Swat and Spell

 I have played fly swatter games with my kids for years.  This is always a favorite station in my class.  I decided it was time to make it a bit more attractive so I made some cute flies and swatters to use.  Here is my finished board!

There are two ways to play:

1) SWAT THE SOUND - kids choose "splat" cards and smack the fly that shows the letter of the beginning sound.  (If you pull a key card, smack the "K" fly.) 
2) SWAT AND SPELL - Kids work with a buddy.  One student reads the word and the other smacks flies to spell it out.  They switch jobs and repeat.  This is always a big hit in my room! 

The nice thing about this board is that it is easily adaptable.  Kids can start off working on beginning sounds and transition into spelling.  You can adjust the center by writing different lists for different groups.  SO EASY!  You can download a free spelling sheet to use with this center here!


Aren't these the cutest flies you have ever seen???

 Of course, I LOVE to add a techie twist!  I also made a fun PowerPoint that goes with this.  Flies buzz in, a swatter smacks them, and leaves a splat with a picture that represents the beginning sound.  When we use this in my room, my kids make a fly noise as we drag out the letter sound.   When the fly swatter hits, we clap and say the name of the picture.  For L, we would say "lllll-l-ll-lll-lll-l" CLAP "lion!"  There are two sets of pictures associated with each letter.  There are also two speeds to choose from.  You can choose "Clicky Flies" - teacher clicks to make flies appear or "Fast Flies" - flies will appear on their own.  The Fast Flies speed is great if you need to call the office or something and need to keep your kids entertained for a few minutes. 




The border on this was super easy and I really like it!  I just bought plain red border and used a sharpie to write BUZZ all around it. I intentionally made the letters sharp and sloppy. They are flies! We don't need pretty! I attached flies to white paper and drew little dotted motion lines. I found great fly swatters at Wal-Mart that say "Splat" on them.  I used a large paint stick to make the handle of the swatter that serves as a sign for my board.

I hope your kiddos catch the spelling buzz!