Let’s be honest—sight words are one of the foundation blocks of your kid’s pre-school education. Making them fun to learn can be the difference between your child enjoying their further studies or hating them for all eternity.
Kindergarten teachers who know how to gamify the learning process get instant “street cred,” and the parents turn into the coolest ones in the child’s eyes. This article aims at making you one of those two.
Choose the activities from our list, but don’t bind yourself with the rules. Sight word games need your affection and creativity to stay fresh!
Review of the Best Sight Word Activities for Kindergarten
This article focuses on various sight word activities for kids of all ages and knowledge levels. In addition to teaching new words, these games can help you activate other essential aspects of your child’s education.
The presented activities cover fine-motor and sensory skills, which help students learn communication and teamwork. Some exercises even promote interest in science, mathematics, and so much more!
It’s usually quite hard to keep the activities fresh with all the repetition required for learning sight words. However, there are so many ways to tweak each exercise that it would be hard for you and your students to get bored.
Plus, you’ll hit the correct balance of moderate context change, which will nudge them to see a word in different places and grasp its independence from the game it was introduced in.
When learning sight words, repetition and variety are key components. These sight word mini-books are fun and easy to create. Kids can color the black and white versions or use the color versions to practice all the sight words on the primer Dolch list.
Whether this is their first introduction to these words or a fun follow-up activity, this activity will give them plenty of ways to practice reading, writing, and using all 52 sight words on this list. Children will increase their recognition of the word by finding, tracing, reading, writing, and using the word in a sentence of their own.
Each word has its own book and will provide lots of opportunities to keep kids learning and increase their knowledge of some of the most common words they’ll see in print.
Being able to read common words even when they don’t follow the “rules” is essential to a child’s success in reading. And what better way to practice than with playdough?
These playdough mats allow children to manipulate playdough into letter shapes to spell all 52 sight words from the Dolch primer list. Each mat features one word and lets the child read, form, and trace the word to increase comprehension and word recognition.
Giving students a tactile way of spelling words is a sure-fire way to teach and reinforce the words students will see over and over again in reading. This tool lets a child see, feel, and create a word picture for each sight word.
Practice makes you better and these fun bubble letters use a coloring pattern to keep young minds active and interested. Using specific colors also practices color identification. With one page for each sight word, you can target one word at a time or work on several words at a time.
After coloring each letter in the word, children can practice writing the word independently and then search for the word in a jumble of other sight words to increase word recognition.
This activity is great for introducing or reinforcing these commonly used words to make reading easier for children. Have students practice reading each letter aloud and then slide their fingers across the word to emphasize that the letters combine to make a unique word.
Need a quick activity to occupy kids while still practicing reading skills? These easy printables give students four different activities to practice the most common sight words on the Dolch primer list.
This activity includes one sight word per page to practice and keeps kids working and learning. Children start by coloring each letter of the word a different color which is printed inside the letter, creating a colorful way to remember the letters. Visual clues are a great way to remember letter order and position.
Next, children search among other sight words to find the target word. In the write it section, they can practice writing the word as many times as will fit, and finally, a sentence with a picture clue is provided to allow them to use the word in context.
These activity mats from Education Outside will surely provide hours of practice to help children learn, read, and recognize the included sight words.
Want something a child can take anywhere to practice sight words? These flashcards are small enough to bring along in the car, doctor’s office, or anywhere, giving students a quick way to practice the Dolch primer sight word list.
These do require laminating to be used again and again but are great for quick, easy practice. The first section allows students to trace the word multiple times. Next, a sentence with follow-along colored dots reinforces print concepts by having the child point to each word as they read, a vital skill for reading. Students can then search the boxes for the correct word and circle or color the correct target word.
You get 52 individual cards and can punch holes and make a set to carry around. Challenge children to read as many as they can in a minute or go head to head with a friend to see who can read them first. This can keep kids busy and learning while on the go.
These flashcards from Education Outside are a great activity for introducing new words or practicing ones they have already learned and can be used anywhere.
Sight words are usually exceptions from the rule, so using separate letters to make words is a widespread method to teach irregular spellings. Most of these words are also short, so it won’t take too much time for the kids to make them.
