Sight words games for preschoolers

10 Clever Games to Help Your Child Learn Sight Words

Big, at, can, does, go, see: these are just a few of what are commonly referred to as sight words. Sight words are those foundational words that appear frequently wherever you see words in print. Children should recognize sight words without sounding out the letters to build reading speed and fluency.

Sight words are unique. Many of them can't be figured out phonetically, and they are often an exception to the rules of letter–sound relationships. The best way to learn these words is through familiarity and memorization. This does not mean, however, that you have to sit with your child and use boring and basic flashcards. The best way children learn is by engaging in playful activities. Active learning will not only help your child retain the sight words, but will also develop skills such as critical thinking, communication, collaboration, creativity, innovation, self-regulation, and working memory.

Try these 10 fun active learning games to help your child learn sight words and more!

1. Egg Hunt

Just in time for spring! You'll need paper (cut into strips), markers, and plastic eggs you can open. Write a sight word on each of the paper strips and place one strip in each egg. Hide the eggs all around your backyard or living room. Have a fun egg hunt with your child. Record one point for each egg found and two points if your child can read the sight word. How many points did your child get? Play again and see if she can get more points the next time.

In the Curious World App, you can read over a hundred books such as Goldilocks or Curious George Feeds the Animals. When your child selects the 'Read To Me' option, each word will be highlighted as it is spoken. The more books she reads, the more she will start to recognize common sight words. Click below to try it now!

https://kidsy.curiousworld.com/book/4367?site=cw

You will need a few beanbags, index cards, and a marker. Write a sight word on each card. Spread the word cards on the floor. Shout out words and have your child toss beanbags onto them. Next, have your child shout out the word and see if you can hit them with the beanbags.

Make a grid (adjust the size depending on your child's abilities), and write a sight word in each square. Next, give your child some counters and read one of the words out loud. If your child can find the correct word, she gets to place her counter in the square. When she has completed a row or a column, she has won the game - bingo! For a digital version of this game, check out the Curious World App. Get 20% off your first year when you follow this link (discount applied at checkout).

You will need white paper plates and a marker. Write a sight word on each of the plates. Create a path all around the house using the paper plates. Start at the beginning of the path and have your child read each word as she walks to the end of the path. Your child can pick up the plate each time she reads a word. Repeat the game by creating a new path.

Write 20 sight words on 20 pieces of paper. Use words you want your child to learn. Stick the words on a wall. Get a flashlight and dim the lights. Shine the light on a word. Ask your child to read the word. Switch it up by reading a word and having your child find it with the flashlight. Make the activity even more fun using black paper and a glow-in-the-dark crayon or marker.

Oh no, the aliens are attacking! Move the spaceship and shoot down the correct sight word to stop them before they reach earth. Exclusive to the Curious World App.

You will need heavy white paper such as poster board or cardboard, a white crayon, watercolor paints, and a paintbrush. Using the white crayon, write sight words in a random pattern on the paper. Next, have your child paint on the paper with watercolor paints. As the words are revealed, ask her to name the words she sees.

Children love puzzles! Take a 20 to 100-piece puzzle, depending on the size of puzzle your child can handle, and write a sight word on the back of each piece. Have your child pick up a piece and read the word before putting it in the puzzle. If she struggles with the word, read it to her and put the piece aside for her to come back to and try again.

Start with 10 small balls. Tape a sight word on each ball. Play a simple game of catch, and each time your child catches a ball, she will read the word aloud. Repeat with the other balls and keep the action going.

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)

6.4 Top 150 Written Words Go Fish 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.

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.
- 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.
− 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.

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.

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.
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.
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.
− 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.
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.
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.
− 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.

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.
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.
- 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.
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.

25 word, letter and speech games

Games with words, letters, sentences and texts are among the most accessible in almost any conditions, some games may require helpers - paper and pen, pictures, but they are not always needed. And the potential of such games is huge:
- development of speech
- development of fantasy and imagination
- development of logic
- development of attention
- development of phonetic hearing
- development of speech breathing
- development of correct pronunciation
- development of literacy
And much more. I'm not talking about the fact that it can be fun, and even a lot of fun! The children and I have collected a collection of games that I now want to talk about.

1. Make a word

I gave the children flashcards with letters that could form the words ACROBAT and PLATE.
She mixed the letters and offered to make the longest word.
The girls made up from the PLATE, until they thought of it, the word ROCKET was formed.

Arthur and Rodion tormented ACROBAT for a long time, but in the end they made it right.
You can also give the task to make as many words as possible from the given letters.

2. Tongue twisters

Repeating tongue twisters is always very helpful. Unfortunately, we don’t always remember a lot of different ones, but you can write out tongue twisters on a piece of paper in advance or do it even easier, as I did - install an application with tongue twisters on your phone, they are even voiced so that children who can’t read can repeat.

3. A runaway letter

Words are written on a piece of paper in which any letter is repeated 2-3 times. This letter is skipped. The task of the children is to understand which letter has escaped and return it to its place.
I took these words:
z_g_dk_a,
z_b_v_,
_Buk_,
_b_d_k,
p_len_,
Z_l_n,
p_r_d_lka,
pr_v_d,
K_LYA_,
P_V_R_T,
D_RAL,
m_LL.
Only vowels are omitted here, but consonants can also be omitted. It's more difficult, but also interesting.

