Activities for sight words kindergarten
5 Hands-On Sight Word Activities for Kindergarten
Learning letter sounds, how to blend and segment words, and various phonics skills are foundational for early reading. However, there are just some words that can’t be sounded out. Sight words are commonly used words that young readers are taught to memorize. Since these words are used in high frequency, students are encouraged to recognize them by sight. Hands-on sight word activities merge students’ kinesthetic learning with visual learning.
For many kids, sight words are one of the first steps in learning to read. And what better way to learn sight words than with some fun sight word games that don’t require worksheets?
Learning to read is complicated and intricate, especially for kindergarten students. While learning to read sight words is only one component of reading development, it is a necessary and important component.
What are sight words?
Words like the, of, you, was are all words that need to be memorized and recognized by sight. They cannot be decoded using general phonics patterns.
Some words that we consider sight words are decodable words, but occur frequently. Those are often called high frequency words, although I have found that “sight words” and “high frequency words” are terms that are used interchangeably. Words like, and, that, as, on, in are all decodable words, but are also often taught as sight words.
Which words should you consider sight words?
Well, there’s a couple of different answers. If your school district is assessing a list of words, consider that your list. If your school or district is not providing a list words, you can find various lists online, including Dolch Lists and Fry’s Lists. While Dolch and Fry’s are some of the more common lists, each reading program seems to develop its own list. Most lists are very similar.
Since it takes students so long to learn sight words, you might consider limiting sight word instruction to words that are common and irregular or not decodable.
If you are teaching a phonics-based reading program alongside teaching students to memorize sight words, then they will learn how to decode
and, had, last, then, with, not, much, etc. as they progress through the reading program. Don’t waste valuable time on teaching students to memorize decodable words if you don’t have to.
How do Students Learn Sight Words
There are a variety of ways for students to learn sight words. Frequent exposure is the key. You can do a read-spell-read routine whole class and in small groups. Parents can also easily learn to do this routine at home with flash cards.
All students will also benefit from using more hands-on sight word activities during your word work stations.
Here are 5 sight word activities for kindergarteners that help young learners remember high-frequency words while having fun!
1. Block Building Game
Turn a classic block building game, like Jenga, into a way for students to learn their sight words.
Start by writing a high-frequency word on each block. Playing the normal Jenga rules, where a player removes a block from the tower and places it on top, have the student who removes the block successfully use the sight word in a sentence before the next player takes their turn. Or for an easier version, have players read and spell the words while moving blocks.
Download the game rules from education.com.
2. Tic-Tac-Toe
Kids love to play Tic-Tac-Toe! Add a twist by having the student read a sight word and use it in a sentence or read and spell it before adding an X or O to the board. Use sight word flashcards.
Try a variation by having students write the words along with an X or O on the board. Check out the templates and rules from sightwords.com.
3. Shaving Cream Sight Words Activities
Sometimes learning is messy! Break out the shaving cream on desks and tables, and have your students write out their sight words with their fingers. Save money on supplies by checking out a local dollar store or buying in bulk at a warehouse club store.
Clean up is easy. Just wipe down the tables and spray clean. One additional benefit is that the shaving cream acts as a soap and cleans up your table top!
A sand or salt box is another great tool to use, but a little less messy than shaving cream. Fill a small box with sand or salt. Using flash cards, have students turn over a card and draw the letters for the word in the box. The feel of the rough sand or salt helps kinesthetic learners memorize the words.
4. Use Manipulatives to Form Letters
For kinesthetic learners, using tangible items to physically form words can be an important way to show what they know! Try using Wikki Stix, playdough, or bendable straws to form words on mats or flat surfaces. Playdough is also a great medium for stamping letters to form sight words.
5. Journaling
Although open journaling or free writing may seem a little advanced for kindergarteners, you’ll be surprised with how much they can write even in the beginning stages.
Give students a list of sight words and have them generate a story with a drawing. Or give students a seasonal topic with words and a few sight words.
Save these in a digital or paper portfolio throughout the year to measure growth. Tools like Seesaw are incredible for keeping portfolios of student work via video and other mediums.
6. Word Ladder Game
This game is perfect for kids who are just starting to learn sight words. To play, choose a simple sight word like “at” or “had.” Then, see how many other words you can make by changing just one letter. For example, starting with “at,” you might get “bat,” “cat,” “hat,” and so on. The player with the most words at the end of the game wins! This is also a great way to focus on word family words, short vowel word families, and rhyming.
To make this game kinesthetic, create hopscotch-like boxes on your classroom floor. Have students move up the ladder as they create new words.
7. Musical Sight Words
This sight word activity is similar to Musical Chairs, but with a sight word twist.
To play, write several sight words on slips of paper and put them in a hat or bowl. Then, play some music while everyone walks around the room. When the music stops, everyone must grab a slip of paper.
Once everyone has a word, they must stand up and spell it out loud. The player who spells their word correctly first gets to stay in the game; the rest are out! The last player standing is the winner.
Instead of requiring spelling, you can just ask students to read the word. Remove one word each round to eliminate students as you would during a regular musical chairs game.
These 5 7 sight word activities for kindergarteners will help your students learn their first sight words in no time. They are just a few ideas to get you started. With a little creativity, you can come up with all sorts of fun games to help your child learn their sight words.
Do you want some more ideas?
Here are five more additional resources to help teach sight words in your classroom!
