Some students dread math while another's anxiety skyrockets when you say it's spelling time. You can decrease the stress for students by moving away from rote learning and weekly spelling tests. By adding movement, hands-on and sensory activities, and gaming to your spelling lesson plans, you will increase engagement and relieve student anxiety. Below are 40 curated fun and creative spelling ideas for every grade level. From rainbow writing to peer editing, you will find the perfect match to get your students excited about spelling.
Pre-K
1. In My Name, Not in My Name
A great activity for kids who are learning their letters and name. Provide students with their names written on an index card or sheet of paper. Set up a station with letter manipulatives that the students will sort based on whether the letter appears in their name or not.
Learn more: Play to Learn Preschool
2. Sight Word Word Search
One of the many printable spelling activities available online, sight word searches allow young students to cipher out the real word from the letters jumbled around them. A classic way of gamifying learning. Make sure to model the first few times and assist struggling students.
Learn more: Education
3. Name or Word Necklaces
Craft it up with your students while getting in some spelling practice. You can use premade letter beads or make your own. Differentiate this lesson by creating letter bracelets for working on sounds or letter recognition. More advanced students can spell their names or their favorite sight word.
Learn more: We Are Teachers
4. Create Your Own Traceables
Invest in a laminator and create a myriad of activities for pre-K students. Several sites online have preschool sight word lists available. Choose a word and repeat the word at least three times. Laminate and have students trace. In the last row, they should try to write the word on their own.
Learn more: Time 4 Learning
5. Suds and Search
Combine cleanup time with letter learning. Create a station with tubs filled with water, soap foam, and letter manipulatives. Have students search for individual letters or have them find ones to spell out one of their sight words. This is a fun, engaging, and sensory approach to spelling.
Learn more: Parenting Chaos
6. Match the Letter to the Sound
Help students learn what sound goes with what letter. Provide students with letter manipulatives. Say a sound for them. Give students time to find the letter in their stack. You can do another variation of this with whiteboards. In this version, students would write the letter that represents the sound.
Learn more: Wordwall
7. Big-Small Match Up
Create letter flashcards with both upper and lowercase letters on separate cards. Have students match the lowercase letter to its uppercase version. You can also vary this and turn the letters upside down and play a game of memory.
Learn more: Reading Adventure
K-1st Grade
8. Stamp and Spell
Use alphabet stamps to create fun hands-on spelling activities. Students can start stamping their names and move on from there to letters and sight words.
Learn more: Raising Little Superheroes
9. Spelling Memory
Turn your weekly spelling list into a fun board game. Use index cards or letter stock paper to create two sets of cards for your weekly list. Turn the cards over and have students play this memory game to help them grow their spelling skills. You can also find commercial versions for sale online.
Learn more: Amazon and Home Spelling Words
10. Rainbow Writing
Practice spelling and reinforce color names at the same time. Choose any editable spelling printable for the lesson. Call out the color of the marker or crayon. Let students trace the letter or word. Repeat this multiple times. For happier students, reward students by allowing them to call out the color.
Learn more: 4 Kinder Teachers
11. Sight Word Scavenger Hunt
Use sticky notes to post sight words around the room. Give your students a sheet of paper with the words listed on it. Have students say the word, then trace it on the paper. Modify by giving each student one or two words on their paper and place the sticky note on their paper.
Learn more: No Time for Flashcards
12. Pipe Cleaner Spelling
Hands-on learning meets spelling word practice. Use colorful pipe cleaners for sensory spelling learning. Students can shape their word lists into the correct letters using pipe cleaners.
Learn more: Teaching First
13. Online Spelling Programs
If you are in a 1-1 classroom, try some of the free online spelling programs which offer a variety of activities. Students gain meaningful spelling practice by exploring sight words and spelling patterns.
Learn more: Education
14. Playdough Spelling
For more hands-on spelling activities, use letter cookie cutters to cut out letters. This is a fun way to engage students with spelling instruction. If the student messes up, they can squish the words up, roll them out and redo.
Learn more: Kindergarten Connection
15. Teach Spelling Strategies
You can teach even young children all kinds of spelling strategies. Helping them learn the general spelling patterns in English early through engagement in a variety of activities ensures that they can play and make mistakes with spelling rules in low-stakes environments.
Learn more: Online Spellcheck
16. Excavate for Grade Level Spelling Words
Use a sandbox table to hide spelling words cut into blocks or written on pieces of paper. Combine this activity with a social studies level about discovering ancient civilizations. Your students will be immersed in a sensory activity that helps them gain practice in spelling and exposure to social studies content.
Learn more: Scholastic
17. Alphabet Clothespins
Write letters on the top of a wooden clothespin. Use flashcards of sight words. Have students match the clothespins to the top of the card in the correct order. Younger students can work on letter and word recognition, spelling, and hand-eye coordination.
Learn more: Creative Family Fun
18. Rhyming Wheels
Feeling crafty? You can make these rhyming wheels for students to help them practice sounding out words or recognizing sight words. Take the pressure off new word groups by turning learning into a game.
Learn more: Research Parent
19. Sidewalk Chalk ABCs
Get students outside and moving with this fun way to work on the ABCs. Make a grid with sidewalk chalk. Leave a few blank free spaces. Students start on A and have to hop through the alphabet. If they can't make it to the next letter in one hop, they can use a free space.
