Sight word games for preschool

Sight Words Go Fish | Sight Words: Teach Your Child to Read

1. Overview
2. Materials
3. Activity
4. Confidence Builder

5. Assessment
6. Printable Go Fish Cards
7. Questions and Answers

Sight Words Go Fish is a vocabulary-themed variation of the classic Go Fish card game, for 2-4 players. Introducing this game is easiest when the children already have experience playing the traditional Go Fish game, because they will already understand the game dynamics and can focus their attention on the reading aspect. This is of particular importance for younger children, who can get overwhelmed with having to learn a new game and new words at the same time.

The goal is to collect more pairs of matching cards than anyone else. Children must read the sight word on the card they wish to play and be able to read the words that are requested by other players. It is another fun way to give children extensive exposure to a variety of sight words.

Image: Sight Words Go Fish

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For Sight Words Go Fish, you will make and use a set of cards with various word pairs. The number of pairs depends on how many words you select when creating the cards. You can also remove some pairs from your deck of cards to make it a more manageable size.

Use our Go Fish Card Generator to create a set of cards and print them out, preferably on heavy-duty cardstock paper. You will want to use a mix of newer words that the children have not yet mastered and familiar words that could use some review.

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These instructions are for a game with 3-4 players. Sight Words Go Fish can also be played easily with just two players.

Video: How to Play Sight Words Go Fish

Deal 5 cards to each player (7 cards each if there are only 2 players), then place the remaining cards face down in the middle of the circle formed by the players. All the players look at their cards but do not reveal them to each other.

Player A takes the first turn. Player A selects one of her cards and reads the word on it out loud, moving her index finger from left to right underneath the letters as she reads. (An adult should demonstrate this reading technique at the start of the game to teach or remind children how best to read the word.)

Player A then selects another player and asks him, “Player C, do you have any cards with the word BEFORE?” If Player C has a card with that word, he must say “Yes, I have a card with the word BEFORE,” and hand it to Player A, who then gets another turn. If any player struggles with reading or pronouncing a word, take a moment to go through the sight words correction to reinforce the correct pronunciation.

If Player C does not have any of the requested card, he shouts, “Go Fish!” Player A must then draw a card from the stack. If the drawn card has the word she was looking for, she shows the card and gets to take another turn. Otherwise, her turn ends, and the child who said “Go Fish” gets the next turn.

If a player collects both cards of a particular word pair, he puts them in a face-up stack in front of him. The game continues until someone has no cards left or the face-down stack runs out. The winner is the player with the most pairs of matching cards.

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To make the game a little easier, especially for a younger child, simply use fewer pairs of cards.

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Observe the game, whether it’s watching your own child in your 2-player game or observing a group of students in a 4-player game. Make note of which words the children have mastered, and which ones are still a bit of a struggle. Be on the lookout for individual children who are struggling with several of the words.

A child is considered to have mastered the sight words in this activity when she can consistently recognize and read all the word cards in her hand, with confidence and without any noticeable hesitation.

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Create your own custom Go Fish Cards or use some of our pre-made templates below.

6.1 Blank Go Fish Card Templates

• Blank Go Fish Card Templates (Write in your own words)

6.2 Dolch Sight Words Go Fish Cards

• Pre-K Dolch Words (40 words)
• Kindergarten Dolch Words (52 words)
• 1st Grade Dolch Words (41 words)
• 2nd Grade Dolch Words (46 words)
• 3rd Grade Dolch Words(41 words)
• Noun Dolch Words (95 words)

6.3 Fry Sight Words Go Fish Cards

• 1st 100 Fry Words (100 words)
• 2nd 100 Fry Words (100 words)
• 3rd 100 Fry Words (100 words)
• 4th 100 Fry Words (100 words)
• 5th 100 Fry Words (100 words)
• 6th 100 Fry Words (100 words)
• 7th 100 Fry Words (100 words)
• 8th 100 Fry Words (100 words)
• 9th 100 Fry Words (100 words)
• 10th 100 Fry Words (100 words)

6.

