Pancake Letter Recognition and Sight Word Activities

Summer! Such a wonderful time for us teachers to relax and refresh--and plan for the coming school year. I know I started making plans before the school year had even ended. The last month of so or school this year, I kept looking around my room, thinking about what worked well this year and what I would like to change, how I could rearrange things to make them more efficient, and what new ideas I would like to implement. Now that I have some "time off" (I say that loosely, because we all know summer is when teachers get planning and prep done for the next year), I am creating new things to add into my rotation of learning labs, literacy stations, and math stations.

Today I've got two fun activities for you. The idea for these has been rolling around my brain for a while, but I just finally got them completed! They're essentially different versions of the same game, one for letters and one for sight words.

Get this fun letter recognition activity here!

 

Get this fun sight word activity here!

These games require a little one-time prep (cutting out all the pancakes and making the syrup bottle), but once that's done you'll have something fresh and new to add to your literacy stations. This is the perfect kind of activity to prepare during the summer; turn on your favorite show, kick up your feet, and relax with a drink while you cut out the pieces.

This game is super easy to use in a small group. There are multiple ways you can play it--you know I love games that allow for differentiation! (For other activities that allow for easy differentiation, check out this letter game, this egg matching game, this compound word activity, and this bakery dramatic play center!)

For the letter game:
-Teacher calls out letter, and student puts “syrup” on the correct pancake
-Teacher calls out sound, and student puts “syrup” on coordinating letter
-Student puts “syrup” on a letter and states either the name or the sound
-Student puts “syrup” on a letter and thinks of a word that begins with that letter.
-Use with only uppercase, only lowercase, or both, as needed

For the sight word game:
-Teacher calls out word, and student puts “syrup” on the correct pancake
-Student puts “syrup” on a word and reads it
-Use with as few or as many words at once as will best meet the needs of your students
-Includes both Pre-K and Kindergarten sight words, for a total of 92 words. Mix and match to meet your students' needs.

Easy and fun, and what kid doesn't love pancakes, or getting to play with a syrup bottle?!
Speaking of that, to make the syrup bottle, I simply adhered the included label with packing tape. Then I threaded a short piece of brown yarn through the opening. (I tied a brown button on the end to both weight down the yarn and to keep it from slipping back through the opening). You could just as easily use an empty syrup bottle without the yarn, and just have students touch the top of the bottle to the pancakes.

This activity could be used over and over throughout the school year, both as you are introducing new letters/words, and as a review activity. It will also make a handy tool to assess students' knowledge. I love activities that help me assess their knowledge, but don't feel like "testing".

I hope you and your students enjoy these activities! Happy summer break!