Spelling Awareness Activities

What if your kids had fun while they practiced their spelling? Below, discover the best spelling awareness activities for children.

Developing children’s spelling awareness is a process that takes time, which is why you should make it fun for them. In this article, we propose some activities to help you improve your children’s spelling awareness.

What’s spelling awareness?

We learn to do all of our day-to-day things with practice, and spelling awareness isn’t any different. Why do some people write better than others? Why is it easier for some people? Spelling rules regulate writing… but must be adapted according to age.

For example, preschools don’t explain to children how to write full sentences. The reason is simple: children don’t have the same language awareness at the age of six as at the age of 15. Explanations and rules are given according to the educational needs of each course.

Simple spelling awareness activities

The more varied the spelling awareness activities or games are, the less bored your children will get. If they find them attractive, they won’t take them lightly.

In addition to learning, it’s important for them to get interested from an early age, so we’re going to give you a few very simple and entertaining options.

Fill the empty spaces

This exercise is a mix between Hangman and Pictionary. Firstly, you need an image, since it’s always easier for children to remember something when they have a graphic reference. Then, place the letters of the word, except those you want your children to go over. This way, they’ll have to complete the word. If you want to make it more complicated, put the images apart so they can place them next to the appropriate word.

For example, imagine that they’ll go over the words written with a double p. Pick some pictures of examples, such as hopping, shopping, and sleeping. Write all the letters except the ones they have to go over, in which you’ll draw one line per letter. Finally, encourage them to say the words out loud so it’s easier for them.

Eliminate the extra letters

Now we’re going to do just the opposite. In this activity, we’re going to start with words with extra letters. The easiest way to do it is to write the words with the extra letters on a piece of paper so that children select the correct ones (or cross out the extra letters) and rewrite the word correctly. Again, if you have an image for reference, it’ll be easier for your child to remember it.

Sometimes, this activity may be a little hard for them if they’re just learning to write, so doing the exercise with wooden letters will help them. It’ll be like doing a puzzle. If it’s too easy for them, you can try giving them a bigger challenge. Try this exercise with words divided into syllables (obviously adding extra syllables).

More advanced spelling awareness activities

These activities propose more advanced exercises. They’re intended for children nine and up, as children of these ages begin to be exposed to spelling rules.

Find the words

Your children don’t let anything slip? Then it’s time to see if the same thing goes with words. It’s very simple. All you have to do is mark with a marker words that are related to the same spelling rule for your children to classify. For example, words with q, as they’re always followed by a u. Doing this activity with different colors will help them better differentiate the examples and will boost their visual memory.

Dictations

Dictations really bore children. Thus, why don’t we change them up a bit to give this resource another chance? Think about a topic that interests your child, such as wild animals, dinosaurs, or space. Dictate a short text on a topic that interests them and they won’t even realize they’re doing a dictation!

Create your own text

Propose words with the same spelling rule, such as believe, friend, and piece. Give them some time, a pen, and a piece of paper. You’ll be surprised at how they connect very different words in the same text.