Sight Words and Alphabet Fun with Gems

Create these super fun sight words and alphabet games gems for your child. So easy to make and use with so many learning ideas.

Both of my girls have an obsession with the glass gems that you can buy at just about any craft store. We’ve found a fun way to use them for learning with play!  

I love that this is an activity that both of my girls can do together as a sibling activity.

For the bigger kids….. Create Sight Word Gems!

For the younger kids…… Create Alphabet Gems!

It’s really very simple but fascinates children of many ages!

Sight Word and Alphabet Fun with Gems for Kids

Materials Needed

• Clear Glass Gems 
• Permanent Markers 
• Paper

Grab a bag of gems and some permanent markers and start creating!  We used various colors for our Gems as it makes for a fun sorting activity for the younger ones too and so inviting for play.  

The moment I started writing them my youngest, who’s 2, starting singing her ABC’s and identifying the letters.  

Now she didn’t get any of them right at first but she knew I was adding letters and she walked around all afternoon with her letters in her little basket telling everyone to be careful they are “breakable”.

{You know you’re own child and what they can handle for safety purposes,  please use caution with this material, when they break it is broken glass}  

Once you’ve added your letters to the Gems it’s time to create opportunities for learning.

Alphabet Game with Gems

Now that you’ve added your Sight Words or Spelling Words to the Gems it’s time to create opportunities for learning.

For a younger child you can encourage them…

• place letters on a matching paper
• place them Alphabetical order
• sort by colors
• sort by short and tall letters
• sort by circle and stick letters

Sight Word Game with Gems

For an older child you can encourage them to…

• match sight words on a matching paper
• find matching words
• use letter gems to spell sight words or spelling words
• sort by number of letters in word
• practice word families

The ideas really are limitless.  The best part is that when you’re done with one concept you can usually get permanent marker off by using nail polish remover or hair spray.  Wash with soap and then create a new game with the gems.  

Numbers might be fun too!  

Can’t wait to work with my daughter and all of her 2nd grade sight words to get her ready for this school year and our After School Activities.

I’m also really looking forward to working with my 2 year old with her letters as we plan out activities for Tot School and Playful Preschool.   

What would you add to the glass gems for learning with kids?