Using letter beads encourages fine motor skills development. This exercise works best with children three years or older. At this age, children have a basic understanding of separate letters coming together in one word. Keep in mind that kids also need to be mature enough not to swallow the beads.
Let the children pick yarn and put the beads on it to form words. You can also use other small objects like alphabet pasta and letter cubes to put together words.
There are many other fun activities for the same age group and skill level in ThePrintablePrincess.com, a blog that claims to “help teachers captivate little learners.”
This one is a nice activity if your kid is more of an outdoor type and likes sports. It requires more individual attention to the student, so it’s more convenient for parent-child afternoon time. Still, teachers can use this exercise to prompt social activities.
You can try a few variations of this game. You’re going to need a few cones, word cards, and a soccer ball for each kid. Attach words to the cones with scotch tape and arrange them.
Firstly, to get acquainted with the words, the child can dribble around the cones and read them aloud. You might also need a soccer goal or a marked area where the child will shoot the ball once they’re familiar with all the words.
You can continue the gamification by spreading the cones in the field and reading out the words randomly. The child should run to the word and dribble the ball for a while.
For a group activity, you can choose to assign one cone per student. Starting with one child and using only one ball, call out words from the list. The person who has the ball should kick it in the direction of the other student with the word.
You’re most probably familiar with the fly swatter game, where the students should smash the word you read with a clean fly swat. Our choice from weareteachers.com is a more sophisticated, creative, and loud version of that activity.
It’s appropriate for children in the pre-reading stage when they can recognize shapes and words. Here is how to play.
Find pans, turn them over, and attach flashcards (or strictly notes) onto each one’s bottom. Put the setup on the table or floor for easy access. Instruct the student to hit the pan with a kitchen utensil like a spoon or a fork when you read a certain word.
Once the child is familiar with the words, play with different tempos and rhythms. You can even introduce the concept of whispering the word and reading it aloud, asking the students to match the sound level.
Yes, it’s loud, but it offers space for exploration and creativity.
Showing kids the importance of social activities and making something as a team is one of the top priorities of pre-school education. Games that promote communication are a necessary building block.
The activity we’ve chosen from ATeachableTeacher.com is a nice partnership game where kids build a tower together. You’ll need a sight word list, cards with the same words, and paper cups to match.
Player one draws the flashcard from the pile, reads the word, and finds the cup, placing it where the tower should go. Then, player two repeats the same action, drawing another card and building the tower’s foundation. The players draw and place cups on top of each other until the stack of cards ends.
You can also switch the activity. Player one reads the word they drew from the pile, and player two finds and places the cup.
Your child is probably already tired of the classic flashcard method. If you’re also bored, diversify the approach. This memory game is a nice, refreshing take that adds a complicated layer to an otherwise familiar exercise.
For this activity, you’ll need your usual flashcards (they can also be DIY). Arrange the cards face down into a grid layout (on the table, floor, or another surface for easy reach). The objective is to make the kids memorize the words and where the card belongs.
Once the children have everything memorized, they can match the same words from the grid-like in the classic game.
This method trains memory and helps the child learn the words. SightWords.com has more details on this game.
Like alphabet beads or letter stamps, attaching letters to clothespins is another exercise to promote correct spelling. Instruct your students to pin them in the right order, then read the words aloud.
They can pin the words on anything: a dedicated clothing line in the classroom or on the side of a magazine. Some teachers even ask the kids to attach the clothespins to their clothes.
There are many spelling activities; however, this one is superior. It layers the basic skill with the extra fine motor effort of using a clothespin. It also strengthens the child’s “writing fingers.”
Is your child more of a curious, active type? You can introduce a certain level of mental challenge into the learning process.
Lipglossandcrayons.com suggests hiding the words around the house for the child to find them. However, it can be more fun if you use clues and directions to enhance the gameplay.
If you have time for this fun activity, all the family can get involved, and it can turn into a large “treasure hunt.” The best thing about this approach is that the children get absorbed in the game and don’t even realize it’s a learning session.
