18 Tactile Spelling Activities

These spelling activities are a great way to spice up your spelling lessons. Spelling is just one of those things that you need to learn in life, but it doesn’t have to be boring.  Weekly lists and worksheets can get tedious after awhile, so why not add in some movement and activity to make it a bit more fun.  Here are 18 of our favorite hands-on spelling activities that we use to liven up our spelling lessons and lists.

Find FREE printable spelling activity cards at the end of this post!

1.  Jump On It Spelling 

This is one of our favorites and we have been doing it ever since the big kid in these pictures started spelling and reading.  He is now 10 and still enjoys this activity. 

Write each letter of the alphabet on a 4×6 blank index card.  Spread all 26 of the cards out on the floor.  Call out one of your child’s spelling words and have them jump, or hop, or skip to each of the letters as they spell the word. 

If having all of the cards out is too overwhelming for a younger child, just spread out 10 or so and call out words that they can spell with the 10 letters.  Slowly add in letters as they become more confident.  This is a great activity to do with various ages; I included my preschooler by having her jump to the letters I called out to help her with letter recognition and I included my Kindergartener by saying a letter sound and she would have to jump to that letter.

2.  Lace & spell 

For this activity we use our Lace-a-Word Beads from Lakeshore Learning, but you can use any letter beads and string.  This also helps develop fine motor skills and hand/eye coordination.  You can also use these beads with younger kids to string up the alphabet in order.  My kids enjoy making necklaces with all of their spelling words on one string.

3.  Window Spelling 

Have your kids write their spelling words on a window.  My kids get a kick out of this one – not sure what it is about writing on the window, but they love it and get super excited to do it.  We use Crayola Window Crayons for this activity.

4.  Sensory Tray 

Layer a cookie sheet with salt, sugar, flour, shaving cream, pudding, whipped cream, or any other fun goop you can think of and have your child write their spelling words with their finger in the goop.

5.  Letter Hunt

Have your child hunt for letters to their spelling words in newspapers and magazines and then have them glue them to a piece of paper.

6.  Chalk on the Driveway

This one is pretty self-explanatory; have your child write their spelling words on the driveway (or sidewalk) with chalk. {Sorry, I have no picture for this one as it’s winter here in upstate New York}

7.  Spell with Stamps 

Get an alphabet stamp set and stamp pad and have your child use stamps to spell out their words.  Melissa and Doug have a nice stamp set and so does Learning Resources.

8.  Type It 

What kid doesn’t like an opportunity to use the computer? Have your kids type out their spelling words on the computer. Use different fonts and different sizes to make it even more fun.

9.  Hide & Seek Spelling 

Fill an empty peanut butter jar with rice and alphabet beads (several of each letter) and crazy glue the top on. Then have your child search for each letter of their spelling words.

10.  Colored Glue 

Have your child spell their words with colored glue. To make the colored glue, simply pour the glue in a plastic cup, color with food color, and pour back into the glue bottle. If you don’t feel like making colored glue, have them use white glue and then add glitter, or use puffy paint.

11.  Spell with Motion

Get your kids up and moving. Have them do jumping jacks as they spell their words out loud; do a jumping jack for each letter.

12.  AquaDoodle

If you have an Aqua Doodle pad, this is a great way to have your kids write out their spelling words. 

13.  Lego Spelling

My kids love Legos, so this was a perfect way to have some fun with our spelling.  You could write the letters on the Legos (wet-erase markers work great; they don’t smudge, but will wipe off with water), use alphabet stickers, or print out letters and stick them on with tape. You can print my letters by clicking here.  And I used these mounting squares to stick them on and it worked perfectly (you could probably use double-sided tape as well).

14.  Spelling with Stickers

Instead of writing out the words, have your child use stickers.  My kids, especially the girls, love stickers.  A good place to pick up some alphabet stickers is in the scrapbooking section of your local craft store.  I’ve also bought some from Trend Enterprises.

15.  Trace on Back

Have your child write their spelling words on your back or the back of a sibling with their finger.

16.  Clothesline Spelling

Draw a little shirt pattern and use it to make little shirts out of colored cardstock. Write a letter on each shirt (make a couple for each letter). Hang a piece of string or yarn between two chairs and have your child spell their words on the clothesline. Or to make it easier on you, just write the letters on index cards.

17.  Playdough Spelling

Have your child spell their words with playdough.

18.  Manipulatives

Get your hands on any alphabet manipulatives you can find and use them to practice spelling. You can use blocks, foam letters, puzzles pieces, beads, or whatever else you have at your house and spell away; these kinds of manipulatives are great for making up your own spelling activities and games.

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