• 1st 50 Words (50 words)
• 2nd 50 Words (50 words)
• 3rd 50 Words (50 words)

To download a template, right-click and select Save As.

These materials are provided under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. Essentially, this means you can do whatever you want with the resources, provided you leave the attribution hallmark on the resources. You may use these materials in the classroom, at home, as part of a for-profit tutoring business, or for any other purpose. (Except starting forest fires. That’s bad.) You do not need to contact us for permission to use the materials. We want you to use them!

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Sight Words Boom! | Sight Words: Teach Your Child to Read

1. Overview
2. Materials
3. Activity
4. Confidence Builder

5. Variation
6. Printable Boom! Cards
7. Questions and Answers

Sight Words Boom! is a vocabulary-themed game for one or more players. Children will collect cards by correctly reading the sight words printed on them. But watch out for the BOOM cards! Draw a BOOM card, and you lose all the cards you collected and have to start over.

Image: Sight Words Boom!

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• Sight Words Boom! cards

Create Boom! cards with our Boom! Card Creator and print the cards out on cardstock paper. Each sheet will have eight sight word cards and one BOOM card. Cut apart the cards along the dotted lines.

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Shuffle the cards and put them in a face-down stack. Player A draws a card from the stack and reads the word on it out loud, moving her index finger from left to right underneath the letters as she reads. (An adult should demonstrate this reading technique at the start of the game to teach or remind children how best to read the word.)

If she reads the word correctly, she gets to keep the card. Then Player B takes a turn (if there are multiple players). If Player A does not read the word correctly, Player B gets a chance to read that word and collect a card.

NOTE: If there is a word that no player can read correctly, the adult should set the card aside as a reminder to work on that word in the next day’s lesson.

The BOOM cards are what make this game fun and exciting! If a child draws a BOOM card, she loses all the cards she has collected. On her next turn she can start collecting new cards. The lost cards (including the BOOM card) should be shuffled and added to the bottom of the face-down stack.

Keep playing until all the cards in the face-down stack have been collected. The winner is the player with the most cards.

If there is only one player, she plays to see how many cards she can collect before losing them to a BOOM card. She can play repeatedly, trying to beat her previous record.

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If the child is easily discouraged when she loses her cards, simply play with fewer BOOM cards.

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Set a timer for anywhere from one to five minutes. Challenge the players to read as many words and collect as many cards as they can before the time runs out. But they still have to watch out for the BOOM cards!

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Create your own custom Boom! cards or use some of our pre-made templates below.

6.1 Blank Boom! Card Templates

• Blank Boom! Card Templates (Write in your own words)

6.2 Dolch Sight Words Boom! Cards

• Pre-K Dolch Words (40 words)
• Kindergarten Dolch Words (52 words)
• 1st Grade Dolch Words (41 words)
• 2nd Grade Dolch Words (46 words)
• 3rd Grade Dolch Words (41 words)
• Noun Dolch Words (95 words)

6.

• 1st 100 Fry Words (100 words)
• 2nd 100 Fry Words (100 words)
• 3rd 100 Fry Words (100 words)
• 4th 100 Fry Words (100 words)
• 5th 100 Fry Words (100 words)
• 6th 100 Fry Words (100 words)
• 7th 100 Fry Words (100 words)
• 8th 100 Fry Words (100 words)
• 9th 100 Fry Words (100 words)
• 10th 100 Fry Words (100 words)

6.4 Top 150 Written Words Boom! Cards

• 1st 50 Words (50 words)
• 2nd 50 Words (50 words)
• 3rd 50 Words (50 words)

To download a template, right-click and select Save As.

These materials are provided under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. Essentially, this means you can do whatever you want with the resources, provided you leave the attribution hallmark on the resources. You may use these materials in the classroom, at home, as part of a for-profit tutoring business, or for any other purpose. (Except starting forest fires. That’s bad.) You do not need to contact us for permission to use the materials. We want you to use them!

