Muffin Tin Syllable Counting Game For Kids

I’m all about fun and playful learning games.  I truly believe it’s the best way for kids to learn.  Each week I share hands-on activities to build literacy skills.  One of my favorite tools to use for making games and activities is a muffin tin.  We all have at least one in the house!

 

My good blogging friends Kim and Amanda from The Educators’ Spin On It have a brand-new book called 100 Fun & Easy Learning Games for Kids published by Page Street Publishing.  It’s full of games to help kids learn and there are plenty of literacy activities.  One of my favorite features is that each activity comes with variation ideas so you can adapt the games to fit the needs of your kids.

One of the 100 ideas you will find in the 100 Fun & Easy Learning Games for Kids is Muffin Tin Syllable Counting.

Muffin Tin Syllable Counting

Full Disclosure: This activity and images have been reprinted with permission from the publisher from the book, 100 FUN & EASY LEARNING GAMES FOR KIDS. I received a copy from the publisher.  This post also contains affiliate links.

Say and count syllables in this self-checking muffin tin game. Sneak in a little fine motor practice and boost early literacy skills while picking up buttons. Let the kids help draw the game pieces and you tie in art and creativity too.

Focus Skill: counting syllables in spoken words

Materials

2″ (5-cm) circle

Cardstock

Pencil

Crayons or markers

Scissors

12 cup muffin tin

Buttons

Directions to Make

1. Trace around the 2-inch (5-cm) circle 12 times on the cardstock.

2. Draw a picture of a person, place or thing inside each circle. Cutting pictures from magazines works too! Some examples are dog, caterpillar, fish, bicycle, shoe, car, banana, apple, book, table, circus and library.

3. Color and cut out each picture.

4. Turn the circles over and make a dot for each syllable in the word. The back of the circle with the dog picture would have one dot; caterpillar would have four.

Directions to Play

1. Place the pictures, image side up, in the muffin tin. The player names the picture out loud and counts the number of syllables in the word.

2. The player drops the same number of buttons as syllables in the tin.

3. Play continues until all compartments have been filled with buttons. When this happens, the player self-checks and corrects the number of syllables by turning the picture over and comparing the number of buttons in each compartment with the number of circles on the back of the image.

Game Variations

Focus the pictures on a specific learning theme such as natural life, ocean or transportation.

Select and read a story. Use vocabulary words and characters from the story to make the picture cards.

Focus on number sense by changing the pictures to numbers. Have the player count out the buttons to match the written number.

Ok, the second variation idea is BRILLIANT.  What a fun way to build vocabulary and connect the activity to books!  You could use the book Corduroy and then use the following words and create images for: Corduroy, button, overalls, escalator, bear, lost, wander, mattress, family, apartment, Lisa, and friend.

For more great ideas, grab a copy of 100 Fun & Easy Learning Games for Kids.  There are so many activities to keep the kids happy, active and learning all year long.