DIY Magnetic Spelling Game

Today is the last day of the Virtual Busy Bag Exchange Series, and the final age category is School-aged kids!

Myself and threefootcooks are swapping out ideas today!

For this age I made a Magnetic Spelling Game. One that is portable, so fun for when you are traveling too: perfect for a busy bag!

First- How to make your own magnetic letters:

I’ve used round stickers(different colors for vowels and consonants) to write the letters and to stick on the magnet sheet. One could use those magnet sheets that are printable too, or print letters on sticker paper, cut out and stick on a magnet sheet. (I took the most frugal road)

Two of each consonant and five vowels in lowercase format, then one consonant and one vowel uppercase. For the uppercase letters that look more or less the same as the lowercase letters, I made a dot, just to avoid confusion.

I’ve used my circle punch to punch out the magnets. The magnet sheet is very thin, so it works fine. You could use round magnets instead if you don’t have a circle punch or just cut squares.

The tin here is an empty tuna tin. You can use a cookie sheet too, or any other metal object to build the words on.

The game can be played with younger kids too, when they start to recognize letters, one could let them spell their name and sight words.

The actual game works like this: one person can start with a word(the length of the word will depend on the age and ability of the child), then the next person must start a word with the last letter of the previous word written.

One could play solo too;)

Another few ideas on how to play with your spelling magnets:

– Choose 2-3 vowels, and 4-6 consonants. See how many words you can build!
– Match upper case letters and lower case letters!
– Place the letters in the correct sequence: a,b,c,d,e,f…!
– Choose something you see in the car(like I Spy) and start spelling it, for example: “door”. Start with “d” and now your playing partner must guess what you see and finish spelling it!

Easy enough to make and with so many learning opportunities while having fun!

And link up your ideas for busy bags for SCHOOL-AGED KIDS today to be featured in tomorrows roundup!