Encourage reluctant readers to love reading with a little help from their very own DIY Word Wand.
When your 4 year old comes in from school, homework is far from their mind. They want to eat, play and have a cuddle on the sofa. But the reality is homework has to be done. To help motivate my own daughter with her reading homework, we made some fun Word Wands. They are really helping to add a little magic to our reading time together, rather than it starting with a bang!
We were inspired to make our fun Word Wands after seeing these Magic Wand Reading Pointers from Creative Family Fun, when we were scrolling through Pinterest looking for ideas to help encourage reluctant readers.
Encourage Reluctant Readers
Supplies
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Making our DIY Word Wands
We started with a Valentines theme for our first Word Wand, as Valentines Day will be here in just a couple of weeks and Little Miss B loves all things pink.
The great thing about these Word Wands is that you can decorate them exactly how you want too (or with what craft supplies you to hand). Personalizing them to suit your child’s desires/interests is the key to making the Word Wands effective in encouraging your reluctant reader to do their reading homework.
We sat down together with our tray of craft supplies and chatted about our days, as Bella created her Word Wands. Gluing and sticking on the crafty bits and bobs which took her fancy. Once she had completed her Love Bug Word Wand, she was keen to add her name to another one. So I pulled out some foam letters for her to glue onto another popsicle stick.
Once finished she promptly ran off with her reader in one hand and her Word Wand in the other, to show off to her Daddy and do her reading homework with him. This left me to tidy up after our very creative afternoon.
What theme will you use for your Word Wands?
Tips for using your Word Wand
Parents or caregivers can use the Word Wand to point to words as they read a book to their child.
Children then can be encouraged to take charge of the Word Wand and use it to keep track of the words, as they read a book or page of writing.
