This ‘flip and spell’ notepad is a genius way to get your kids to practice spelling

If you want to make sure your kiddo has a strong grasp on simple spelling and phonics, this is the activity for you. It’s perfect for any young reader between the ages of 5 and 7 and, best of all, it only requires three small flip notepads, a wooden dowel or pipe cleaner, and a marker. Once you have your materials, all you need to do is write every letter from A–Z on each of the notebooks, thread the dowel or pipe cleaner through the wires on top to connect them, and voila: a fun spelling activity!

The activity comes from the parenting blog Raising Dragons, and their Facebook video of the notepads in action has garnered more than six thousand shares. It’s easy to see why, too. Not only is this an easy activity for parents to do with kids, but it can easily translate to an elementary school classroom or tutoring session.

“This activity is great for sounding out words and can be fun for older kids to see how many words they can make!” reads the Raising Dragons post. “You could even make several sets and have students compete to see who can make the most words in a minute.”

Not only does this help kids start to learn word families (a set of words that have a common pattern or sound), but it also helps them learn phonics, the relationship between letters and sounds. A strong grasp of phonics is crucial in helping young readers sound out words and, ultimately, can also result in good reading comprehension.

You can use this fun activity in addition to encouraging your young reader to experiment with age-appropriate books. Scholastic recommends you listen to your child read daily, if possible, and read aloud to them as well. Together, you can foster not only an understanding of spelling and phonics but hopefully a love of reading as well!

Watch the flipbook in action below:

What do you think? Will you try this with your young kids?