25 Inexpensive Phonics Manipulatives

How often is your child or student building words each week? Phonics, word building and spelling practice are all essential components of building readers and writers.  As children get older we seem to become more relaxed about their phonics practice, but they really should have a regular systematic routine through 5th grade.  In my classroom we play a lot of phonics games which require reading and then we like to build the words from the phonics games.  This taps into multiple learning styles and keeps the kids engaged while they learn.  No one wants to write the words over and over again every year.  That's boring for the children and the teachers! Plus who has time to grade all of those sheets?  I've tried to include enough options so that you could put together at least 10 of them with items that you have laying around or so that you can purchase them inexpensively.  

Two rules for children that make these a breeze are: 1.  Lay all centers with letter manipulatives out in ABC order before you begin. 2.  Clean up after every word so that you don't have a HUGE mess by the end.

If you have a button jar  in the closet they are great for students to use to build words.  I was lucky enough to have these buttons from something that I made for my daughter.  Unfortunately I was short one s, but I had another tile to fill in.  I believe the buttons came from JoAnn's Craft Store.  Their buttons go on sale regularly and you can use your teacher discount on the sale.

This paper roll came from the paint section in Walmart for about $3.  I used it for a paint project and had a ton left over.  Kids love getting out of their routine and trying something new.  We roll this across our guided reading table or along the floor.  It's fun watching the whole class work on it.  You could use bulletin paper from school if it's free for you.

Technically not a manipulative, but too good not to include.  Plus this one is free and often ends up being the kids favorite option! They can write in cursive, bubble letters, hairy letters, what ever they want to as long as they are building words.

Most likely you have highlighters laying around.  Students can make lists and highlight them once they check the spelling.

Kids love little things and collections.  Altoid boxes are fun to use and make great storage containers.  This one is great to take in the car!  These letters came from JoAnn's in the jewelry section.  Make sure to wait for a sale and use your discount!

When we were kids this was routine.  Now kids don't get to use chalkboards that much! This chalk board came from Target Bulleye's section for $3.

Use whisper phones when you don't want to clean up anything and need some peace and quiet! They are easy to assemble.  Check for the parts in the PVC section of your local hardware store.

This one is fun! For the older kids little sandwich containers from the Dollar Store work great.  Larger containers are nice for the younger kids.  For children with sensory disorders you can let them use pencils if they prefer.  Use whatever you have in your pantry so that you don't need to buy anything else!  You could even use shaving cream.

 Who doesn't love new markers?

Whatever you can get students to build words on seems like a great idea to me! You can find these boards all over including Walmart, Target and your local craft stores.

Students love this one and you will to if you tell them to put each letter back after they stamp it.  You might also want to have partners work on one word at a time.  Once I figured this procedure out my life was so much better than finding 50 stamps on the floor that the kids couldn't put back quickly.  The smaller letter sets came from the scrapbooking section in Joanns for $1.

Die cuts are fun and readily available.  I used a preprinted one that was given to me in this picture, but your construction paper at school or home will work great too!

You can find bingo dabbers on Amazon, school supply stores and wherever the Bingo ladies go! (I don't know where that is though.)

These wooden letters came from Walmart.  You can find them at craft stores too.  They will need to be painted.  If you can find a set big enough, you could make these and the letter clips that you will find below.

Kids love writing with pens.  Start with giving them boring colors so they are super excited when they get to rainbow write.  (You stretch your money out better this way.)

 I almost didn't add this one because smelly markers can be more expensive, but I figured if you have them already you wouldn't be spending anything.  There are also a lot of different brands now that go on sale.

 These magnets and cookie sheet came from Walmart for 98 cents each.  This is another great thing to keep in the car, except for Florida, Texas and Southern California in the summer.

When the weather is nice go outside and build words on the concrete!

This center takes patience, but it's worth it because kids need fine motor activities.  The containers and beads came from the Dollar Store.

The stamps in the picture are play dough stamps that came with play dough for $5.  You could also use cookie cutters that the Dollar Store carries sometimes.

