Contraction Surgery

One of the most fun activities we have done so far (and without a doubt the most fun grammar activity we have ever done) is contraction surgery.  The kids had a blast and I think really learned what a contraction is, which letters are removed, and how the apostrophe holds the new word together.

Because we have all kinds of medical supplies on hand and the girls love playing doctor and nurse, we laid out blue sterile clothes and donned surgical masks.  The girls were given two words on large pieces of paper.  They cut out the letters to be removed and put them in the trash.  We used band-aids for apostrophes (this activity takes a lot of band-aids, so buy the cheapest ones you can find).

Catherine ended up making 18 contractions and Sabrina made 5.  They have asked a few times if we can do "word surgery" again.  I think in a month or so we may play this game again.

Sabrina was funny because she literally removed the letter itself rather than just cutting a straight line.  Catherine kept calling her completed words "patients" and prepped her work area by removing the band-aid from its package before she started and temporarily taping it on the side of the table.  She said that is how the nurses do it.

 Sabrina kept sucking on her surgical mask and ended up with a mouth full of it:

This was a great, fun exercise.  Sabrina kept asking me "have you ever used a band-aid as an apostrophe before?"  I would say no and they would both giggle.  After about 10 surgeries, Catherine could look at the two starting words and know which letters she will remove.