How To Teach Oi And Oy Words That Will Make Your Child Love Spelling

I always get a little nervous when I have to teach Jael how to spell. There are just so many spelling rules, such as those for oi and oy words.

I also worry if the methods for our curriculum may be a bit too dry. I want to keep my little learner hooked on learning, and I want to ensure that her love for learning never dies.

Because of my MANY insecurities (yup, even when you homeschool you get a ton) I decided to search and read up about the different ways to teach spelling. I was particularly interested in hands-on activities and if it involves something sensory- BONUS!!

How to Teach Oi and Oy Words That Will Make Your Child Love Spelling

Did I ever mention that Jael loves sensory bins? She loves them so much that she requests one every day during quiet time and she never uses a sensory bin the same way twice.

Her sensory bin love is why I ensured that we used a sensory bin to help her decide when to use oi or oy when spelling words. I also chose to create an oi and oy worksheet so that she can:

see the rules
review the words

What You Need to Teach Oi and Oy Words

To recreate our fruits spelling activity, you will need the following items. Please note that affiliate links are used below for your convenience.

Oi and Oy Spelling Pack (at the end of the post)

Learning Advantage 7111 Fruit Counters (Pack of 108) HP OfficeJet Pro 8720 Wireless All-in-One Photo Printer with Mobile Printing, Instant Ink Georgia-Pacific Spectrum Standard 92 Multipurpose Paper, 8.5 x 11 Inches, 1 box of 3 packs (1500 Sheets) (998606) Sterilite 16428012 6QT Storage Box

The How

Start by pouring out all the fruits in the Fruits Counter Pack (see above) into the storage box. You will not be using the lid.
Print the oi and oy spelling words on regular printing paper. If you intend to redo this activity with many children, then print on cardstock for durability.
Cut the words out and place them in the container.
Shake and mix the words and the fruits.
Before your child starts, review the oi and oy words chart for the rules. ‘Oi’ is used in the middle of a word and ‘oy’ at the end of a word. Think boy and join.
Have your child remove a word.
Say the word out loud, spell it and then write it on a piece of paper.
Repeat until all the words have been found.

How To Change It Up

If you are looking for other ways to tweak this activity, you can:

have your child stamp the words instead of writing them
If your child wrote the words, have them circle the ‘oi’ and the ‘oy’ to reinforce the rule.
You can use letter tiles to spell the words as well.