Sight words! We can't get enough sight word practice. If you teach kindergarten, first or second grade, you know how much time you spend teaching sight words and how important they are as they make up the majority of the words we see in books.
In the fall, I wanted a way that students could practice sight words but it would still be seasonal. I also wanted it to be FUN! I created apple sight word mazes and followed it up with pumpkin sight word mazes a few weeks later. Just a few weeks ago, I added heart sight word mazes to the mix. These are all fun ways for students to practice reading and identifying sight words, but there was a problem. Each set only included 5 different sight words. So even with all three sets you are only practicing 15 sight words. Our students need way more than that to become fluent readers.
The other problem with sight words is that we each teach different words at different times in different grades. Some schools use the Dolch lists, some use Fry words and others (like the district I taught in) create their own lists that are a combination of the two. Plus, everyone teaches them in a different order so the words you want your students to practice one month might look very different than a teacher teaching the same grade in a different state. I wanted to find a way to make these sight word mazes work for everyone....and I did just that this week!
I took those sight word mazes and I made them EDITABLE. This means that you can add any sight words you want.
For each month, I've picked one shape to represent that month. I've created 10 different mazes and made it editable. When you open up the PDF file in Adobe (or another PDF reader), you will see a table with 10 spots to fill. Type in the 10 words you want your students to focus on, and the mazes will be automatically created with those words in them. Now your students can practice just the words you are working on for that month. You can also adjust the fonts and sizes of the words (directions are included in each product.) Check out the video at the bottom of this post for tips on creating these mazes.
How to use the mazes:
Basically, students will work through the maze by finding the focus sight word for that page and going from "start" to "end."
With bingo/dot markers - have students begin where it says "start" and dot the focus sight word for that page. Have them continue dotting the shapes that link to the one they just did and contain the focus sight word for that page. They will need to find shapes that are next to one another that contain the focus sight word for the page. Students could just dot all the shapes with that sight word, but my focus was to get them to go in a line to work through the maze.
With crayons - students will need to work through the maze from start to end, but with this method they are coloring the shapes. They will need to color shapes that are next to each other and contain the focus sight word to make it through the maze.
Laminate and use counters - if you want to be able to reuse this activity, print and laminate each board. Give students counters (math manipulatives, mini erasers, etc.) and have them work their way through the maze by finding and covering the focus sight word.
Other uses for these mazes:
As awesome as this is for sight word practice, the fun doesn't have to stop there. Because these mazes are completely editable you can really add any words. Here are a few ideas that I had:
-challenge words for students who have mastered sight words
-individual spelling words
-individual spelling words
-word families
-specific phonics skills and patterns
-vocabulary word
-foreign language words
-parts of speech
-student names
The possibilities are endless and it can be so much more than a sight word activity.
Included in this Sight Word Maze Bundle
UPDATE: THIS GROWING BUNDLE IS NOW COMPLETE.
Remember, each month can also be purchased individually. If you don't want the whole bundle or just want to focus on one month, you can buy just the month you want. Just click the links below or the picture for more information.
Remember, each month can also be purchased individually. If you don't want the whole bundle or just want to focus on one month, you can buy just the month you want. Just click the links below or the picture for more information.
-April Sight Word Mazes (umbrellas)
-May Sight Word Mazes (flowers)
-June Sight Word Mazes (sand buckets)
-July Sight Word Mazes (US flags)
-August Sight Word Mazes (suns)
-September Sight Word Mazes (apples)
-October Sight Word Mazes (pumpkins)
-November Sight Word Mazes (turkeys)
-December Sight Word Mazes (Christmas trees)
-January Sight Word Mazes (snowmen)
-February Sight Word Mazes (hearts)
**Plus Bonus Generic Shape Sight Word Mazes (so you can have maze fun no matter what the month or holiday) This is exclusive to the bundle. It CAN NOT be purchased separately.
-May Sight Word Mazes (flowers)
-June Sight Word Mazes (sand buckets)
-July Sight Word Mazes (US flags)
-August Sight Word Mazes (suns)
-September Sight Word Mazes (apples)
-October Sight Word Mazes (pumpkins)
-November Sight Word Mazes (turkeys)
-December Sight Word Mazes (Christmas trees)
-January Sight Word Mazes (snowmen)
-February Sight Word Mazes (hearts)
Sight word practice that is fun and useful for everyone, no matter what grade, curriculum requirements or time of the year! That's a win for students everywhere!!
Grab the GROWING bundle NOW on TpT!!
Need Help Editing this File?
Want some help adding your words to the mazes? Check out this video.
Need more sight word ideas?
Try some of these sight word activities