4. Conversation with a prefix.

Select some "prefix" to the words, for example KA. And add it in conversation to each word. For starters, you can try adding it at the end of words, it's easier. Then complicate the task and add at the beginning of the word. In order to make it easier for children to compose a story, you can ask different questions, such as:
- What did you eat for breakfast?
- What was the cartoon you watched about?
- What games did you play today?
- Tell us about your family?
- Describe your room? etc.

A very fun and frankly "infectious" game. Stopping is not always easy. A word is chosen with which a pure phrase is invented. For example, PHONE. Background-background-background - suddenly the phone rang. CAT. Otik-otik-otik - a cat runs. FLOWER. Ok-ok-ok - a big flower is growing. I will show a video where children play this game.

6. Words

This game is familiar to everyone since childhood. Remember we played Cities? When the last letter of the city name had to come up with another city name, and so on. Little children still know few cities, so you can just play words with them, when any other is thought up for the last letter of one word, and so on in a chain.

7. Damaged telephone
.
Also a game familiar to everyone since childhood. If there are a lot of people at all, it is very fun. And if it's more difficult to choose words .... In general, we played four of us and it was funny.

8. Explain the meaning of the word.

This game will be useful and interesting not only for children, but also for the adult who plays it. Are you sure that all children understand the meanings of the words you tell them? Sometimes you can learn very unexpected things. The game is interesting because children try to explain even a familiar word in a connected way, they try to guess the meaning of a particular word, and in the end, of course, they must get a definition of the word from an adult. It expands vocabulary and is also fun. Watch the video as the children explained the words.

9. One letter sentence.

This game may not be so easy even for adults. You need to come up with a sentence for any one letter. And let it be a little awkward, but related. For example: A greedy animal lived, chewed on fat beetles and turned yellow. Short prepositions and conjunctions with other letters are allowed.

10. Fables

Tell stories. Ask the child yourself the beginning, and let the children invent the continuation of the story. Here are some fables that can be:

- When I went to ride dinosaur

- Once I was traveling on cloud

- Once I fell into a cup

- I once drank from a bottle of the inscription "Don't drink me!"

- When I was sitting in a tree and hatched chicks

11. Cheerful animated letters.

Children and I brought letters to life on the pavement. At first, the children simply drew letters, and then they were "animated", finished drawing and even gave them names. Each letter has its own characteristics, character, hobbies.

Letter T from Rodion.

The letter J is from Anechka's neighbor.

Letter A from Arthur.

Letter Sh from Christina.

Here is what the children said about their letters.

12. Relive history.

For this game, you need to either take a short story with some words often repeated, or just compose it, you can during the game. Repeating words are assigned an action that children should do when they hear them. We had such a history.

“Once upon a time there was a CAT and a DOG. RUN they somehow climbed for MUSHROOMS. The CAT was the first to find the MUSHROOM. DOG got mad at him and RUN On the other side. The CAT screamed AU-AU. And PES did not respond. Then the CAT RUN look for PSA. RUN over the bridge over the RIVER, stumbled and scattered MUSHROOMS. A PES In the meantime, he got scared and also began to call AU-AU. Screaming right next to the CAT. The CAT from surprise fell into the RIVER. The CAT began to call for help, the DOG heard him. I rushed into the RIVER to save the CAT. pulled out DOG CAT from the RIVER. They collected MUSHROOMS and RUN home.

Highlighted words with actions.

And here's what happened, look at the video.

13. Words are reversed.

This game of antonyms. Or not quite antonyms, but words similar to opposites. For example, the word white has an antonym black. What about the word table? But we can assume the opposite - a chair. Or a letter - a number, a book - a notebook. There are also direct antonyms, especially in adjectives. In general - room for imagination. I used this game to find surprises for children. They were given the words LOFT, ON A CHAIR, BLACK BOX.

As a result, in the BASEMENT, UNDER THE TABLE, in a WHITE PACKAGE, the children found a bag of sweets.

For the following games we used picture cards. Such cards have an incredible potential, I'm sure that there are many more of them, but for now I'm sharing our 12 finds. By the way, not all games require cards, you can just come up with words and call them to children, but with cards it is more convenient and there is a moment of luck and surprise).

14. Story by pictures.

Take turns taking one card out of the pile and making up a story. The important thing is to keep her connected. Any number of cards per story, the younger the child, the fewer cards should be used. In a large company, too, you should not flirt, so that the children do not wait a long time for their turn.

Here are some of the stories the kids have.

15. Crocodile

A card is drawn, and you need to explain to others what is shown on it, without naming the object. The rest of the kids guess. You can also show the word.

16. Where does he live?

Cards are removed from the stack in order. About each object, the children tell in a circle where he lives. Of course, you can’t repeat yourself, you can invent a “house” until the options run out. How we fantasized can be seen in the video.

17. How does it sound?

This time, everyone takes a turn drawing a card and trying to imitate or describe the sound that this object makes. After all, in fact, even the jacket "sounds". Sometimes it is very difficult, but the more interesting.

18. Rhymes.

You can simply ask words and invent rhymes for them. And you can pull out the cards in turn and come up with a rhyme for the word that the picture means. If you come up with a card for yourself. Who will have more cards at the end of the game?

19. Film title.

Two cards are pulled out - you need to come up with a name for the film using them.

20. What do you have in common?

Again we pull out two cards and find something in common between the objects.

21. Magic item.

You need to draw two cards and imagine that they are united. what happens?

22. Advertising.

Is it easy to advertise anything? We draw a card, recognize our object and make an advertisement for it. And here's how it turned out for children.

23. What is it like?

We draw out a card and in a circle we offer options - what this object is like, naming suitable adjectives.

24. I dream about....

A fun game. The child says "I dream about .

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