Learn more: Buggy and Buddy
2nd - 5th Grades
20. Spelling Fill-in the Blank Activities
Options abound for this entertaining way of spelling instruction. You can do spelling printables, and use magnetic letters or letter manipulatives. Students have to use their spelling skills to complete the word. This is a quick and easy go-to activity for any day.
Learn more: Home Spelling Words
21. Save the Spelling Snowman from Melting
A new twist on one of the classic activities for spelling words, Spelling Snowman starts with you choosing a word. Draw the appropriate number of blank spots for each letter in the word and a snowman on the board. As students guess a letter, incorrect answers "melt" part of the snowman.
Learn more: Homer Blog
22. Spelling Words Pyramid Style
Assist your students with their writing skills and spelling practice by building the word. In this activity, students create a pyramid from the top down. The top of the pyramid is the first letter of the word. They add a letter for each layer of their pyramid until they have the whole word at the bottom.
Learn more: Twinkl
23. Unmix It Up Relay
Add movement to spelling time with this low-prep game. Use magnet letters or letter tiles to spell words. Divide students into teams. One at a time they will race to unscramble their word in one of the envelopes. When they have it correct they signal. Then, the next student attempts to unmix another envelope.
Learn more: Busy Teacher
24. Michelangelo Spelling
Flexible seating fans will love this engaging spelling practice. Allow students to tape white paper to the bottom of their desks or tables. Let them practice writing their spelling words by laying under their desks working like the Renaissance artist, Michelangelo! You can add some color by letting them use markers.
Learn more: All About 3rd Grade
25. Spelling Sparkle
Another fun spelling game, Sparkle begins with students standing. Call out a spelling word. The first student says the first letter of the word. Play moves on the next student. When the word is complete the next student yells "sparkle" and the student after them must sit. Wrong answers mean a student must sit also. The winner is the last student standing.
Learn more: Teaching Ideas
26. Spelling Packets
Several online sites have complete spelling packets available to download. These are tried and true spelling activities for use in class or homework practice. These printable options can be especially useful for sick days when students are with a substitute.
Learn more: Education
6th - 8th Grades
27. Class Spelling Bee Race
Turn up the fun in class with a spelling bee race for teams. Have pre-marked spots on the floor. Call out a word from recent content for team one. The first student steps up to the line. If they spell the word correctly, the whole team moves up. If not, the student steps back into the team. The first team to cross the finish line wins.
Learn more: Spelling Words Well
28. Dictionary Race Game
This is another lively group game for middle school students. Set up a station with word cards. Assign one student as group leader. They flip the card and read it to their table mates. The other students search the dictionary to see who can find the word and definition first.
Learn more: Super Teacher Worksheets
29. Middle School Spelling Curriculum
Looking for a complete spelling curriculum or help with lesson planning? Check out this site that has word lists by grade along with lesson ideas, curated resources, and more.
Learn more: Time 4 Learning
30. Commonly Known Words by Grade Level
Create word walls and build these words into lessons and activities for maximum repetition. These are words that students are expected to have as part of their working vocabulary, especially by the end of that grade level.
Learn more: Spelling Words Well
31. Spelling Art
Provide students with six or so words from reading, math, or science. Have them create an art project using those words. You can create a rubric for required elements, but leave space for students to use their creativity freely.
Learn more: Your Dictionary
32. Digital Spelling Games
From Code Breaking to Word Scrambles and more, online platforms over gamified learning for your students. You can filter by grade level as well as content or lesson topic. If your school or homeschool coop doesn't have access to a program, there are plenty of free ones on the internet.
Learn more: Word Game Time
33. Spelling Workbooks
If you are looking for a week-long homework activity or something students can do each day as a bellringer, you can choose from a plethora of ready made workbooks.
Learn more: Education
34. Flipped Spelling Journal
Take the traditional spelling journal and turn it on its head. Rather than having students write sentences or definitions based on word lists, students keep a journal of words they find themselves misspelling or words they don't know. They can practice correct spelling and build their vocabulary with more ownership.
Learn more: Abe Books
35. Tally it Up
Provide word lists at the beginning of each week. Students get a tally mark as a reward for reaching a set number of tallies each week. Tally marks are earned by using and/or spelling the word correctly throughout the week.
Learn more: Spelling Words Well
36. Writing Challenge
Challenge students brains, spelling skills, and motor skills all in one activity. In this option, students write their words three times with their non-dominant hand, keeping them engaged instead of relying on rote memory.
Learn more: Your Dictionary
9th - 12th Grades
37. Memory Strategy
Use mnemonic devices like rhymes, sentences, or phrases to help students remember tricky spellings. English is full of exceptions to the rule. Mnemonic strategies offer students a cheat sheet they file in their brains.
Learn more: 20 Amazing Spelling Activities for Middle School
38. Peer Editing
One of the best ways to learn is to become a teacher. Have students peer edit in-class writing with a specific focus on spelling. Provide dictionaries. If the editor isn't sure if the work is spelled correctly, they find it in the dictionary to double-check.
Learn more: Read, Write, Think
39. Spelling Poems
Provide students with appropriate high-frequency words for their grades. You can differentiate between students based on reading level as well. Once you have reviewed the words and meanings, have students write poems using several of the words from the list. Add peer editing to extend the assignment.
Learn more: Great Schools
40. Pull Apart Synonyms
This activity ups the challenge level on word scramble worksheets. Students unscramble the letters to create two synonyms. Your class is able to work on meaning and spelling simultaneously.
Learn more: Spelling Words Well
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