18 Things to do with a spelling list
Have you ever noticed that no matter how hard you try to help your child
learn their spellings, they soon forget them, even when they have spelt
them correctly in a spelling test? Children don't learn to become good
spellers simply by learning lists of words off by heart, having weekly spelling
tests, copying out spelling errors or by always sounding words out.
1 Spot the word
Challenge your child to find the words on their list in other places around
them, for example

in a favourite reading book

on a road sign

on a sign, notice or poster

in a magazine, newspaper, at the shops, comic or leaflet

on television

on the side of a cereal box
2 Make the word
Encourage younger children to make the words on their list out of different
materials. These could include:

magnetic letters

large letters torn from magazines or newspapers

pipe cleaners

plasticine

felt letters

real dough (bread or cookies - they can be eaten later!)

playdough

string
3 Word posters
Challenge your child to write the words on their list using different writing
materials. These could include:

felt pens

paints

chalks

sticks in sand

different coloured pens joined together to create rainbow letters
Your child could also write a new word in large bubble letters and

then colour it in to form a poster.
4 Alphabetical order
Ask your child to put the words on their spelling list into alphabetical order.
You can help them by providing a copy of the alphabet or a simple
dictionary. Increase the challenge by setting a time limit.
5 Look-Say-Cover-Write-Check
Your child's school is likely to encourage the 'look-say-cover-write-check'
routine for learning new words. When learning the spelling of a new word,
your child will be asked to:

look at the new word very closely, spotting the shape of the word,
the order of the letters, any smaller words contained within a larger
word, familiar letter patterns, etc

say the word quietly to themselves while they look at it

cover the word or fold the paper back so that the word cannot be
seen

write the word from memory

check uncover the word and check to see if they are right
if they are wrong, your child can repeat the process. Encourage your child
to use this method at home as well as at school.
6 Mnemonics
Mnemonics are silly sentences that your child can make up and then learn to
remind them of how to spell a difficult word. Here are some examples.

Because - Big Elephants Can Always Use Sticky Envelopes.

Necessary/successful - if your child can't remember how many Cs or Ss to
use, remember this saying: One collar and two socks are necessary but
you will need two collars and two socks to be successful.

'No English word can end in 'j'. This is a rule you must obey.'

If your child confuses the spelling of 'rhyme' and 'rhythm', here is a
mnemonic to help them remember which word has two Hs: Rhythm has
your TWO Hips moving.
Help your child to make up mnemonics for any words on their list that they
are struggling with. They could then draw pictures to go with them.
7 Finding words within words
Your child can remember how to spell words by spotting smaller words
within them. This can be made even more helpful by making up a short
sentence to help your child remember the spelling. For example

address: add-ress - you must add your address

secretary: secret-ary - a secretary keeps secrets

parachute: para-chute - never separate a para from his parachute

island: is-land - an island is land surrounded by water
Encourage your child to look closely at the words on their list and spot the
smaller words that are hiding in them. Your child could mark the smaller
words with bright highlighter pens.
8 Hidden words
This is a game that you can prepare yourself. Write the words on your child's
spelling list, hidden in a series of letters. Now that they are hidden, ask
your child to find them. For example:

sfhplayknc - play

qrubitpdh - bit

nvzbikejfa -bike
Your child could circle the hidden words with coloured pens. To raise the
challenge, you could set a time limit on the game. For example, how many
words can you find in one minute?
9 Word snap
Help your child to write each of the words on their spelling list on to a small
piece of coloured card or paper. Make two sets of the words. Shuffle the
words and then deal them out between you. Keeping the words face down,
take it in turns to reveal one word at a time and place it on the table. When
two of the same words are turned over, one after the other, the player who
spots this shouts 'snap'. At the end of the game, the player with the most
pairs of matching words is the winner.
10 Word collections
Encourage your child to spot familiar letter patterns in the words on their
spelling list and then to collect other words that contain the same letter
pattern.
For example, your child might have the word 'window' to learn. They might
spot that it contains the letter pattern 'in'. They could then spot and collect
words such as 'bin, din, dinner, fin, finger, pin, pint, tin, win' etc. They can
find these other words by looking in the dictionary or by looking through
magazines, newspapers or books. They could cut the words out of leaflets or
junk mail and then stick them onto a homemade poster. Alternatively they
could highlight them with brightly coloured highlighter pens.
11 Silly sentences
This activity can be great fun. Challenge your child to write a silly sentence,
including as many of the words on their spelling list as possible. For
example, your child may have to learn 'room took hoop foot book'. They
could make up a silly sentence such as 'The boy took his book across the
room but got his foot caught in a hoop'. Again they could draw illustrations
to go with the sentences.
12 Word search
Use your child's spelling list as the basis of a homemade word search. Draw a
simple grid onto a plain piece of paper. Write the words on your child's
spelling list into the spaces. Dot them about and write them across or down.
If your child is older, you could also write them diagonally across the page.
Avoid writing them backwards or bottom to top as this is in the opposite
direction to what children would normally expect when reading. In all the
remaining spaces, write letters at random. Provide your child with a brightly
coloured pen and challenge them to find and circle all the words from their
spelling list.
C
F
H
E
A
R
IS
B
X
U
R
0
0
LE
A
0
D
S
H
A
PE
V
S
O
P
M
D
JG
Y
B
E
K
H
S
K N
13 `Shannon's Game'
Use the words on your child's spelling list to play 'Shannon's Game' which is a
more focused version of the game 'Hangman'.
Without telling your child which one, choose one of the words on the list.
Draw dashes onto a piece of paper, one dash for every letter in the word.
With younger children, write the first letter of the word onto the first dash.
Your child then has to guess the next letter - without looking at their list. If
they are correct you write in the next letter. If they are incorrect, you draw
the first part of the Hangman. Your child has to guess the whole word,
letter by letter, before you complete the drawing.
For example the selected word is: school
SCH
Incorrect letters: t, y, a, e
Reverse roles and let your child select a word while you guess the letters.
14 Crosswords
If your child is in Year 4 or above, challenge them to produce a crossword
puzzle, using the words on their spelling list. Provide them with a blank grid
and a dictionary. This will help them to write the clues. You can then
answer the crossword. When you have finished, ask your child to check that
you are correct. Here is an example. Find: hear, shape, roads, see, book
15 Dictionary challenge
Challenge your child to find all of their words in the dictionary. Use a
picture dictionary for younger children and a junior dictionary for older
children. You can vary the challenge by

