
- Sound Bingo. To create bingo boards for a particular sound with alternative spellings (like the example above), write one spelling (for example ay, ai, a-e, ea, a for long a) in each box. Leave room for students to write a word in each box. Create a set of bingo cards with a bunch of words with the target sound. You’ll also need pencils for kids to write the words on the board.
Pull one of the bingo word cards and read the word. Have the student write the word in the appropriate box on their bingo card. When students have a full row or column they get a Bingo. To win, they must have spelled all the words correctly.
Need more spelling games? You can get some here: Spelling Game Challenge.
You can also get even more through the Top Notch Teaching Members Club (just $19 a month, or save more by joining for the year).
3 science projects for kids to do anywhere
Life science, chemistry physics, engineering … science can be a lot of fun for kids. You can simply start by asking questions, ‘why?’ and ‘what would happen if?’ kinds of questions about the physical and natural world. Could you test any of these questions?
- Explore pH Indicators. If you steep purple/red cabbage in water, you create a pH indicator. Simply pour boiling water over the leaves into a clear, heatproof container. Let sit for several hours or overnight. Remove the leaves and you will have a bluish-purple liquid. When you add a base, like baking soda, the liquid will turn greenish. When you add an acid like lemon juice or vinegar, the liquid will turn bright pink. As science projects for kids go, this makes an impressive demonstration (when you get a room full of K–6 students all gasping, you know you’re onto something). Kids can then play with other safe materials to see if they are acid or base. You can also challenge them to mix acid and base until they get back to the original color. (This will also show what happens when you mix an acid and base. Ask students what they notice … there should be some fizzing happening.)
- Foil Boats. What makes something float? Fill a tub with water and provide kids foil and a stack of pennies. Challenge them to make a boat that can stay afloat with at least ten pennies in it. If it sinks, ask them to try again. Questions to ask: What shape seems to work best? Does size matter? How many pennies can you keep afloat?
- Oobleck. Mix cornstarch and water together and you get oobleck, which has properties of both liquids and solids. Use about 1 cup water to about 1.5–2 cups cornstarch. Have kids observe what it feels like and how it moves. Ask what happens when they slowly press a hand into it? What happens when they poke it quickly and hard or slap it? Have students predict, observe, record, ask questions and test ideas. If you have the time, space, and enough cornstarch, you can make an oobleck pit and let kids walk across it—that’s a pretty impressive science project for kids.
Want a full science lesson on flight and energy? It’s available only in the Top Notch Teaching Members Club. There you’ll find plenty of downloadable, done for you activities ranging from science to literacy to math to phonics, plus phys ed, classroom management, and MORE.
New resources are added monthly. In April, we’re adding
- CVC Puzzles and Worksheets
- Phonics Progress Monitoring Worksheets
- Skip Counting Puzzles
- Natural Disasters Research Report Lesson
- Spelling games not available outside of the members club
- Science project for kids on flight and energy
And that’s on top of the resources already there.
Join now to save time and have ready to use resources at your fingertips >> Top Notch Teaching Members Club
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