IF YOU PREFER TO WATCH THE VIDEO ON THIS SAME TOPIC, CLICK HERE: Make Explode the Code Fun!

Explode the code is set up with a very consistent format. I love this, because it’s easy for my daughter to follow. However, it wasn’t long before I was itching to add a little variety to the workbook pages. We wanted to have some FUN.

We started Explode the Code (Book One) half way through my kindergartener’s year, and I wish we would’ve had it from the beginning. It’s great practice, and I love how the lessons are set up. She can do a lot of it independently.

Sometimes repetitive practice gets old. When this happens I like to mix up the lesson a bit in order to add some excitement. It makes teaching more fun and it really helps my daughter have a great time learning, as well.

Are you ready to add some variety to the workbook? I’m so excited for this. I want to give you a SIMPLE alternative way to complete the majority of the workbook pages in Book One. Mark this page, or write down what you like. We are about to spice up some phonics!

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These are not activities to do every day.

That would be incredibly exhausting! These ideas are more for you to keep in your pocket for a day that really needs some mixing up!

Let’s be honest, some of the workbook pages can be completed so quickly on their own. We even combine a couple pages at times. We definitely just do the workbook most days. However, my point is to provide you with options. You never know what day you’ll need a change in routine.

For some of these, we will be cutting the textbook.

Yes, cutting it up! I LOVE doing this. I’ve cut almost all our workbooks at some point. The reason for cutting is because it’s less work. Hear me out! The book has the practice we need – so let’s use it! No need to go searching online for extra. Let’s use what we paid for.

So, think ahead…If you are cutting up a page, what do you want to do with the other side? Sometimes, I skip it altogether. Other days, I’ll do the back side FIRST so that it’s done, and then I can cut the other side the next day. You could also make a copy. It’s completely up to you.

Let’s get to it!

Some of these activities would work for multiple pages, so feel free to change them around a bit if you’d like. But like I said earlier, the point is just to have fun options for each one.

Cut and Paste

SUPPLIES: Construction Paper, Writing Utensil, Glue stick, Scissors

Book Directions: Find the picture that begins with the sound of the letter below. Circle it.

To prep this activity, cut the rows of pictures out. Leave them in their rows so you’re left with strips of paper. (See image)

Begin by introducing the letter and its sound. (Follow the wording from the book) Have your child write the letter at the top of the construction paper. Next, he/she will look at each row of pictures and cut out the picture that makes the correct sound.

Then, glue the picture onto the paper. Repeat this for each of the rows of pictures.

Watercolor Matching

SUPPLIES: Watercolors (or just colored pencils), construction paper and glue stick (optional)

Book Directions: Circle the same word.

We love using watercolors at our house. If that’s something you’d prefer not to use, you can also use colored pencils. Since we were using the watercolors, I tore the page out and glued it to a piece of colored construction paper to make the paper a little thicker.

I chose to go with a rainbow theme, because I knew my daughter would enjoy that. She read the word on the side of the page and painted it red. Next, she found the matching word and painted it red, as well. Now, the matching words also match in color.

We painted with orange next, and then yellow, and so on until we had all of the colors of the rainbow. If there were any extra boxes, I let her pick the color.

At the end we had a pretty workbook page that now hangs up on our work display wall.

Matching Words

I love setting up a DIY matching game and it would be perfect for the workbook page mentioned above. Cut up some scraps of construction paper and write the words on the paper scraps. I would just write the given word and exact match, not the extra words.

If you wanted to add to it, you could make cards with words from the previous pages that look just like this. Save the scraps and add to it as you move through the book. your game will get bigger and BIGGER as you complete it.

Read, Roll, and Write

SUPPLIES: Dry Erase marker, dry erase board/pocket, die, paper, pencil

Book Directions: Read, copy, and circle it.

On a piece of paper, assign an exercise/movement to a number 1-6. (See image above). Have your child read the word in the workbook and circle the matching image.

When it’s time to write the word, add in some movement! Roll the die. Whatever number is landed on determines the movement to be completed.

I like to put our dry erase pocket on the other side of the room. This gives my child a place to go while moving. Once she arrived to the pocket, she wrote the word and then returned for another.

Sidewalk Chalk – Jump on the Sound

SUPPLIES: Sidewalk Chalk

Book Directions: Spell. Write.

For this activity I showed my daughter the picture in the book for her to identify. Next I wrote the letters on our patio, just as they are written in the workbook. By using 2 different colors, it was easy to separate the columns (see image).

As she sounded out the word, she jumped from letter to letter, sounding out the word with the correct letter sounds. We had fun putting the letters further and further apart! Actually, I should rephrase that and be a little real with you – she insisted I make it further to jump, because the way I wrote it was just way too easy! (ha!)