setting a time limit - use a timer on a watch or an egg timer

having a race between yourself and your child - who can find each
word the fastest?

asking your child to write out the dictionary meaning of their word.
16 Spelling number plates
This game can be played when you are out in the car. Ask your child to take
a copy of their spelling list on the journey. Check that their words have
been spelt correctly. During your journey, your child has to spot the letters
in their words on passing number plates. As they see each letter, they cross
it out in their words. They have finished when they have crossed through all
of the letters. Two or more people could play this game. Share the words
between them. In this version, the first person to have crossed out all their
letters is the winner. (This game won't work for words that contain I, 0 or Z
which don't appear on British number plates.)
17 Syllabification
This is an activity that will help your child's spelling by teaching them a
strategy to use. It works by splitting the words into parts, called syllables.
Every syllable must have a vowel in it. You can check how many syllables a
word has by clapping it out. Here are some examples.

four-teen • when-e-ver

tea-cher • card-i-gan
If the words on the spelling list contain more than one syllable your child
can identify the different parts either by drawing a line between each
syllable or by highlighting each syllable in a different colour. They could
also cut the words into syllables and then try putting them back together.
18 Spelling Test
This is a good activity to do once your child has worked on their list. Give
your child a short spelling test. Ask them each word, one at a time. Say the
word, repeat it in a short sentence and then say the word again. Allow your
child time to write it down. Repeat this for each word.
When your child has finished, check the spellings together. However, rather
than marking the whole word right or wrong, mark each letter. When your
child has attempted to spell a word, this method points out to them how
much they already know. You tick every correct letter. Praise what is right
to boost your child's confidence.
Some helpful hints
Children become spellers by becoming readers and writers. You can help by:

drawing attention to the initial sound and letter of your child's name

encouraging your child to write labels for things

reading with your child regularly

encouraging your child to write often. For example, they could write the
shopping list, 'fill in' forms at the post office or bank and write letters,
cards and postcards to family and friends

providing an attractive range of pens and paper for your child to use

letting your child see you write often and explaining what you are doing
and why

discussing words you are not sure of yourself - let your child know that
there are words that you cannot spell either and show them how you try
to remember them or check them. Let them see you using a dictionary or
spellchecker. Children need to learn ways to spell unknown words and
not feel that they have to be able to spell all words correctly.
You can help your child become familiar with a wider range of words by

sharing skipping rhymes, nursery rhymes and poems

telling jokes and riddles

talking about things that you do together and recalling the day's
events

listening to and retelling stories

making up silly rhyming strings such as: bee sea fee he key Lee me
knee pea see tea we

pointing out and discussing funny, interesting, long or unusual words
that either of you spot

playing word games such as Pelmanism, Scrabble and Boggle.
Help your child become a confident speller in the following ways.
Encourage them to 'have a go' at spelling a new word. Only help if they ask
you to.
Encourage them to read through their writing and check for spelling errors.
They need to develop a feel for whether a word looks right. They could
underline words they are not sure of and then you could both check with a
dictionary.
Always praise your child for what they have written. Let them know that
you are more interested in their message and the content of the writing
than in their spelling. You don't want your child to feel that correct spelling
is the most important aspect of their work.
Finally, remember that learning to spell is a gradual process and children
need to go through this at their own pace. Doing any of these activities with
your child will help them to develop into confident and capable spellers.
Children learn best when they enjoy what they are doing and all of these
activities are fun and lively.
If you would like any further advice on how to help your child with their
spelling, please contact your child's teacher who will be happy to help you.