- Dolch Sight Word Lists
- Dolch Sight Word Assessment
- Fry Sight Word Lists
- Online Sight Word Games
- Free Sight Word Apps
If you are looking for a tool for parents to use at home, these Sight Word Practice Cards provide small doses of daily practice and a routine for parents to easily implement.
I created these phonics readers to use with my own kindergartener at home. Although they focus on specific word families and phonics patterns, the resource also introduces two new sight words per word family. Sight words are learned and read along with the phonics patterns.
What activities do you use to teach sight words in your classroom? I’d love to hear about them in the comments below!
Are you interested in additional blog posts about teaching early reading? Here are a few more!
25 low-prep sight word activities
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Today I’m sharing some simple sight word activities that you can prepare in minutes!
So what are sight words, anyway?
Some people will tell you that sight words are words that kids can’t sound out; they just have to learn them by sight. Others tell you that sight words are the high frequency words: the words that kids encounter the most when they read.
But researchers tell us that sight words are words we recognize automatically without needing to sound out or guess.
The real question is … how can we turn high frequency words INTO sight words?
The number one thing to do is to teach each word explicitly. That’s why I created my set of sight word lessons with decodable books.
Once you’ve taught the words with attention to the spelling patterns (these sight word worksheets are also great for this), you’re ready for these low prep sight word activities that you can put together in under 15 minutes!
1- It takes just 5 minutes to set up Sight Word Sticky Note Match. Just write the words on sticky notes and have your child cover the words on a dry erase board!
2 – Grab your alphabet stamps and some play dough for this simple sight word activity.
3 – Write the words on sticky notes. Then have your child write them in sand.
4 – Teach sight word songs.
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5 – Write the words on sticky notes. Then have your child swat each sight word with a fly swatter as you name it!
6 –Do fun actions with your sight words with This Reading Mama’s free action cards.
7 – Write sight words in play dough with a stick or wooden skewer.
8 – Try chanting sight words in a variety of different ways – like a robot, a cheerleader, and more! You can get free sight word chants on TPT here.
HANDS-ON PRACTICE FOR SIGHT WORDS
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9 – Make a sight word memory game. Just write each sight word on two different index cards. Then turn the cards over and invite your child to find the matches.
10 – Print these free sight word cards and build the words with letter tiles. When you join This Reading Mama’s free email list, you’ll get lots of free sight word cards! Learn more here.
11- Learning is always more fun with dice! Grab these free rainbow roll & write pages for a variety of sight words. Kids roll a die, check the key at the top of the page, and write the word in a particular color.
12 – This is such a creative way to practice writing sight words! Find the words with a magnifying glass and write them on the lines. Get the freebie here.
13 – Are you students learning beginning sight words? Print and play sight word blackout.
14 – Simply write your child’s sight words on a piece of paper and have him stamp them with alphabet stamps.
15. Grab the play dough, a sheet protector, and a dry erase marker. Your child can build the word with play dough and write it on the lines below. Get the freebie here.
16 – Grab these free color-by-sight-word pages.
17 – Get some colorful craft sticks and write the words with a permanent marker for some simple sight word puzzles.
18- Sight Word Showdown is both simple and genius! Just grab a stack of index cards and write each word twice. Then follow the directions in this post.
19 – Write sight words in muffin tin liners and play a simple game of Three in a Row.
20 – Bury magnetic letters in a sensory material. Have children dig out the letters to build words.
21 – Make a sight word parking lot.
Draw tiny parking spots on a piece of poster board, and write a sight word in each one. As you name the words, have your child park a toy car in each spot. Learn more here.
22- Practice writing sight words using a dry erase marker on a dry erase board.
23- Write sight words on craft sticks and provide some magnetic letters for this portable sight word activity.
24 – Where’s the bear? Write the words on paper cups and hide a small bear or other tiny object. Your child guesses where the bear is hiding by naming the word on the cup.
25 – Go on a simple sight word hunt by matching the sticky note sight words to the words on a clip board. (This one’s a favorite at our house.)
And there you have it! 25 low-prep ways to practice sight words!
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Eye exercises | Card index (middle group) on the topic:
Card index
“Gymnastics for the Eye”
(by thematic weeks)
Prepared by the teacher:
pulp
gymnastics for the eyes, this is one of the techniques of children's healing, it belongs to health-saving technologies, along with breathing exercises, self-massage, dynamic pauses.
The purpose of eye gymnastics: prevention of visual impairment in preschool children. nine0015 Tasks:
• Prevent fatigue,
• Strengthen the eye muscles,
• Relieve tension.
Gymnastics for the eyes has a beneficial effect on the performance of the visual analyzer.
Visual gymnastics should be carried out regularly 2-3 times a day for 3-5 minutes. For gymnastics, you can use small objects, various simulators. Gymnastics can be carried out according to verbal instructions, using poems, nursery rhymes.