I also gave her a piece of chalk to write the word on the patio as well.

Squirt the Sound

Follow all of the directions above, but instead of jumping on the sound, use a squirt bottle! Get them from the dollar store. These are so great to have.

Wait for a beautiful day and take your lesson outside. Have your child squirt the letter that makes the correct sound! This is so much fun!

DIY Write the Room

SUPPLIES: Scissors, clipboard/folder, pencil, tape

Book Directions: Match and write it.

This worksheet is set up so that there is a group of words to pick from at the top. The bottom 3/4 of the page are the pictures with a space to write the word.

For this one, I wrote the words on scratch pieces of paper and taped them around the room. We created a “Write-the-Room” activity. Next, I put the rest of the workbook page on a clipboard and handed it to my daughter.

As she walked around the room, she’d read the word on the card and then write the word down on her clipboard.

Window Writing

SUPPLIES: Dry erase marker, scissors, tape, mirror/window

Book Directions: Circle it.

Window/mirror writing is a a simple and fun way to add a twist to any lesson. I set this one up so it looked just like the workbook page.

Cut the picture out and paste it to the window. Write the set of words next to the picture. Your child can go to each picture and circle the right word with a dry erase marker.

When you finish, remove the pictures and wipe it off with a towel. Easy clean-up!

Chatterpix Reading

SUPPLIES: iPad/iPhone, Toys (optional)

Book Directions: X it.

When we get to this page, I have my daughter read the sentences to me and then she decides which one matches the picture. She’s not always happy about doing this, so I wanted to come up with something crazy-fun for her to do.

Enter Chatterpix Kids. This app is free. I never really use apps in our homeschool, so this was quite the treat. To use the app, you take a picture of something – It can be ANYTHING. I chose to focus on stuffed animals.

I let my daughter take a picture of her stuffed animal. Then, we traced a line where the mouth is. Next, I had her sound out the words of the sentence so she would know what it said. When she was ready, she hit the record button and said the sentence into the iPad.

You have the option to add stickers to the picture as well. I let her pick one sticker, and then we hit PLAY. Oh my goodness, did we giggle!! It was such a silly time.

I’ll be honest, you could probably do the worksheet in five minutes. By doing this app, we spent probably 30 minutes playing. So, it more than triples the time. However, like I mentioned above, this is not an everyday thing. This is meant to be something fun and special to add variety to your workbook.

It was obviously very special and enjoyable to her as she has asked me to skip all the other workbook pages and just do this sentence one again and again! 😉

Microphone Fun

Another idea I had for this one is to use a microphone. My daughter loves talking. So, naturally I bought her a bluetooth microphone for Christmas (lol!) Even though it’s silly, we can get it out and read sentences or words into it. There’s even an echo feature on there to add something to her voice if we want to.

We used a microphone for one of the pages, and I encouraged her to come up with a new voice every time. She sure made us laugh!

If your child loves singing, you could connect it to some background music and let your child sing their sentences! Maybe it sounds crazy, but I promise your kids will get a kick out of it!

Shaving Cream Spelling

SUPPLIES: scissors, shaving cream, wash cloth for clean-up

Book Directions: Write it.

Cut out the pictures on the side of the workbook page. Just a tip – When I cut ours, there was also part of a picture on the back, so I made sure to put an “X” on the back side of the cut-outs. I didn’t want to confuse the sides.

Have your child sit at a table with the pictures piled on the side. Squirt shaving cream onto the table and spread it around (you’ll want to give a minute to free play first).

Have your child draw from the pile of words (or if you need to, show one of the pictures) and then write the word in the shaving cream. For every new word, wipe the shaving cream to make a blank slate.

This is so much fun, and most of the time it doesn’t even feel like school work!

Letter Play

If you don’t feel like making a shaving cream mess, try just using wooden letters or magnetic letters instead of writing the word. Choose a picture and make the word. A simple change like that can really make it interesting.

Do you have letter stamps? These stamps are great to have on hand. You could stamp right in the workbook if you wanted to! Spell out the word using the stamps. Add some color patterns by using your different colored stamp ink.

Small changes can be so much fun!

Sometimes it’s nice to have a go-to list like this to keep in your back pocket for a day that really needs it. I would not recommend doing something like this every day, but if you wanted to take a week off of the workbook, this would be a fun way to do it! Or, if you’re feeling a little funky, a small twist can make a big change in attitudes.

I’d love for you to share your activities with me! Send me an email or tag me on social media @simply.learning.together

Have fun with phonics!