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Top 10 word games with children • Ursa Major School of Parenthood

The game is for joy. And the game that pleases, in itself, often provokes the development of the child much more than a specially organized educational game. Zhenya Katz tells how to play with letters and words to make it fun.

Very many games that develop verbal or sound thinking are oral. You can think of a certain object, but answer the question only “yes” or “no”. Let's say I guessed what is on my table. And the child starts asking:
− Is it big?
I say:
− No.
− Is it larger than a glass?
- No.
− Is it square?
- Almost.
− Is it iron?
- No.
− Is it wooden?
- No.
− Is it rubber?
− Yes.
− Is it black?
- No.
− Is it white?
− Yes.
− Is that an eraser?
− Yes, it's an eraser. You guessed it, well done. Now you tell me, and I'll ask.

You can guess some simple things and suddenly it turns out that it is not so easy to guess them even for an adult, although the hidden object is completely simple, everyday. nine0004

You can make word riddles. But not classical, folk, which everyone knows and which are printed in collections: a girl is sitting in a dungeon, and a scythe is on the street. Modern children have not seen how carrots grow, so they cannot guess what kind of scythe it is on the street, why the girl is sitting in a dungeon and why this has to do with carrots. That is, they are ready to learn both this text and this answer. But they cannot correlate, they did not see it, this is not an easy metaphor.

By riddles, I mean something completely different. You can describe an object by naming several of its features, giving a definition. For example, a beast that meows. nine0003 - I thought of a striped beast that eats grass.
Child says:
− Tiger?
- Not a tiger. The tiger does not eat grass. And this beast also has hooves and a mane.
− Aaah, a horse!
− Striped!
Or I can say:
− Yes, only the name of the beast begins with the letter "z".
- Striped horse on the "z" ... Aaah, a zebra!
Or I can say:
- Sour, yellow and oval.
Child:
− Oh, I know it's a fruit.
− Yes, fruit. Which one then? It is also put in tea. nine0003 − Yeah, yellow, lemon!
Or:
- Red, round, put in a salad.
I could mean a tomato, and the child says, "Radish." Great, that's fine too.

It is useful to come up with such riddles. Nothing less useful than guessing.

It is not so easy for an adult to pronounce them. Therefore, if you play tongue twisters with your child, start with yourself. Try to say it yourself quickly and quickly and show the child how you practice, how you train, how you learn it. nine0004

You can play with some verses: you start, and the child remembers the right word at the end.
− Where did the sparrow have lunch? At the zoo,…
− … animals.
While the child remembers the right word, you can offer funny options.
- Stayed with a rhinoceros, ate bran ... the road.
- No, - says the child, - not the road.
− What is it? From the threshold.
− No-no, not from the threshold.
− What?
− Not much!

You can also play - name some groups of words and guess who is extra. Significantly, there can be multiple correct answers in this game. You can play it on the go, invite your child to come up with such riddles. But it is important that he explains his decision. For example, I can say: "bus, tractor, trolley bus, tram." Which of these words is redundant? Someone can say that the bus, because it is on the "A", and all the others begin with the letter "T". Someone will say that the tram, because only he goes on rails, and everyone else does not. Someone will say that it is a tractor, because it is not public transport, but everyone else carries people. Do you understand? Any explanation is fine. nine0004

It is important that it is also useful for the child to come up with such problems. After all, only adults are always the bearers of the ultimate truth: first you guess, then the child. And this is not only a game, but also a process of communication. If you like to invent, then that's great.

