Swat reading games are simple and require very little materials. All you need are these free printables and fly swatters.
It’s amazing how giving a student a fly swatter can make them so much more interested in reading and math. Below I have provided the materials directions for the various Swat reading games.
Swat Game Tips
- Laminate these from the beginning so that they can be played over and over again.
- Make multiple copies of each game so you can divide the class into smaller groups to play.
- Ziploc bags are great for storing the flies.
- The flies can be used for various games. Purchase multiple fly swatters so that you can have multiple groups playing at the same time.
- This is a great activity to send home for a parent volunteer to help with. Send home the file (through e-mail or a flash drive) and your sight word list and ask the parent to type in your words. Have other parent volunteers make copies, cut, and laminate your flies.
- Depending on your group sizes, you may find you require additional flies to play the games.
What’s Included in the Free Swat Game Printables?
- Lower case letter cards
- Upper case letter cards
- Preprimer sight words
- Primer sight words
- First grade sight words
- Second grade sight words
- Third grade sight words
- Direction cards
- Blank flies version 1
- Blank flies version 2
Can I use this Game for Other Subjects?
For sure! You can use this game to go with a number of subjects. Just print a set of the blank cards and fill them in how you’d like. Here are some examples:
- Number recognition
- Addition + Subtraction facts (swatting the correct answer)
- Multiplication facts
- Vocabulary words (give the definition, swat the correct word)
- Music note recognition
How to Play the 2 Swat Games Versions
Letter or Sight Word Recognition Game #1
Materials Required:
- Fly swatters (1 per group, the dollar store is great for these!)
- A printed copy of 1 set of flies per group of students
Directions:
- Have students find an area in the room where they can spread out on the floor.
- Face flies upside down on the floor (you shouldn’t see the flies).
- Students take turns swatting a fly.
- If they can identify the letter or word, they get to keep it.
- If the student cannot identify the letter or word they return the fly upside down to the pile.
- Students repeat until there are no flies left.
- The student with the most flies at the end of the game wins.
Letter or Sight Word Recognition Game #2
Materials Required:
- Fly swatters (1 per group, the dollar store is great for these!)
- A printed copy of desired sight word flies per group of students
- Multiple children (and having an adult as ref is suggested)
Directions:
- Have students find an area in the room where they can spread out on the floor.
- Face flies up so that you can see the fly and words.
- There should be a word giver and 2 or more “swatters”
- The word giver calls out a word
- The swatters race to spot the word
- Whichever child swats the word first, gets to keep it.
- The word giver keeps giving out words until all of the words are gone.
- The student with the most flies at the end of the game wins.