Topics covered in the methodological development are presented in the form of a text table. nine0003
Eye gymnastics plan in the middle group
per year (on thematic weeks)
| Month | Week | Exercise | |||||||||
| Sepa Kindergarten | Magic Dream Eyes | ||||||||||
| Game World | Wind | ||||||||||
| My world | "Magic dream" "Eyes" | ||||||||||
| Profession | "Solnyshko and Club" 9000 "Radu" Radu Rada "Radu Rada" Radu " | ||||||||||
| Autumn time | "Rain" "Sunny and clouds" | ||||||||||
| October | Gifts | "Rain" "Hedgehog" | |||||||||
| My city | "Rainbow" "Magic Sleep" | Pets |
"Radu" "Radu" Sunny and clouds ” | ||||||||
| Wild animals | “ Hedgehog ” “ Eyes ” | ||||||||||
| November | My homeland 003 | “Hedgehog” “Nosik” | |||||||||
| Late Autumn | Wind “Rainbow” | ||||||||||
| Our good deeds 9000
“Eye” | |||||||||||
| Family and family traditions | “Magic dream” “Hedgehog” | ||||||||||
| December | Zimushka - Winter | "Elka" "Miracles" | |||||||||
| Lessons of politeness and etiquette | "Eyes" "Wind" | ||||||||||
| 9000. | "Eye" "Snowfins" | ||||||||||
| New Year's miracles | "Elka" "Miracles" | ||||||||||
| January 003 | Culture and traditions | “Miracles” “Magic dream” | |||||||||
| Winter Fun | “Snowstick” “Elka” | 9003 My friends | “Elka” “Miracles” | ||||||||
| February | Winter Sport0035 | ||||||||||
| My health | “Nosik” “Eyes” | ||||||||||
| WORLD Plants | “Glays” 9000 | ||||||||||
| Fatherland | “Miracles” “Magic dream” | ||||||||||
| March | Women's day | “Snowstep0002 "Hedgehog" | |||||||||
| Maslennya | "Snowdrop" "Sunny and Tuchka" | ||||||||||
| Spring to us 9,0003 | |||||||||||
| World Books | " Miracles " " Hedgehog " | ||||||||||
| April | Humor in our life | “Beetle” “Sunny and clouds” | |||||||||
| Spaces | “Glass” | Friends of 9000 “Suns” “Magic dream” | |||||||||
| Easter week | “Luchik sun” “Rainbow” | ||||||||||
| May | Victory Day | "Sunny bunny" "Sunny and clouds" | |||||||||
| Experiments and experiments | "Sunny bunny" "Eyes" | ||||||||||
| “Butterfly” “Sunny and clouds” | |||||||||||
| Summer | “Butterfly” “Rainbow” 003 |
“Magic dream”
Little cilia dropped .
..
Eyes are closed ...
We calmly relax ...
Syny magical fall asleep ...
Breathing easily ... Exactly ... deep ...
Our hands are resting ...
Resting rest … Falling asleep…
The neck is not tense
And relaxing…
The lips are slightly parted…
Everything is miraculously relaxing…
Breathing is easy… smoothly… deeply… (Pause.)
We are resting calmly…
We are falling asleep with magic… (Louder, faster, more energetic.)
It is good for us to rest!
But it's time to get up!
Squeeze the cams tighter.
We raise them higher.
Stretched! Smiled!
Everyone, open your eyes and stand up!
"Wind"
The wind blows in our faces. (They often blink for centuries.)
The tree swayed. (Without turning their heads, they look left and right.)
The wind is quieter, quieter, quieter ... (They squat slowly, lowering their eyes.
)
The trees are getting higher and higher. (They get up and raise their eyes up.)
"The sun and the clouds"
The sun played hide-and-seek with the clouds. (Look with your eyes to the right-left, up-down)
The sun of the flying clouds counted:
Gray clouds, black clouds.
Light - two things,
Heavy three clouds
The clouds hid, the clouds were gone. (Close your eyes with your palms)
The sun in the sky shone with might and main. (Blink your eyes)
"Rain"
Rain, rain, more lei. (Look up.)
Drip, don't be sorry for the drops. (They look down.)
Just don't get us wet. (They make circular movements with their eyes.)
Don't knock on the window in vain
"Rainbow"
The children's eyes are tired. (Blink your eyes.)
Look out the window, (Look left and right.)
Oh, how high the sun is. (Look up.)
We will close our eyes now, (Close our eyes with our palms.
)
We will build a rainbow in the group,
Let's go up the rainbow, (Look up-right and up-left in an arc.)
Turn right, turn left,
And then slide down, (Look down.)
Squint hard, but hold on. (Close your eyes, open and blink them)
"Hedgehog"
The hedgehog walked around the clearing (Walking in place)
He was looking for mushrooms - mushrooms (Look to the right and left without turning his head)
Eyes squinted and blinked, ( Squint strongly)
But I did not see the mushrooms. (eyes wide open, arms outstretched)
He was looking up (look up, his head is motionless)
He was looking down (look down)
He himself was quietly puffing. (Pronounce “puff”, “puff”, “puff”.)
Looked to the left, (Look to the left without turning your head)
Looked to the right, (Look to the right, without turning your head)
Suddenly I saw a mushroom for glory! (Close your eyes tightly and open them wide.
)
He looked back again (Movement through the text)
Over the left shoulder,
Through the right side.
The hedgehog stomped along the path
And carried the fungus away on its back. (Walking in place, stomping step.)
“Eyes”
To be sharp-sighted for us - (Rotate the eyes in a circle for 2-3 seconds)
Need to twist the eyes
massage the upper and lower eyelids without closing your eyes.)
Let's just rub them.
Draw a big circle (draw a circle with your eyes)
And look around (left, right)
In order to become sharp-sighted, (With three fingers of each hand, it is easy to press the upper eyelid of the corresponding eye and hold for 1-2 seconds.)
You need to press on the eyes.
Eyes left, eyes right, (Raise eyes up, lower, turn right, left)
Up and down and all over again.
Blink quickly, (Blink for a minute)
Give your eyes a rest later.
