Spring Break: At-Home Ideas

Looking for ways to keep your child active over spring break?
Check out these suggestions! 

Sight Word Slap (K-12): Put up written sight words (on slips of paper or post-its) onto a wall or table. Two players/teams will compete, while one person will call out a word they’ve chosen from the wall. The first person to slap the sight word (with an object like a fly-swatter or home-made light saber) wins a point. You may either remove the word or otherwise mark it as you go with a circle, line, etc. Play until you have swatted all of the words. The person or team with the most points is the winner! 

​Note: This game may be modified in other ways as well. For instance, the caller may call out a definition; the players must find the word that fits that definition. The caller may call out a sound; the players must find the word that includes that sound. 
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Super Smash (K-2): Use an action figure, small toy, or doll to play this game. Make little "word tents" by folding small papers in half and then standing them up. Every time a word is said correctly, the toy “smashes” the word tent flat onto the table. To make this more challenging, "smash" only words that rhyme with one another. Alternatively, have one person call out the word, while the other person smashes the correct "word tent".

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Dig & Sort (K-2): Pick a material your child can dig in. We suggest items such as sand, dirt, rice, pasta, beans, etc.

Hide different words that have a targeted sound in them. Have cups labeled with each targeted sound. See if your child can find and then place the words in the correct cup. For example, asking your child to put the word “set” in the cup that has the short vowel “e” on it, and not in the cup with long “e” on it.  You may also simply ask your child to make piles of words that share a similar blend. For instance, ask your child to sort "th", "sh" and "ch" words into three piles as they dig and discover words like "ship", "think", and "chip". 


Secret Messages (1-8): Write messages back and forth to one another. Make sure nobody else can see—it’s your secret journal! You may also make this more complex by writing in "code"--pictures, numbers, words, or more!  

Alternatively, use coded messages or pictograms to host your own "treasure hunt" around the house! This is especially fun if you pretend to be spies, pirates, or world explorers. 


Snow Ball Fight (K-12): Crumple up sight words into balls. Have a “snow ball” fight! Before you can launch a new ball, you must open up the ball, read the word, and re-crumple it. See how fast you can get at doing this!

For older students, use complex vocabulary words or more difficult sight words. Count how many "hits" you get and see who wins!  

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Beach Ball (K-8): Write comprehension questions on a beach ball and toss it back and forth. Answer the question under your right hand based on the article, chapter, or story you just read together. If playing with young students, you may want to select a picture or word to represent your question. For instance, drawing a stick figure would represent a question about the "characters", while a picture of a house would symbolize a question about the "setting". 

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Tracing Letters (K-5): Person one thinks of a message to give to person two. Person one then chooses an appropriate area of person two’s body that person two cannot easily see. The upper back works best, especially if the message has more than one word in it. Be sure to decide together what the ‘space bar’ will be. Letter by letter, person one writes their message on person two’s skin. Person two cannot guess until either the full word or the full message is complete.




Create a reward chart for reading at least 20 minutes every day. Work up to a fun prize! You may use stickers, draw stars, or select another way of keeping track of progress. Click below for templates to use with your child. 
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Simplistic Template 
Color Template --Shorter Challenge
Color Template --Longer Challenge

Be sure to sign up your child for summer programming as well! Click here for information.