CVC Words Treasure Map

posted in: Blending and Segmenting | 0
This fun treasure map CVC activity gives lots of practice in reading CVC words. The words are written on treasure chests and then you and your child can create fun ways of getting to the treasure. When they find it they can sound out and read short vowel words. It comes with a free CVC words printable as well as an activity plan. Perfect for homeschool, kindergarten and first grade. #cvc #kindergarten

CVC words form an important stage in the reading process.

The reason a treasure map activity like this works when practicing CVC words, is that children love board games. So they are already going to be excited to play, and read.

It also means you can tailor the learning to where your child or student is at, because you can decide on the words they will be reading.

And if you are worried about your artistic skills, don’t be! I’ve found it doesn’t really matter if your drawings are less than perfect – children generally appreciate any attempt at a game, and, as long as they are practicing their phonics, all is well!

Jump straight to the activity

CVC Words Background Information

After a child has learned the letter sounds of the alphabet – and often while they are learning – they begin to hear that sounds ‘pushed’ together can make words. For example, /c/ and /a/ and /t/ together make the word ‘cat’. When they start sounding out these words, they are beginning to read.

Related content: Blending and Segmenting

‘Cat’ is an example of a CVC word: These are words that have a consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) spelling pattern.

Because of this simple structure, they are a great place to start when helping children learn to read. And this treasure map activity is a fun way to practice this.

The Basic Idea behind this activity

The basic idea is to draw a map so that you can get to a CVC word as creatively as possible – and read it!

I’ve done this activity lots of times with a simple road map, but there are endless possibilities for what to draw (see the ‘How to Adapt’ section below), and treasure maps are always a hit.

*Before you start to read, if you would like help to know if this CVC Words Treasure Map activity is right for your child or student, click here for information to help you decide.

CVC Words Treasure Map

What you will need:

What you will need for this Treasure Map Activity: You need a large piece of paper, a list of words, some 'gold' coins and treasure chests and a dice and counters. This phonics activity is a fun way to practice reading.
  • a list of the CVC words you want to practice,
  • a big piece of paper, or a paper roll, rolled out on a table,
  • small flaps of paper to use as treasure chests,
  • yellow card cut up into circles to use as coins,
  • glue,
  • markers and coloring pens,
  • counters,
  • a dice.

*In the resources section of this post, there is a free CVC word list, and some printable treasure chests and golden coins. Also, this Measured Mom post has a great pack of CVC word lists.

How to play the game:

You can make the treasure map beforehand, or, you can involve your child or student in making it.

To set it up:

  • Write the CVC words at different points on the paper.
  • Cover them with a ‘treasure chest’. To keep the flaps down, you can use a bit of sticky tack, then once the chest has been opened, it can be closed again.
  • Then draw a map with different routes to each word. Add in hazards and features such as sharks, palm trees, snakes, oasis, swamps, bridges. Anything you can think of!
  • Put two coins on each chest.

To play:

  • Go through the words that you want to practice, on the list or on flashcards
  • Then take turns to roll the dice and move around the board.
  • When you reach a treasure chest, look under it and read the word.
  • If you read it correctly, collect a coin.
  • Check off each word as they are read, as an extra practice in reading the word.

To note

Not every game or activity goes to plan! Here are some things to watch out for:

  • When playing any educational game, there is always a balance to make sure that the activity doesn’t take over the purpose. This game is definitely one to watch for this. Sometimes, children who are reluctant to read, are very enthusiastic about creating maps but less so about reading the words. The activity then becomes a drawing one.
    • To manage this:
      • have clear expectations that the activity is a reading one,
      • limit the amount of time spent drawing. For example, 5 minutes drawing and then play the game. Or, prepare the map first so that the focus is on moving around the board and reading.

How to adapt

The best way of adapting this CVC Words Treasure Map activity is to take it outside. Use chalk to write the CVC words on the ground, and then draw stepping stones and other hazards such as sharks or swamps. Use the dice to generate the number of steps needed each turn.

Use a different map style: It could be a road map with the words under manhole covers, or it could a space walk with the words under planets.

Different words: If you put the words on small pieces of paper, rather than write them directly on the map, you can put them under the treasure chests, and then change the words the next time you play.

Play it in some sand: Then it would be actual buried treasure! You could use real pebbles as the stepping stones and then put an ‘x’ over the spot of the buried treasure/word. Use a dice as usual to move along the pebbles.

Here’s how it looked when I did it in ‘real life’!

This is a photo of how my treasure map looked when I made it for one of my students. It didn't take long to make and they had a fantastic time collecting coins as they read.

Resources

CVC Word List and Resources for Treasure Map Activity

The following posts are also about blending and segmenting words to read:

Is this CVC Words game right for my child?

Sometimes, it can be difficult to know if an activity will be helpful for your child or student. For this activity, the questions below might help:

  • Is your child learning letter sounds? Are they confident on the ones they have learned?
  • Can they hear what a word should be if you break it up? For example, if you said ‘c-oa-t’ would they know you were saying ‘coat’?
  • If you give them a word like ‘bat’ can they tell you some or all of the sounds that make up this word?
  • Have they begun to read two and three letter words correctly by sounding out? For example, ‘sit’ and ‘rat’?

If the answer is ‘yes’ to these questions, then this CVC Words Treasure Maps will be a great way to teach or reinforce CVC word recognition.

Back to the activity.

This CVC Word Treasure map is a fun way of getting children to read CVC words. Draw the map and hide the words under treasure maps. Then have fun practicing sounding out, and blending these three letter short vowel words. The activity comes with printable resources such as a treasure chest, coins and a CVC word list.#cvcwords #phonicsactivities #learningtoread
This activity is a simple but effective way of getting kids excited about reading CVC words. They collect coins as they read the words, and move around the map. It is easy to make by yourself, or you can download printable resources for extra ideas. #1stgrade #homeschoolreading #CVCwordlists
Free Printables to help you make this fun and interactive CVC Word Treasure Map. This activity is a hands on way to practice reading CVC words, but is easily adaptable for any type of word work, and blending and segmenting practice. #phonicsactivities #reading #CVCwords