Let everybody’s imagination run wild, creating settings where the participants have to:
1. Find the pirate treasures 2. Escape the adversary by finding the clue words 3. Save the princess from a tower by finding the password
Use other gamification ideas to immerse the child into the gameplay. We assure you that the whole family will have tons of fun, and your children will love learning new sight words.
Rolling a die is an inseparable part of many board games, so why not use it to teach sight words? This is another amazing sight word activity with an underlying skill: maths. For the right setup, you’ll need a printable with die numbers and corresponding blank rectangles.
Fill in the boxes with the words children are learning. Instruct the student to roll the die, find the word under the number he got, read the word aloud, and color it with a pencil or a marker.
This game can be as simple as separate rounds with six words (usual dice have numbers from one to six). However, you can also practice with a few lines, where each column denotes one number. If the die lands on the same number more than once, the child should color the next word in the same column.
You can tweak the game to accommodate the number of students involved. NoTimeforFlashcards.com blog mentions that the marker color can denote a certain player. However, if playing solo, you can add an instruction to color-code the words under one number.
Christmas is probably children’s most favorite time of the year. There are so many fun activities and gifts that they forget everything they’ve learned during the semester.
Smart parents know this and get ready to tackle spaced repetition. They involve thematic games and activities to help the children to keep their knowledge fresh.
One project we absolutely love comes from TheEducatorsSpinOnIt.com, a blog about learning games and activities. It involves a printout of Christmas tree lights. To prepare the activity, use a white crayon to write the selected sight words on each light bulb.
Instruct the children to color the bulbs with watercolors, “revealing” the word. Here is some Christmas magic!
If your child is particularly interested in how “the magic” works, this activity can turn into a science lesson. You can explain that the crayon’s oily structure can’t mix with water and show other fun hands-on experiments.
What Supplies are Needed for These Activities?
You can arrange most of the described activities without much preparation and special equipment. Let’s consider a few essential supply categories that you should already have in your stationery cabinet.
Paper
The flashcards method might be dull and repetitive, but you will need them for most of our list’s fun activities.
Whether you’re using the memory cards method, playing sight word soccer, or drawing words for the cup tower, paper is the main material you’re going to need. In most cases, it doesn’t matter if it’s white or red. Still, kids love colors, and they can add to the fun.
Besides, adding color-coding to your activity in a meaningful way will also train your child’s analytical capabilities.
Coloring Supplies
Markers, watercolors, and crayons make the learning process more fun and add a note of creativity. For some activities, markers are necessary for game setup. In other games, the students need them as a part of the gameplay.
Glue or Scotch Tape
Whether you’re preparing for a “sight word band concert” or a “soccer match,” you’re going to need scotch tape to stick the word cards on whatever equipment you’re using.
Glue might be handy if you’re getting ready for a word-building exercise with popsicle sticks or clothespins. While alphabet stickers are a more convenient option, printed letters and glue can easily do the trick.
Conclusion
Gamification and spaced repetition are the two pillars of kindergarten education. The first unites study and playtime, and the second keeps the child’s knowledge fresh.
Studying can be so much fun, and children should learn that at an early age. Well-selected methodologies and activities shape the student’s curiosity and essential skills like analytical thinking and interpersonal communication.
Find more activities and learning tips on our website and return for more in the future.
People Also Ask
As you can see from the article above, sight words are a large part of kindergarten and pre-school education. To help you better understand their significance, we’ve answered the most important questions below.
What’s a Sight Word?
Sight words are a few hundred frequently used words that don’t have a concrete image representation connected to them. They also have irregular spelling and phonetics (they don’t sound as they’re written). Thus, they require a different teaching approach. Once memorized, they’re easy to notice and understand.
Why Are Sight Words Important to Learn?
Knowing sight words frees up cognitive space for children to focus on less familiar and more confusing notions. Plus, the kid can recognize the meaning of a sentence only by reading the sight words.
Hi, I'm Amanda! Welcome to Education Outside! Im passionate about educating young minds and helping parents/teachers by providing easy and effective teaching resources. Check out all of my teaching resources on my Teachers Pay Teachers store.
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