You need to open your eyes, (Open wide and close your eyes with an interval of 30 seconds)
A miracle not to miss.
Triangle, circle, square, (Draw geometric shapes with your eyes clockwise and counterclockwise)
We will draw in a row.
“Christmas tree”
Here is a big tree, (Perform circular movements with the eyes.)
This is the height. (Look from the bottom up.)
It has big branches.
This is the width. (Look from left to right.)
There are even cones on the tree, (Look up.)
And below is the bear's lair. (Look down.)
The clubfoot sleeps there in the winter
And sucks his paw in the den. (Close your eyes, then blink 10 times.)
"Miracles"
We close our eyes, these are miracles (Close both eyes,)
Our eyes are resting, doing exercises. (They continue to stand with their eyes closed.)
And now we will open them, we will build a bridge across the river. (They open their eyes, draw a bridge with their eyes.)
Let's draw the letter o, it turns out easily (They draw the letter o with their eyes.
)
Raise up, look down, (Eyes raise up, lower down.)
Turn right, turn left, (Eyes look right and left.)
Let's start practicing again.
"Snowflakes"
We saw a snowflake -
played with a snowflake.
(Children take a snowflake in their hand. Pull the snowflake forward in front of them, focus on it)
Snowflakes flew to the right, (Take the snowflake to the right, follow the movement with their eyes.)
Children looked to the right. nine0003
Here the snowflakes flew,
Eyes looked to the left (Take the snowflake to the left, follow the movement with your eyes.)
The wind lifted the snow up
And lowered it to the ground ... (Raise the snowflakes up and down. Children, look up and down.)
Everything! They lay down on the ground. (sit down, lowering the snowflake to the floor.)
Close the eyes,
The eyes are resting. (Close your eyes with your palms.)
"Nose"
Looks at the nose to the right and left (Sharply move the gaze to the right and left.
)
Looks nose up and down (Turn your eyes sharply up and down.)
What did the cunning nose see? (Gently run your index fingers over your eyelids.)
Well, where have we gone?
"Snowdrop"
(Children perform movements in accordance with the words of the teacher)
Take flowers in your hands,
And you will look at them.
Now lift them up
Up, look at them.
You will lower the flowers down,
Look at them again.
Flower to the right,
Flower to the left.
“Draw” the circle skillfully.
The flower is near, far away,
Look carefully.
Here's a flower we have,
Smile at him, my friend.
Blink fast, fast,
"Beetle"
A beetle flew into our group,
Buzzed and sang - LJJ
Here it flew to the right, (Take your hand to the right, follow the direction of the hand with your eyes)
Everyone looked to the right.
Here he flew to the left,
Everyone looked to the left (also to the left)
The beetle wants to sit on our nose, (Move to the nose with the index finger of the right hand)
We will not let him sit down.
Our beetle has landed, (The direction of the hand downwards accompanies the eyes) (Make rotational movements with your hands and stand up)
Beetle, here is the right palm, (Take your hand to the right side, follow with your eyes)
Sit on it for a while.
Beetle, here is your left palm,
Sit on it for a while. (Take your hand to the left side, follow with your eyes) got up, (Raise hands up, look up)
But we didn’t get the bug.
Let's clap together,
Clap-clap-clap.
So that he could fly away. (clapping hands)
"Ray of the sun"
Ray, mischievous ray,
Play with me. (They blink their eyes.)
Come on, ray, turn around,
Show yourself in my eyes (Make circular movements with your eyes.)
I will look to the left,
I will find a ray of sun. (They look away to the left.)
Now I'll look to the right,
I'll find a ray again. (They look away to the right.
)
"Sunny bunny"
My sunny bunny, (Children stretch their hand forward)
Jump on your palm.
My sunny bunny, (They put the index finger on the palm.)
Small, like a crumb.
Jump on the nose, on the shoulder (Follow the movement of the finger, which slowly touches the nose)
Oh, how hot it has become!
Jump on the forehead, and again
Let's jump on the shoulder. (Take it forward again, touch the shoulder, forehead, other shoulder)
Here we closed our eyes, (They close their eyes with their palms.)
And the sun is playing,
Cheeks with warm rays
"Butterfly"
The flower was sleeping
(Close your eyes, relax, massage your eyelids, slightly pressing on them clockwise and against it.) eyes.)
I didn’t want to sleep anymore, (Raise your hands up (inhale), look at your hands.)
Startled, stretched, (Arms bent to the sides (exhale).)
Soared up and flew.
(Shake brushes, look left and right.)
Gymnastics for the eyes in kindergarten, including for children 3-4 years old, card file
Modern children from an early age spend a lot of time watching cartoons, while older preschoolers today play computer games with might and main. As a result, the eyes, which are under a lot of stress, do not receive sufficient rest. To avoid possible health problems of these important organs, simple and exciting visual gymnastics is necessarily carried out in kindergarten.
Contents
-
1 Purposes of eye gymnastics in preschool
-
2 Types of visual gymnastics in preschool educational institution
-
3 Visual gymnastics technique
-
3.1 Features of working with preschoolers of different ages
-
-
4 Sample Exercises
-
4.1 Table: "Bump"
-
4.2 Table: "Vegetables"
nine0918 -
4.3 Table: "Yolka"
-
4.
