Sight Word Manipulatives

This sight word manipulatives activity is a great multisensory learning activity for hands-on learning sight words. Use this and all of our sight word activities to support learning with play!

Sight Word Manipulatives

A sight word manipulative is a learning tool designed to help children recognize and memorize sight words, which are common words that are frequently used in reading and writing. These manipulatives are typically physical objects that can be moved and arranged, such as flashcards, word blocks, or word wheels.

Sight word manipulatives are designed to make the process of learning sight words more interactive and engaging for children. By providing a hands-on, tactile experience, these tools can help children better understand the spelling and meaning of sight words, as well as improve their reading fluency and comprehension.

Examples of sight word manipulatives

Examples of sight word manipulatives include:

1. Flashcards: Cards with a single sight word printed on them that children can read and memorize.
2. Word blocks: Small wooden or plastic blocks with sight words printed on them that children can arrange and manipulate to create sentences.
3. Word wheels: Rotating wheels with sight words printed on them that children can spin to create new word combinations.
4. Magnetic letters: Letters that children can arrange on a magnetic board to create sight words and sentences.
5. Play Dough Words like the ones below!

Clothes Pin Sight Words

1. Play dough
2. Clothes pins
3. Marker
4. Cardstock or thick paper (like an index card)

1. Cut small pieces of paper.
2. Write the sight words on each piece of paper.
3. Clip a clothes pin onto the piece of paper.
4. Press the clothes pin into a ball of play dough.

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Colleen Beck, OTR/L has been an occupational therapist since 2000, working in school-based, hand therapy, outpatient peds, EI, and SNF. Colleen created The OT Toolbox to inspire therapists, teachers, and parents with easy and fun tools to help children thrive. Read her story about going from an OT making $3/hour (after paying for kids’ childcare) to a full-time OT resource creator for millions of readers. Want to collaborate? Send an email to contact@theottoolbox.com.