How adventurous are you feeling? Save this for a day when you have lots of energy.

These are small wooden letters from Walmart and clothes pins.  Just paint and hot glue. I store them in alphabetical order on rulers.

You can find foam letters in Walmart, Target or any craft store.

Once one pen gets boring let students choose to rainbow write.  This works great at the end of the year when you need extra engagement.

Look around and see what you have.  These tiles came from a hang man travel game that my kids used.  When they got older I took the letters for a center.  I also have a ton of letter stickers that someone gave me.  Get creative and have fun!

If you are curious what systematic phonics I use in class, I added my phonics games below.  These are the games that my students play before they build words.  Just click on the picture.

Playdough Word Workstation

Looking for an inexpensive word workstation that's ready to go? I found these letters and play dough in a set at Walmart for $6.  The play dough fits perfectly in a pencil box.  The letters also fit perfectly in a pencil box.  This center pairs perfectly with my DIY sound boxes.  Click on the picture below to find the directions for them.

DIY Sound Boxes

Need a word work center that will last forever for under $5? One of my favorite new DIY crafts for word work is wooden letters.  Walmart has a ton of different ones for $2.50/pack.  They also have the rectangles for about $2.50.  I painted the letters and wooden rectangles in under 15 minutes.  Then I cut out circles on my Cricut to represent sound boxes.  You could draw boxes or write CVC, CVCE, etc.  The letters and sound boxes fit perfectly in a pencil box.  I also store them in a large paper tray from The Container Store when I want to add word lists.  See below for a twist on the idea and a link to another workstation that costs under $5.

If you want to spice up your centers you can find play dough sets with letter stamps for about $6.  The set below came from Walmart and it fits perfectly with my sound boxes.

For you higher students use the blank back of the rectangles.  They can build longer words without boxes.

Click below for another DIY word building workstation.

DIY Dry Erase Clipboard For Guided Reading and Reading Centers

I was walking down the office supply aisle at Walmart minding my own business when I came across a stack of brightly colored clipboards for $2.48.  Upon inspecting them I noticed that they were a high gloss perfect for dry erase markers.  As a bonus they have a cord that holds supplies.  They would work perfect on their own, but I immediately thought of activities at the guided reading table.  The students need 4 square organizers for vocabulary weekly.  They also enjoy playing Connect 4 Words and writing in sound boxes.  I cut out the organizers on my Cricut and placed one on each side.  I used permanent vinyl so that it could be cleaned and stay in place.   Voila, I have a $2.48 tool that will last forever at the guided reading table or reading centers.

In case you were dying to know a 4 square vocabulary organizer helps students to work through figuring out what unknown words are.  They write the word in the middle.  They sketch out the word in one  box.  They write what they think the definition is in one box.  A synonym goes in a third box.  The last box is used for the word in a sentence.

Connect 4 words is played like a cross between tic-tac-toe and Connect Four.  You write the words you want students to work on in the boxes with dry erase marker.  They choose a word.  If they read it properly they get to mark the square.  If they don't they skip a turn.  The first player to connect 4 words in any direction, wins.

Sounds boxes are Elkonin boxes.  You write one letter in each box.  The students make each sound until they've sounded out the box.  It's a great tool for emerging readers.

These dry erase boards store perfectly on their own, but if you need to store more supplies with them scan below to see what I'm doing.

Letter Clip Word Building

Need an easy to make word work station that won't break the bank? Here's an idea for you.

You'll need:

Wooden Letters

Clothes Pins

3 Rulers

Storage Tub

Clipboard

I bought the letters and clothes pins from Walmart for $3.  I already had the rulers, clipboard and storage tub.  If you don't want to use wooden letters you could save a $1 by printing and laminating letters, but they won't last as long.

Step #1 Paint the letters ( I chose to keep my vowels a different color )

Step #2 Hot glue the letters to the clips.

Step #3 Clip the alphabet to the rulers.  For younger grades you may want to write the letter on the ruler so that students know where to put them back.

Quick, simple and cheap!  Check the picture out at the bottom to see how I store them.

Click below for another DIY word work station.