Do you ever feel that your children are in a constant state of motion?

Sometimes getting children to sit down for even a short period of time can be a struggle.  Their little bodies want to move and groove.  So as the saying goes, if you can’t beat them - join them.

For those of you struggling to get your children to sit at the kitchen table and learn sight words, I found a great activity.  It combines moving and jumping with reading.  For four and five year olds, this is the best combination.

Idea of the Day:

Play leaping lily pads.

What you will need:

- Index cards

- Green tagboard or construction paper

What to do:

1.  Copy sight words onto index cards, making two sets.

2.  Make lily pads out of the green paper.

3.  Tape one set of the words onto the lily pads (one word per pad).

4.  Scatter the lily pads face up on the floor and tape them down.

5.  Place the other set of words face down in a stack.

6.  Ask your child to pick up a card and read it.

7.  Have your child jump on the lily pad with the word they read.

8.  Continue playing this game until they have read every word in the stack.

I found this activity in a book called, Sensational Sight Word Games by Joan Novelli.