Apples, apples, apples everywhere! We are enjoying all the apple-themed activities we are engaging in while learning through play. Teaching your child and having fun does not need to be expensive! This Feed the Worm the Sight Words lacing activity is proof of that! Right?
All you need to create this activity for endless learning fun is:
- Some paint
- Cardboard
- A piece of yarn
- Four googly eyes
- Marker
- Some paint
- A stencil knife
- Scissors
- Glue gun
- Hole punch
- Glue
- A bottle cap
What are Sight Words, and why are sight words important?
Sight words are common words like ‘my’, ‘look’, ‘the’ and ‘little’ that children need to recognize instantly. These words are commonly used in language and must be learned by memorization because they do not follow conventional spelling and phonetic rules and are difficult to sound out.
When our little ones are able to recognize words instantly by sight, they become fluent readers, which leads to them being able to comprehend what they read.
Some tips on teaching sight words:
- Teach your child a few words at a time. This will lead to your child being confident as words are gradually added to the list of words they are learning.
- Repetition is vital when teaching young children, so practice words on a daily basis because sight words will take some extra effort on the part of our little ones to learn.
- Read books with the words you are teaching to your little ones and have them find the words in the text as you read.
- You can also allow your child to read text from the story with the words they are learning so that they are putting their newfound knowledge to use.
- Use words to compose sentences for your child to read so that they are getting some needed exposure, as children will learn a word after being exposed to that word anywhere from 4-14 times.
- Play games with the sight words so your little one will be learning while having fun.
- Place words around the home or the classroom as they learn them. I have sight words on the wall in my girls’ bedroom, and we read them at night before going to bed.
- For children who are older and writing, encourage them to use the words they are learning whenever they are writing. My girls are not writing as yet, but in their journals, I write sentences they construct or write sentences for them to draw pictures.
This sight word and lacing activity is great for :
- learning/reviewing sight words
- Fine motor skills
- Concentration
- Bilateral coordination
- Motor planning
- Visual perceptual skills
Did you know: Lacing activities help our little ones practice the precursor skills for shoe tying and sewing?
How to recreate this simple yet durable learning activity:
- Draw two large apples onto your cardboard and two worms.
- Paint your cardboard in the colour of your choice. (Red, green, yellow) Ensure that your stem is wide enough because that’s where you will attach the string for your worm.
- After allowing your apples and worms to dry, outline your apples and worm with a black marker.
- Use your stencil knife to cut out your apples and worms.
- Use your glue to attach your eyes to your worm and set them aside to dry.
- Use a bottle cap to trace holes onto the apples.
- Use your black marker to trace each circle, then cut out each circle cutting on the inside of each circle.
- Use your hot glue gun to attach your yarn to the worms. When cutting the yarn, use your judgement; give your little ones enough so that their worm can eat through whatever word they wish as they work to identify the sight words.
- Use your hole punch to place holes in the stems of the apples and tie the worm-free ends of your yarn one to each apple.
- Use your marker to write the words you want your little ones to work on above the holes.
Your activity is ready!
How to present this activity to your child:
You can start by modelling how to use this activity with your child and make it fun by giving your worm a name. “ Winston the worm likes eating apples. Can we help him to eat his way through this delicious apple?” Oh, wait, before Winston can have a bite, he needs to call the words above each wormhole. Let’s help him together.”
Call each word and have your child repeat after you until the worm has eaten through all the holes.
Show your little one how to remove the worm out of the apple.
Let your child take the lead and feed the worm.
After a few attempts, you can change the game by asking your child to find random words.
Before long, your child will be able to manipulate and complete this activity on their own.
This activity can also be used to teach:
- CVC Words
- Letters of the alphabet
- Numbers
We do hope you find this activity useful. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us by sending us a message or visiting us @learning.stepbystep on Instagram, Learning Step By Step on Facebook and be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel for educational resources that will help you and your littles on their learning journey as they continue to Learn Step By Step!
Thank you for being here!
Kimberlee and the Learning Step By Step Team.
More Activities you will like:
Apple counting Clip Cards 1-10 for preschoolers
Upper and Lowercase Letters Apple Match
Feed The farmer the Apples Sight Words Activity
Apple Worm Counting for Teaching One-to-one Correspondence
Apple-Themed Play Dough Invitation
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