4 Table: "Rain" -
4.5 Table: "Spring"
-
4.6 Table: "Cat"
-
4.7 Video: a teacher conducts visual gymnastics with preschoolers
-
4.8 Video: girl doing eye exercises (7 exercises)
-
-
5 Use of visibility during visual gymnastics
-
5.1 Photo gallery: visual aids for performing visual gymnastics
-
5.2 Video of preschoolers performing eye exercises (exercise with a visual reference - homemade flower)
-
5.3 Multimedia aids
-
5.3.1 Video: sunshine
-
5.3.2 Video: Butterfly
-
5.3.3 Video: starry sky
-
5.3.4 Video: balloons
-
5.3.5 Video: geometric shapes
-
5.3.6 Video: in the depths of the sea
-
5.3.7 Video: follow the patterns
-
5.3.8 Video: rainbow
-
-
-
6 Table: fragments of the abstract of O.
Gridasova's lesson "Look into all eyes" using visual gymnastics
Purposes of eye exercises in preschool
Visual gymnastics is one of the effective means of preventing eye diseases, as well as correcting existing problems. In kindergarten, it belongs to modern health-saving technologies (along with dynamic pauses, self-massage, breathing exercises, etc.).
Interestingly, the first exercises designed to maintain visual acuity were invented before our era by Indian yogis. Creating complexes for the whole body, they did not forget about the eyes.
In a preschool institution, gymnastics for the eyes is very important, since it performs a number of tasks:
- General improvement of the visual apparatus, prevention of various disorders in the functioning of the organs of vision: strengthening the eye muscles, relieving tension, preventing fatigue, improving blood circulation in the eyes.
- It is an effective supplement in the treatment of existing diseases: children's myopia, hyperopia, astigmatism.
- Forms pupils' ideas about the importance of taking care of their health, in particular, about the organs of vision. Children learn about the value of vision. nine0918
- Has educational value. Performing visual exercises, children learn to navigate in space: they reinforce the concepts of "right" and "left", "top" and "bottom", "turn". In addition, doing gymnastics contributes to the development of coherent speech, vocabulary enrichment, and reinforces familiar concepts about the structure of the world.
Visual gymnastics teaches preschoolers to take care of their eyes, to understand the value of vision
Indeed, visual gymnastics is very important in working with modern preschoolers. As a kindergarten teacher, on Mondays I often talked to the children about what they did on the weekends. Many enthusiastically began to retell the content of the cartoon or computer game they had watched. In the preparatory group, some children even brought mobile phones and tablets with them to kindergarten, gathering a bunch of peers around them.
Together they began to look at the screen with a flashing image. Of course, I stopped such "games". By the way, it is interesting that parents, according to the stories of many children, spend a lot of time at home, straining their eyesight: TV, social networks, etc. (“Mom was on the phone all day”). nine0003
TV, computer and mobile phones from an early age have a detrimental effect on the vision of preschoolers
Types of visual gymnastics in preschool educational institutions
Several types of visual gymnastics are practiced in kindergarten:
- objects and visual aids (children follow the moving toy with their eyes, “run” with their eyes along the indicated trajectory, etc.).
- Preventive (aimed at preventing the development of eye diseases) and corrective (slows down the development of myopia, hyperopia, astigmatism, etc.). nine0918
- Passive (only exercises for the eyes) and active (combined with general developmental exercises, involves the muscles of the arms, legs, back, etc.
).
It is desirable for the educator to carry out various types of gymnastics for the eyes with preschoolers, reasonably alternating them.
Visual gymnastics methodology
Visual gymnastics is carried out from the earliest preschool age. Do healthy exercises with children two to three times a day. The duration of classes in the junior and middle group is two to three minutes, in the senior group - four to five minutes. nine0003
When performing exercises, certain rules must be observed:
- The guys must stand or sit. In this case, the body should not be strained.
- The head occupies a fixed position (unless, of course, the gymnastics is not active - it is not combined with head turns to strengthen the neck muscles).
- If some children wear glasses, be sure to remove them.
- Children's breathing should be even and deep.
- The last exercise is best done by blinking, and after the end of gymnastics, it is advisable for kids to stretch well.
nine0918
Glasses should be removed during eye exercises
In order to arouse the maximum interest of preschoolers in eye exercises, it should be carried out in a playful way, using imagery. For example, you can not only invite children to close their eyes tightly, but turn into owls or cats that have just woken up. In addition, the guys always like to do exercises with funny poems.
You can do visual gymnastics at any time: on a walk, in your free time, organically include it in any activity (cognition, speech development, productive activity). nine1092 At the same time, the topic of charging is associated with the topic of directly educational activities. For example, if the guys are studying insects, then the guys can follow the flight of a toy bee with their eyes. If during directly educational activity we are talking about transport, then we can offer an exercise for a short poem:
- They rush through the city from morning until night
- Cars of all brands, very beautiful.
- They will go left, right, around -
- Cars are free both at night and during the day.
At the same time, children perform eye movements according to the text (left, right, circular), and at the end they blink.
If the lesson is associated with eye strain (productive activity), then gymnastics for the eyes is carried out in the middle of the lesson. If directly educational activity does not imply a load on vision (development of speech, reading fiction), then a separate exercise for the eyes can be done in the second half of the lesson: the guys will get a kind of relaxation, they will be able to get a little distracted. nine0003
A lot of ideas for visual gymnastics can be found while walking. For example, the teacher suggests that preschoolers look down at the grass, then up at the sky, look for birds there, then back at the grass. In the warm season, you can watch a butterfly flapping its wings and offer to wave your eyelashes like that.
