Hands-on Learning Materials (and Ideas) for Reading Readiness and Basic Reading Skills (Phonics, Decoding and Sight Word Recognition)

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This page is an extension of our Multisensory Store.

Research shows that students learn best when multiple senses are involved and when they can create or recreate the concept in order to to understand it. “If I can do it myself, I understand it.”

I am passionate about hands-on activities because I have personally seen as a tutor, educator, and parent, how they engage learners and help them retain concepts, while keeping learning fun; a positive for children (and adults)! Below are some of my favorite hands-on activities for enhancing basic reading skills (and basic spelling).

It is easy to turn recreating words and filling in missing letters into a fun game. Take turns. Do something fun after each word or after a few words, like dance, sing a song, play tag, or toss a ball! Pick something your child or student likes.

Do a word scramble with letter tiles (e.g., turn “s e t a” into a word). Make words and knock them down with Phonics Dominoes. Play board games that are fun and interactive like Sight Word Swat!

Some more ideas for using hands-on reading tools:

Try hidings different parts of a word around the room (or work space). Have your student find the letters and use them to create the word. Put letters on the floor and have your child jump to the letter that makes the given sound, or jump in order to spell a word [e.g., jump to the c, jump to the a, jump to the t (cat)].

Kids often love the interactive nature and game element that can easily be incorporated with the use of hands-on tools. Have you tried any of the activities or games mentioned or displayed in this post? Let us know which ones and how you liked them.

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