There is such a wonderful game "Snowball". It is both verbal and developing memory. One says:
- Cat.
Second:
− Cat, dog.
Third:
− Cat, dog, hare. nine0003 Fourth:
− Cat, dog, hare, tiger.
Any words can be spoken. There is also another version of this game. Let's say the first one says:
- I'm going camping and I'm taking a spoon with me.
Second:
− I am going camping and I am taking a spoon and a bowl with me.
And so on. Everyone adds their own. But at the end, not at the beginning. That is, initially he must remember all the words that were said before him, then add his own.
When we play with a group of children, I suggest not only naming the words, but also, if someone has forgotten, you can prompt, but only with gestures. nine0003 You can name the first letter in each word, and this is also not so easy for some children. But when you have already done it, then some riddles are all one letter. For example, we think of all the words with the letter "M". I say:
- It's so big, with wheels, you can ride on it.
− Machine.
− Okay, then I'll make another guess with the letter "M". It's so tasty, cold and comes in a waffle cup.
− Oh, that's ice cream!
− It's also so sweet and made by bees.
- Med. nine0003 − And now let's try to come up with something on "M".
And this is much more difficult: to come up with a word that begins with this letter, and then describe it - this is a serious job for a child.

This game is suitable if the child already knows what the first letter is and understands the definition: “this is such a beast that meows”. If he does not name the word itself, but pronounces the description, then after that it is already possible to play. I think many people know the rules, but I'll tell you again just in case. nine0003 Contact - a game for several people, you need at least 3-4 participants. The host thinks of a word and tells all the other players the first letter, for example "K". The rest of the players begin to come up with their own words that begin with "K", for example, one says:
- Isn't this the kind of animal that meows?
The host says:
− No, it's not a cat (if he really didn't think of a cat).
The other one says:
− Isn't he like that, Cheburashka's friend?
Host:
− Gena. No, wait, "K". It's not a crocodile. nine0003 And so all the players are trying to come up with such a definition that they understand, but the leader does not understand. And if suddenly they succeed, for example, one of the players says:
- She is sweet and is eaten boiled.
The host says:
- Porridge.
− No, she grows in the field, she is tall and has hairs inside her.
The host says:
− Oh, I don't know.
Then the rest of the players start counting: up to 3, up to 5 or up to 10, as you agree. And they say “Contact!”, And then they pronounce the guessed word in unison. If the one who gave the definition and the one who said “corn” agreed, then the driver should tell them the next letter. nine0003 − All right, then I'll tell you the second letter. The second letter is "O".

And then all the players who guessed come up with “Ko”. And then, say, they came up with some other definition that the driver did not guess, then they already have three letters. And so little by little they guess the word. And whoever guessed it in the end becomes the next driver.

This game is not as easy as it might seem - it can be difficult even for adults to play it. But if you are not in a hurry, do not try to beat the child without fail, then the game process will give everyone pleasure. nine0004

If you don't try to measure who won and who lost, then it works quite well. For example, it allows you to find out how words are spelled. It can be very funny to play with children, they come up with non-trivial spelling and do not always understand which letter is next in the hidden word.

There is a similar game when it is not the beginning of the word that is important for us, but the end: everything starts with “-ok” - “Kuzovok”.
“Sasha walked into the woods, took a box truck with him.
What's on "-ok", puts everything in a box. nine0003 And we tell the child that a box is such a basket
− I found a fungus and put it in a box.
You can draw and sculpt everything you find.
− What else can be put in the container?
- Leaflet (put in box).
− What else?
- Boot.
− All right, that's fine.

Many people play cities when they think of a city with the last letter, but cities for young children are too difficult, they do not know so many names. Therefore, you can play with ordinary words. And I say, for example:
- Cat. What is its last letter? "T". So, now you need to come up with a "T". Come on.
- Tractor.
− Yeah, then I'll come up with an "R". I say "rukaV", come on, let's think about what his last letter is?
And here comes an interesting thing. The child says:
- "F"?
I say:
− You know, this can be checked. Let's think, the jacket has one sleeve, and if there are many? Two sleeves. We say "two arms" and not "two arms"
The child agrees:
− Of course, armVa. nine0003 - Great, now you know. The sleeve is the last letter "B". See, we checked it out.
It is absolutely not necessary to say that later you will learn this at school. And this is a great way to understand, to check which letter to write.