A lot of ideas for visual gymnastics can be found while walking
You can also train children's eyes in your free time, in the morning or in the evening. The teacher offers the children ophthalmic simulators or specifically alternates certain games: sorting small objects by shape or color (the eye muscles responsible for near vision work) and throwing balls into a basket or skittles (while the child looks into the distance). In sunny weather, you can use an ordinary mirror and drive sunbeams around the room: the kids will follow them with their eyes. nine0003
You can train visual muscles even with the help of ordinary sunbeams
Features of working with preschoolers of different ages
When organizing gymnastics, it is important to take into account the age of preschoolers. For example, two-year-olds are unlikely to understand the verbal command “roll their eyes”: the teacher must use an object that the children will follow with their eyes. Moreover, it should not be an ordinary pencil, but a “magic wand” or a pointer with a picture or toy attached to it.
An interesting idea is to put on a finger puppet. nine0003
Another effective way to interest a younger preschooler is to use phrases like “Can you do that? But I can do it!” after such words, inquisitive crumbs are ready to repeat everything after the teacher.
Forcing a small child to do something if he is not interested in it is unacceptable and, moreover, will not bring any benefit.
As for the older preschool age, here you can motivate children with informative conversation: tell them about the structure of the human eye, about the need to care for it. It will also be interesting for inquisitive pupils to find out the differences in the structure of the human eye and various animals (for example, a crocodile has eyes located on the sides of its head and has three eyelids). The teacher should discuss with the children how harmful it is to watch cartoons for a long time, to sit at computer games. After such a conversation, preschoolers themselves will want to do useful exercises.
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If, when conducting visual gymnastics with younger preschoolers, the teacher must show each exercise himself, do it together with the children, then in the senior level it is enough for the teacher to demonstrate the performance of actions once. In the future, verbal instructions or reading a poetic text (if it accompanies exercise) will already be enough.
Sample exercises
When doing gymnastics with younger preschoolers, the exercises should be extremely simple, but at the same time entertaining. You can use the following options:
- Kitty Eyes. The teacher asks the kids to imagine themselves as kittens. Children open their eyes wide and then close them. After that, look up, down, to the side.
- "Swing". The teacher invites the children to play with their eyes in a swing: fly high and then lower (eye movements up and down).
- Carousel. Circular eye movements.
- "Day and Night". The child holds a finger in front of him at arm's length.
At first, he looks at him with two eyes, then only with his right, with his left closed, and vice versa. nine0918 - Hide and Seek. The guys need to close their eyes tightly for a couple of seconds, and then open them for the same time (the motivation is “you hid, and no one sees you”).
- Clothespin. With the thumbs and forefingers of both hands, it is necessary to squeeze the skin between the eyebrows (as if fastening it with a clothespin).
- "Butterfly". The teacher invites preschoolers to blink their cilia like a butterfly flaps its wings.
Starting from middle age, the exercises should be complicated:
- “What has changed?” On a walk, invite the children to look into the distance at the children from a neighboring playground or at passers-by from the group window and remember their location. Then the kids close their eyes for about 10 seconds, and then they say how the location of people has changed.
- "Geometric shapes".
The teacher asks preschoolers to imagine a large circle, and then circle it with their eyes clockwise and counterclockwise. Similarly, you can “draw” a square, and then look from the upper right corner to the upper left, etc. - Making faces. The teacher invites the children to portray any animal, for example, a hedgehog. At the same time, it is stipulated that he pulls his lips forward, and his eyes “run” left and right, then up and down.
- "Visual field expansion". The child places the index fingers of both hands directly in front of him. Each finger is followed by its own eye. Then the fingers are slowly spread apart, and the eyes continue to follow them.
- Pinocchio. The guys look at the tip of their nose. Then the teacher counts up to 5 (in the older group - up to 10, in the preparatory group - up to 20) and asks the children to imagine that their nose is growing. They should follow its tip with their eyes - it seems to be moving away from them. After that, preschoolers also observe its decrease.
nine0918 - Shooting eyes. The child abruptly shifts his gaze in any direction and says "bang-bang."
In addition, even from a young age, you can do visual gymnastics to a poetic text. First, these are short works, then longer ones. You can use the following options:
Table: "Bump"
| Once in the autumn in the forest A bump hung in front of everyone. The bump looked at everyone And quietly hung. nine0035 | Look at the index finger of an outstretched hand |
| Elk said he was low, | Downward eye movements |
| And the hare is high, | Eye movements upwards |
| Squirrel, said close, | Movement of the eyes to the tip of the nose. |
| And the hedgehog is far away. | Eye movements into the distance. |
Table: "Vegetables"
| The donkey walks, chooses, He does not know what to eat first.  | Circle your eyes |
| Plum is ripe upstairs, | Look up |
| And nettle grows below, | Look down |
| Left - beets, right - swede, | View left-right |
| Left - pumpkin, right - cranberry, | Left - Right |
| Bottom - fresh grass, | Look down |
| Juicy leaves on top. | Look up |
| I couldn't choose anything And fell down on the ground exhausted. | Close your eyes |
Table: "Yolka"
| There is a big Christmas tree, This is the height. | View from bottom to top |
| She has big branches This is the width. | View left to right |
| There are even cones on the Christmas tree, | Look up |
| And below is the bear's lair. | Look down |
| The clubfoot sleeps there in the winter And sucks its paw in the den.  | Close eyes, then blink 10 times |
The following examples already refer to active visual gymnastics (it is accompanied by body movements) under a poetic text.
