Matching Objects to Words: Reading Activity

A reading lesson WITHOUT a worksheet! Play Matching Objects today.

It’s so easy to put reading lessons on a worksheet or printable. We can quickly type up words, add some clip art, or buy something from TPT. But instead of focusing on reading as a one-dimensional activity, what if we made it dynamic? What if we played Matching Objects instead?

RELATED: Curious how I taught my son at home? Check out Playing Preschool: my year-long activities program.

Why is this a better approach to reading?

Let’s remember that reading isn’t a memorized skill.

This is a hard-to-learn, whole body, all-hands-on-deck skill that takes YEARS to develop.

When we reduce reading down to flashcards, memorization, and worksheets – we lose so much. We need to respect how difficult this skill is and help our kids fully engage with it.

Matching Objects in this activity incorporates so many learning styles and opportunities to connect with the reading process.

Here’s how I set up Matching Objects

Materials:

• Paper – I went large scale on this one
• Marker
• Objects / toys
• Bin – I added rice for a sensory element because #sensoryforlife

A little about the objects I picked:

I chose objects that went with words that I believed my 5 year old could DECODE or REASON his what through.

“Can” is a word he should be able to decode based on the sounds.

“Sky” is a word he can reason his way into figuring it out based on the s-words listed and the different letters in each word.

RELATED: Worried about your child and reading? Remember this is a skill for elementary students.

This was so much harder than he expected

My son really expected this to be such an easy activity and was STUNNED when it wasn’t.

But it was still GREAT for him.

This activity hit right at his frustration level which means he was challenged and working hard and this was taxing for his brain.

He was firing on all cylinders.

Here’s a check list to remember when picking items:

• Is the word decodable? (EX: dots can be sounded out, remote cannot)
• Are any of the words too similar? (steer clear of words that look similar like kit and kite)
• Are there unusual spellings or sound patterns in the word? (cloud is a tough word until you know about the OU sound…)

RELATED: I’m just not a fan of most worksheets and here’s why.

Making a Matching Objects bin was perfect for my son!

This activity gave him a chance to practice his decoding, practice using context clues to determine a word, and challenge him in his reading.

Printing out a worksheet may have been easier for me, but putting this all together was way better for him.

Will you try this hands-on reading activity?