There are so many ways to lasso in some excitement to your Wild West theme. With an engaging theme, a little spark of imagination, and a few manipulatives, learning will come to life with these hands-on Wild West literacy activities for our preschoolers.
Wild West Literacy Activities
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Wanted Letters: Initial Sound Activity
Oh, no! These letters have been too noisy making their letter sounds and now they’re wanted by the sheriff. Find the letters and lock them up in letter jail, so that this Wild West town can hear the crickets sing again. I am not sure why children have such an obsession with jails, but we used it this week to “lock up” their attention with this literacy activity! Grab Wanted: Letters here!
- Recognize the names of letters of the alphabet.
- Demonstrate understanding of initial sounds of words.
Syllable Saloon: Literacy Activity
“Howdy, partner. Only words with 1 syllable can enter the Syllable Saloon marked with a 1.” Adding in just a little bit of a country accent really brought this activity to life for the kiddos. Also, we added a little more pizazz to our saloons by cutting the doors so they open and close and standing them up using wooden blocks. Such an easy way to build in engagement with this literacy activity. Grab yours here!
- Understand that words are made up of one or more syllables.
- Demonstrate use of vocabulary in oral language to express ideas and events.
Giddy Up ABC
Now that my little one has mastered the basic letter shapes, I really wanted to start working on proper letter formation. These Giddy-Up ABC cards include stars and numbers to show where to start each stroke. The arrows also help guide kiddos in which direction to go. We traced these with our fingers on one day and with dry erase markers on another day.
- Begin to develop proper pencil grip when drawing or writing.
- Write and recognize letters.
Panning for Gold Letter Matching Activity
There’s nothing like going on a treasure hunt! We pretended to be prospectors searching for gold nuggets by sifting through sand with a strainer. You could also use sand sifters. Then, we matched our gold nuggets (just gold gems that I wrote the letters on with a permanent marker) to the gold pan with the matching letter. Seems like we struck it rich with this literacy activity!
- Recognize the names of letters of the alphabet.
Lasso the Letter
So many skills in this next activity: Lasso the Letter! My little one is reading now (cue the tears), and so she is obsessed with testing out new CVC words. We made a lasso using a string and laced on letter beads to match the letters on the cattle. Then, we sounded it out and flipped over the card to check our word with the picture. For students not quite ready to read, you can choose from the uppercase to lowercase letter match or just have them lace the matching letters on lassos without sounding out each word. Tip: Use a pipe cleaner with these letter beads to make it easier for your little learners to complete independently.
- Recognize the names of letters of the alphabet.
- Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words.
More Wild West Activities
I hope that you and your little learners can lasso in some excitement to literacy with these activities! Don’t forget to click below to see more Wild West activities in action!
