Smarty Shots...(AKA Dixie Cup Learning)

I came up with a fun little reading practice game today. Here's how it works:

Get some little Dixie Cups and a permanent marker. Find a kind of little candy that makes your kid weak in the knees. I used Smarties. You could use M&Ms or Skittles or whatever you want.

Write a single letter on each cup. Label enough cups for you to be able to make words with the cups. For instance, label one cup "C," one "A" and one "T."

Make as many cups as you think your child can sound out. This can work with younger kids OR with older kids.

Arrange a series of cups in order so that they spell a word. Place a Smarty, M&M or whatever in each cup. If it's a hard word, you can put an extra piece of candy in one or two of the cups.

Have the child read the word. If she reads it, she gets to put the candies in a cup with her name on it. Alternately, you can just let her have the "candy shot" right then! It's funny to see them "drink" the candy out of the cups one right after the other. If you'd rather, they can save all of the candies until you're done with the game. If they read the word incorrectly, the candies stay in the cup. The next time that letter is used in a word and the child reads the word correctly, she gets all of the candies in the cup.

VARIATION: Write "Beginning," "Middle" and "End" on the cups. Say a word, and then say a sound. Ask if the sound is at the beginning, the middle or the end of the word. The child puts the candy in the cup she thinks is right...the beginning, middle or end. If she's right, she keeps the candy. If she's wrong, the candy stays in until she gets the answer on that cup right.

ANOTHER VARIATION: Write letters on the cups. Say a word that begins with one of the letters. Have the child put the candy in the letter whose sound begins the word. If she's right, she gets the candies. If she's wrong, it stays until she gets an answer right that begins with that letter.

I'm sure there are a bunch of variatons that can be used with Dixie cups and learning. Do you have any suggestions? Tell me about them!