Table: "Rain"
| The first drop fell: drip-drip And the second ran: drip-drip | Tap your finger on your palm |
| We looked at the sky | Look up |
| Drip-drip drops sang | Knock on the head |
| Wet faces, We wipe them | Gently rub face and eyes |
| Shoes - see | Look down at your feet |
| Wet steel | Show on feet with hands |
| Let's move our shoulders together And shake off all the droplets | Shake your shoulders |
| Let's run away from the rain | Running on the spot |
| Let's sit under a bush | Squat |
Table: "Spring"
Everything woke up from sleep, which means spring has come to us. | Sipping | nine0044
| The sun is getting warmer, everyone is going for a walk soon! | Throwing fingers out of the cam with simultaneous spreading of the arms to the sides |
| On the right, the first flowers appeared on the meadow. | The right hand is moved to the side with fixation of the direction of the gaze |
| On the left - a fast stream from a hillock to a drip. | The left hand is moved to the side with fixation of the direction of the gaze |
| We made a boat, | Connect palms in front of chest |
| Decided to let it into the stream. | Removing folded hands forward away from you |
| Sail away, my boat, straight to the blue river! | We wave our palms, saying goodbye to the boat |
| That's how fun it is to play and walk on a spring day! The earth breathes freshness, I will breathe "spring" too! | Light bouncing in place |
Table: "Cat"
| The window is open, | Extend arms to the sides |
The cat went to the ledge. | Simulates the soft, graceful gait of a cat. |
| The cat looked up. | Looking up |
| The cat looked down. | Looking down |
| I turned to the left. | Looking left |
| Watched the flies. | nine1181 Look through the "fly" from the left shoulder to the right|
| Stretched, smiled And sat down on the ledge. | Children squat. |
| Turned her eyes to the right, Looked at the cat. | Looking straight ahead |
| And covered them with her hands. | Covering eyes with hands |
Video: a teacher conducts visual gymnastics with preschoolers
Watch this video on YouTube
Video of a girl doing eye exercises (7 exercises)
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Using visuals during visual gymnastics
Visual exercises are very important when performing visual exercises.
It helps to interest children and make exercises more effective. After all, preschoolers (especially at a younger age) are dominated by visual-figurative thinking, and many exercises, especially such as rolling their eyes, turning their eyes, are much easier for them to perform with a visual reference point in front of them. nine0003
Many exercises are easier to perform when there is a landmark in front of your eyes.
The following types of visual aids are used for gymnastics in kindergarten:
- Reference objects. They are distributed to all children or the teacher shows the subject to a group of children. In the first case, each preschooler holds a small object in front of him (for example, an elastic band for hair with a butterfly, it is convenient to put it on his finger) and moves it according to the instructions of the teacher. The gaze follows him. Such things are selected again according to the subject of the lesson (the mentioned elastic band is useful, for example, when studying the topic “Insects”).
In any case, the subject should be large enough and bright, not merging in color with the teacher's clothes and the environment. The simplest version of such a visual guide is a colorful magic wand (pointer). You can also use finger puppets. You can attach a picture to the end of it. When the guide is shown by the teacher, then he places the kids with lower visual acuity closer to him, while the rest sit or stand behind. nine0918 - Schematics. Such manuals are intended for older preschoolers, because they are already developing abstract thinking. They show different types of exercises for the eyes. Looking at the picture, the child can understand exactly how to perform the actions.
- Signal labels. They are intended for exercises when the gaze switches from a near point to a far one. A label with a diameter of about 0.5 cm is attached to the window pane at the level of the preschooler's eyes. The child stands very close to her (distance - about 20 cm). He should look at the landmark for a couple of seconds, and then look at a distant point on the street.
At the same time, the teacher asks the preschooler to tell what he sees interesting there. nine0918 - Wall and ceiling ophthalmic trainers. This is a kind of trajectory along which children's eyes "run". For example, from one animal or a fairy-tale character, you need to get to another along a bright (usually broken) path. In this case, the child's head and torso can move. Each track has its own color. Exercises are usually performed collectively.
- Individual ophthalmic trainers. They are contour pictures of many individual small elements - butterflies, leaves, Christmas trees, etc. (at an older age, these can be letters or numbers). The child should visually circle the contour, you can also help with your finger. At the same time, the preschooler holds the picture in front of him at arm's length. nine0918
Photo gallery: visual aids for performing visual gymnastics
- A signal mark is needed to switch the gaze from a near point to a far one.
- Trainers are designed for individual work
- The child moves the object according to the instructions of the teacher, and follows it with his eyes
- Schemes are designed to work with older preschoolers
- Children must visually trace the path from one character to another.
Video: preschoolers doing eye gymnastics (an exercise with a visual reference - a homemade flower)
Watch this video on YouTube
Almost all attributes for visual gymnastics can be easily done by a teacher with his own hands. nine1092 So, a simple, but original manual - Cheburashka with moving eyes (it can be any other character). It is cut out of colored cardboard. With the help of such a toy, you can not only strengthen your eyesight, but also repeat mathematical concepts (“in which direction is the character looking?”).
Cheburashka's eyes move due to the slits
Even pupils of the younger group can repeat eye movements after such a Cheburashka - it replaces the teacher's demonstration.
When working with kids, Cheburashka's actions replace the teacher's display
Another example of a home-made manual is also geometric figures cut out of colored cardboard (all of them are of different colors). They are mounted on the wall at a sufficient distance from each other. The teacher randomly names the figures or their color, and the children must look from one object to another without turning their heads.
