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On Fridays this December, I’m going to try to incorporate some Christmas fun into our day. I think I’m going to focus on one Christmas-related theme each Friday, with the first one being reindeer. In planning for this day, I created this Christmas reading game printable for my son called “Reindeer’s Runaway Vowels”.
I had created a similar version earlier in the year for him when he was learning CVCe words and he loved playing it. So, I thought I’d make a Christmas-themed one, too!
Here’s what you’ll need to play:
- “Reindeer’s Runaway Vowels” game board
- “Reindeer’s Runaway Vowels” recording sheet
- die
- pencil
- paper clip
- game board markers
Directions:
- Each player places their game board marker at start. We usually use Lego minifigures for those.
- The first player rolls the die and moves that amount of spaces on the board, landing on a word. Then, placing a paper clip onto the spinner and holding it in place with the tip of a pencil, they spin to see what vowel it lands on. They place the vowel inside the blank of the word they landed on to see if it makes a word. For example, if they had landed on the word “m_le” and then spun the letter “i”, adding “i” to the blank will create the word “mile”. If they had landed on “e”, “mele” would not make a real word. From here there’s two different recording sheet options you have: one to only record the real words they make, and one to record both real and nonsense words. When we played, we just recorded real words that we made. Regardless of which recording sheet you use, the object of the game is to make the most REAL words.
- Players take turn rolling and then spinning to make new words until they reach the end of the game board. The player who makes the most real words wins!
Here’s a sample of the two different recording sheets:
While I was at it, I went ahead and made an extra game board to practice CVC words, as well.
These two games would be a perfect activity for centers or review of CVC and CVCe words. I’ve included both black and white and color copies of the game boards in case you would like to laminate the color ones to reuse in a center. We’ll be playing this game next week and you can, too!
Click on the picture below to download this fun FREE Christmas reading game.
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10 Comments
I was looking for a Christmas-themed game to use with my small reading groups. This will be perfect. Thank you for sharing this adorable game.
You’re so welcome! Small reading groups would be a perfect setting to use this game. I hope your students enjoy it!
This is fantastic! Thank you so much! I think I’ll incorporate it in my reading groups and then a free for all on Fun Friday afternoons. Thank you!
I’m so happy you’ll be able to use it! I hope your students enjoy it!
This is great! I am using it with ESL students. I changed it slightly so that they have to decide independently if a word is real or not. When they finish they do some dictionary work. They get a point for each word that they put in the correct column and another point for correct pronunciation. It works with all ages!
What a great idea! I love hearing how you’re using it in your classroom. Thanks for stopping by!
Hi! Thank you so much for this great Christmas phonics activity! Would it be okay for me to include it in a round-up blog post I am working on that is specifically about learning blends/vowels/phonics with Christmas themed activities? (Permission to link to your site and possibly use one of the images to show your activity?) I would be so honored, and of course I would leave a link to this page to tell people where it came from! 🙂 My blog is http://www.mythreereaders.com Thank you! Amy
Hi, Amy! Thanks for your interest! You’re welcome to include a link to the post and photo in your roundup. I hope your readers enjoy the activity.
All the best,
Stephanie
Great worksheets