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Home » Reading Ideas » Learning to Read » ABC Sensory Wand Pointers

ABC Sensory Wand Pointers

August 25, 2014 • 16 Comments

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I have sung the praises of reading pointers before on the blog.  They are fun tools to use at home and in the classroom with young children.  Today I have a super fun ABC Sensory Wand Pointer that will motivate your kids to point out lots of letters and words in their environment.

ABC Sensory Wand Pointers for lots of literacy fun from growingbookbybook.com

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ABC Wands

I got this idea after looking at a pile of broken bubble containers we had accumulated over the summer.  My little ones are notorious for breaking the wands off the handles.  I didn’t want to throw the container away and was determined to come up with another use for them.  That is how the ABC Sensory Wand Pointer idea began!

Making the ABC Sensory Wand Pointers

materials needed for ABC Wand Pointers

Materials needed for one pointer:  empty bubble wand container (remove the wand part), light corn syrup, hot water, foam ABC beads, glitter, hot glue gun or super glue (optional)

1.  Make sure that the bubble wand container is empty and remove the wand from the handle.

2. Pour about a 1/2 inch of hot water into the container.  Add about 1 teaspoon of glitter.  Close and shake gently to mix.

3.  Add about 30 ABC beads to the container.

corn syrup into ABC wand containers

4.  Next, pour light corn syrup to fill the container about 3/4 full.

5.  Fill the remainder of the bottle with hot water.

close=up of ABC sensory wand pointer for lots of alphabet games

6.  You may want to hot glue or super glue the lid on to avoid any messes that could occur if the container is opened.

Using the ABC Sensory Wand Pointers

There are many uses for your new alphabet pointers.

Idea 1:  Give the kids time to explore the wands.  The kids will love to turn the wand pointers up and down watching all the letter beads float through the tube. Challenge them to name all the letters they see.

Use an ABC pointer to go on a letter hunt

Idea 2:  Go on a letter hunt through the house, classroom or neighborhood.  Have the kids point to the letters they find and identify each one.

Variation:  Children could also say the sound of each letter they find and point to it on their hunt.

Idea 3:  Older children can go on word hunts in their environment.  As they point to each word they can say and/or spell it.

Idea 4:  Beginning readers who still need to point to the words as they are reading can use the ABC wand pointers while reading a large piece of text such as a big book or a poem written on chart paper.

Can you think of any other creative ways to use these ABC Sensory Wand Pointers?  I’d love to hear your ideas in the comments.

P.S. For more literacy activities, be sure to follow my Pinterest board on the topic.

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16 Comments Filed Under: Learning to Read Tagged With: beginning readers, decoding strategies

About Jodie Rodriguez

Jodie Rodriguez is a mom of two young boys and an early childhood/elementary educator with over 20 years of experience. Jodie's passion is helping parents, teachers, librarians and anyone else interested in nurturing and reaching ALL of our youngest growing readers.

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  1. Heather says

    September 3, 2014 at 12:17 am

    Oh what fun, I love this idea! Thank you for sharing on our Facebook page today.

    Reply
  2. Susen says

    September 1, 2014 at 6:02 am

    this is very cool! what a great and creative way to re-use those bubble wands!

    Reply
  3. Catherine Ami says

    August 27, 2014 at 8:32 pm

    How fun… I love this idea! I am already thinking of a few other ways to use these. 🙂 Thank you for sharing this.

    Reply
    • Jodie Rodriguez says

      August 27, 2014 at 8:44 pm

      Thank you Catherine!

      Reply
  4. pat raymo says

    August 27, 2014 at 6:42 am

    As usual….you have the greatest ideas!!!! Thx SO much for sharing them all.

    Reply
    • Jodie Rodriguez says

      August 27, 2014 at 8:45 pm

      Oh, thank you Pat!

      Reply
  5. Meredith @ Homegrown Friends says

    August 26, 2014 at 8:35 pm

    love these Jodie!

    Reply
  6. Gude @HodgePodgeCraft says

    August 26, 2014 at 3:51 pm

    These are magic! What a fun thing to make 🙂
    Thanks for sharing at #Pintorials this week.

    Reply
  7. Rachel @I Heart Crafty Things says

    August 25, 2014 at 7:31 pm

    Love, LOVE this so much!! What a fun idea!

    Reply
    • Jodie Rodriguez says

      August 25, 2014 at 8:22 pm

      Rachel, thank you so much!

      Reply
  8. Theres Just One Mommy says

    August 25, 2014 at 10:47 am

    What a great use of those bubble wands when they break! I think we may have an empty one in the garage….Going to have to look!

    Reply
  9. Brenda says

    August 25, 2014 at 10:33 am

    Love this idea! The kids will love using their special wand to learn the alphabet!

    Reply
  10. Megan says

    August 25, 2014 at 7:25 am

    I LOVE these sooooooooo much!!!!

    Reply
    • Jodie Rodriguez says

      August 25, 2014 at 10:44 am

      Thank you so much Megan. They were fun to make.

      Reply

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