I guess some letter, and then the children suggest words, and I say if this letter is there, and if so, how many times it occurs. For example, they say:
− Cat.
I answer:
− There is no such letter, none. nine0003 Children continue:
- Mountain.
I confirm.
- One.
They say:
- Pineapple.
Me:
None.
They say:
− Fish.
Me:
− One.
And then they can already guess what letter it could be. For example, now I thought of "R".
Or you can ask the child to think of a letter, and then it will be his turn to try to understand which letters are and which are not. And this is a pretty serious analysis.

Author: Zhenya Katz, educator, author of the method of playing teaching children
Series of online lectures "Play and Children"

Watch the free open lesson "Play and Children" with Zhenya Katz.

Word games and exercises for children in kindergarten, Card file of word games in kindergarten

Playing activity of a preschooler > Games for children What is round and what is oval?

Game progress: The teacher asks the child to name as many round and oval objects as possible. The child starts the game. nine0004

If he cannot name, the teacher starts: “I remembered that an apple is round and a testicle is oval. Now you go on. Remember what shape is a plum, and what is a gooseberry? That's right, the plum is oval, and the gooseberry is round. (Helps the child name objects and compare them in shape: ring-fish, hedgehog-ball, cherry-leaf cherry, watermelon-melon, acorn-raspberry, tomato-eggplant, sunflower-seed, zucchini-apple) .

In case of difficulty, the teacher shows the child a set of pictures and together they divide them into two groups. nine0004

“Flies - does not fly”

Game progress: The teacher asks the children to quickly name objects when he says the word “flies”, and then name other objects when he says the word “does not fly”.

The teacher says: “Flies”.

Children call: “Crow, plane, butterfly, mosquito, fly, rocket, dove”, etc. Then the teacher says: “Does not fly”. Children call: “Bicycle, chamomile, cup, dog, pencil, kitten”, etc. The game continues: the words “flies”, “does not fly” are called by one of the children, and the teacher names the objects together with the children. The game can be played while walking. nine0004

"Edible - inedible"

The game is played by analogy with the previous one.

"Alive-non-living"

Game progress: First, we explain that we call all living objects "WHO", and inanimate objects "WHAT". Here are some examples.

Then we play questions and answers. You can use picture books.

What is growing? Who is growing?

Who flies? What flies?

Who swims? What is floating? nine0004

Who is the biggest? What is the biggest?

Etc.

“What happens below and what happens above?”

Game progress: The teacher invites the children to think and name something that happens only upstairs.

If the children find it difficult, he prompts: “Let's look up, above us is the sky. Does it happen below? No, it always happens only at the top. And what else happens only at the top? Where are the clouds? (stars, moon) . Now think about what happens only below? Look at the ground. Where does the grass grow? Where does she go?” nine0219 (plants, ponds, earth, sand, stones, etc.) .

After that, the children independently enumerate the objects of nature that exist only above and those that exist only below.

"What can be sweet?"

Game progress:

The teacher offers the children: Listen carefully, I will call something that is sweet. And if I make a mistake, then I must be stopped, I must say: “Stop!”

The teacher says: "Sugar, marshmallows, raspberries, strawberries, lemons." nine0004

The children listen attentively and stop him on the word where he “wrong”. Then the children themselves name what is sweet.

“Answer quickly”

Game progress: The teacher, holding the ball in his hands, becomes a circle with the children and explains the rules of the game: “Now I will name some color and throw it to one of you ball. The one who catches the ball must name an object of the same color. Then he himself calls any other color and throws the ball to the next one. He also catches the ball, names the object, then his color, etc.” nine0004

For example, “Green,” says the teacher (makes a short pause, giving the children the opportunity to remember green objects) and throws the ball to Vitya.

"Grass", - Vitya answers and, having said: "Yellow", throws the ball to the next one.

The same color can be repeated several times, as there are many objects of the same color.

The main feature for classification can be not only the color, but also the quality of the object.

The beginner says, for example: "Wooden", and throws the ball. nine0004

“Table,” answers the child who has caught the ball and offers his word: “Stone”.