An interesting manual - "Orchard". The poster shows various fruits: they form circles (small ones inside larger ones). The teacher names a certain fruit, and preschoolers should circle their eyes around the corresponding circle. nine0003
Fruits are arranged in circles of different sizes
Visualization should also be used when working with parents. Special posters showing how to properly perform visual gymnastics should be periodically placed in the health corner in the locker room.
There they can be considered by moms and dads, and they will definitely attract children's attention.
With the help of the poster, parents will be able to familiarize themselves with the rules for performing visual gymnastics
Multimedia aids
Preschoolers always love visual gymnastics multimedia aids. They are videos where various objects appear on the screen: fish in an aquarium, butterflies in a meadow, stars in the sky, etc. The task of the kids is to follow them with their eyes. All this happens to pleasant music, causing only positive emotions in the children.
Video: sun
https://youtube.com/watch?v=LzbmJRaD4s8
Video: butterfly
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Video: starry sky
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Video: air balloons
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Video: geometric figures
Watch this video on YouTube in the deep sea
Watch this video on YouTube
Watch this video on YouTube
Watch this video on YouTube
Watch this video on YouTube
Watch this video on YouTube
Table: fragments of the summary of O.
Gridasova's lesson "Look with all your eyes" using visual gymnastics | Author and title of the lesson | Lesson progress |
| Gridasova O. "Look into all eyes" Senior group | "Aibolit" comes to visit in a medical gown. Aibolit: Hello, my dear children! Guess the riddles. Two Yegorkas They live near a hill. Live together, They don't look at each other. (Eyes) *** Two restless neighbors, Day at work, Night at rest. (eyes) |
| - Right. A doctor who treats the eyes and checks vision is called an oculist. So, I will be the optometrist and you will be my patients. And I want to test your vision. Vision chart. — How does our eye see? The poster "Structure of the eye" is introduced. Vision is the ability to see. Our eye is like a small apple. We do not see it in its entirety, since it is securely hidden in a deep eye socket, and a curious pupil peeps out.  But before the light hits the apple. It must pass through a small magnifying glass. No wonder it was called the transparent word-crystal. Further, the rays of light are collected on the retina and along the nerves, like telephone wires, the signals rush to the brain, where a visual sensation arises. nine0015 - Eye drawing. - Our eyes come in different colors. Look at each other, what color are your eyes? - Even eyes can give away our mood. Determine the mood of each person. | |
| And now we will train our eyes, play with the bee. (physical education minute) Children, now we will follow the movement of the bee without turning our heads. | |
| Guys, if you don't take care of your eyes, what can happen to them (Children's options). That's right, and therefore we will play the game "Good-Bad". nine0015 (Children are offered options for pictures depicting children in different situations.) Guys, let's compare the pictures and decide where the child is doing the right thing (protects his eyesight, and where not.  If you think that the child is doing the right thing, clap your hands, if not 1. Rubs his eyes with dirty hands 2. Wipes his eyes with a clean handkerchief 3. Reads a book in a well-lit room 4. Reads in a vehicle 5. Watches TV or sits at a computer close to the screen 6. Reads or watches while lying in bed. 7. Watches TV sitting at a normal distance. | |
| There are people on Earth who cannot see anything, they are blind. (show picture of blind people). Do you think it is easy for such people to live? Why? Guys, if we see a blind man on the street, how can we help him? That's right, cross the street, climb the stairs, enter the transport, buy food or medicine at the pharmacy, etc. etc. | |
| - And now gymnastics for the eyes, so that your eyes can rest. Fizkultminutka "Airplane" A plane flies by, I was going to fly with it (Look up and move a finger behind a flying plane) I took the right wing away, looked.  Left wing took away, looked. (They take their hands away alternately and follow with their eyes) I start the engine And carefully look (They make rotational movements in front of the chest and follow with their eyes) I go up, I fly, I don’t want to return. (Stand on tiptoes and perform flying movements.) | |
| - And now let's repeat the rules for protecting eyesight: - do not rub your eyes with dirty hands, - read while sitting at the table, - when writing or reading, you need to keep your head so that the distance between the table and the eyes is 30 cm. To determine this, you need to put your hand on your elbow. The thumb should be at eye level. - you can’t sit close to the TV and watch it for a long time, - you can’t also work at the computer for a long time, - you need to give your eyes a rest. To do this, you just need to sit with your eyes closed. nine0035 | |
— If, nevertheless, you notice that you have begun to see poorly and your vision has begun to deteriorate, what do you think should be done? Yes, you need to see a doctor. Your doctor may prescribe glasses for you. Demonstration of glasses for vision correction. - With their help, your eyes will see better and heal. But there are other glasses that protect the eyes. Try to determine which points are which. Sun protection glasses, water protection glasses, vision correction glasses. Guys, they say that the eyes are the mirror of the soul. With their help, we see the whole world, admire nature, get to know each other. Therefore, take care and protect your eyes. nine0035 | |
| Ref. via: http://www.maam.ru/detskijsad/konspekt-zanjatija-po-obrazovatelnoi-oblasti-zdorove-tema-smotri-vo-vse-glaza.html |
Ophthalmologic pauses are an obligatory method of rehabilitation for preschool children. They help to relieve eye fatigue, strengthen their muscles, and eliminate tension. To conduct visual gymnastics, special conditions are not required, the complexes can be organically included in the lesson or practiced at any convenient time.
