11 Apr Bat-a-Bug: The Best Sight-Word Game Ever!

I just have to say:  “I love my new laminator!!!”  I’ve been asking other Moms and bloggers for their favorite laminator and everyone’s choice, hands down, was the Scotch brand Thermal Laminator. It so happens that it was 50% off this week!  So awesome!  So I scurried over to Amazon to buy it, knowing that if I was going to homeschool, I would use it a lot.  Now, I am finally getting the opportunity to use it!

For my first laminator-project, I created a game I call “Bat-a-Bug,” similar to the old-fashioned carnival game of Bat-a-Rat.  It’s spring and Clark and Luci are currently interested in bugs of all sorts, so I thought I would use that interest and get some sight-word practice in for Clark.

After an extended hiatus, Clark is finally starting to take an interest in reading again.  He’s doing amazing and I am so excited about this!  He still needs a little coaxing, however, so I am always trying to find ways that will get him interested.  Well!  I hadn’t even finished laminating the cards and that boy was begging to play the game!  SCORE!

FREE Bat-a-Bug Sight-Word Game

The Prep Work

1. Download the FREE zip file by filling out the form below. Once you have confirmed your email, you will get an immediate download.

2. When you unzip the file, you will find 7 pages of bugs with sight-words on them.  The list of sight words is taken from the Dolch Pre-Primer Words List.

3. Print the pages on sturdy card stock.  Plain paper tends to go flying during an exciting game!

4. Cut the bugs out along the lines to create cards.

5. Laminate the cards.  I used Scotch Thermal Laminating Pouches.

6. Cut the cards apart.

7. Play Bat-a-Bug!

How to Play

1. Lay the laminated cards on the floor, face up.  The players (2 or more) sit around in a circle around the cards with fly swatters. 
2. Decide on how many cards to call out during the game.  This will vary depending on the children’s interest and attention span.  The teacher calls out a sight-word and whoever swats the bug with that word first gets a point.
3. The player with the most points at the end of the game wins.

There are several different versions to this game.  It can also be played by a single player.  When playing with a single player, the teacher calls out the word and the student swats the bug with that word as fast as possible, repeating the word and spelling it out loud.  For each correct swat and spell, the player gets a point.  You can then compete against yourself trying to get a higher and higher score.  To add difficulty you can limit the time to swat.  Have fun!