"Home" - the next player answers and says: "Iron", etc.

The next time the form is taken as the main feature. The teacher says the word "round" and throws the ball to any player.

"Sun" - he answers and calls another shape, for example "square", throwing the ball to the next player.

He names a square-shaped object (window, handkerchief, book) and suggests some form. The same shape can be repeated several times, since many objects have the same shape. When repeating, the game can be made more difficult by offering to name not one, but two or more objects. nine0004

“How are they similar?”

Game progress: The teacher invites the children to look around and find two objects that are somewhat similar to each other.

He says: “I will call: the sun-chicken. How do you think they are similar to each other? Yes, that's right, they are similar in color to each other. And here are two more items: a glass and a window. How are they similar to each other? And now each of you will name your two similar objects.

Games to eliminate the fourth "extra" word

“Be careful!”

Game progress: The teacher says to the children: I will name four words, one word does not fit here. You must listen carefully and name the "extra" word. For example: matryoshka, tumbler, cup, doll; table, sofa, flower, chair; chamomile, hare, dandelion, cornflower; horse, bus, tram, trolleybus; wolf, crow, dog, fox; sparrow, crow, dove, chicken; apple, tree, carrot, cucumber.

After each highlighted "extra" word, the teacher asks the child to explain why this word does not fit in this group of words, i.e., to explain the principle of grouping. nine0004

“Listen carefully!”

Game progress: The teacher says to the child: “I will name the words, and you will say which word does not fit: cat, fox, horse, cow; tractor, car, rocket, bus; pear, turnip, beet, carrot; book, pencil case, ball, notebook; water, thermometer, medicine, cotton wool.

In case of difficulty, he slowly repeats a certain set of words and helps the child to highlight the unsuitable for some reason.

Find out!

Game progress: What berries do you know? Now I will name the words, if among them you hear the word for a berry, then clap your hands.

Presentation words - cabbage, strawberry, apple, pear, currant, raspberry, carrot, strawberry, potato, dill, blueberry, lingonberry, plum, cranberry, apricot, marrow, orange.

"Now I'm going to name the words, if you hear a word related to berries, clap once, if it's about fruits - twice." nine0004

(Words can be used the same, you can come up with others.)

As a basis for systematization, there can be a topic - tools, furniture, clothes, flowers, etc.

Tell me, what are the similarities in taste? color? size?

- lemon and pear

- raspberry and strawberry

- apple and plum

- currant and gooseberry

What is the difference in taste? color? size?

Divided into Groups

Game progress: "What groups do you think these words can be divided into? Sasha, Kolya, Lena, Olya, Igor, Natasha.

What groups can be formed from these words: dove, sparrow, carp, titmouse , pike, bullfinch, zander".

"Pick words"

Game progress:

1. Match as many words as possible that can be attributed to the group wild animals (pets, fish, flowers, weather phenomena, seasons, tools and etc.) .
2. Another version of the same task.

Use arrows to connect words that match the meaning:

ball | furniture

poplar | flower

wardrobe | insects

plate | wood

coat | clothing

ant | crockery

pike | toy

rose | fish

“Similarities and differences”

Game progress: Invite the child to indicate the similarities and differences of the following pairs of words:

Book - notebook | Day - night

Horse - cow | Tree - bush

Telephone - radio | Tomato - cucumber

Airplane - rocket | Table - chair

"Find the opposite object"

Game progress: Naming any object (for example, sugar) , you need to name as many others as possible that are opposite to this one. It is necessary to find opposite objects according to the function "edible - inedible", "useful - harmful", etc., on the basis of (size, shape, condition) , etc.

"Search for an analogy"

Game progress: A word is called, for example, a briefcase. It is necessary to come up with as many "analogues" as possible, i.e. other items similar to it in various essential features (bag, sack, backpack, etc.) Game progress: Invite the child to name a group of objects in one word. We call many specific objects with one word. For example, birch, pine, oak, etc. we call trees. nine0004

Invite the child to name in one word: