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Reading Activities for Kids

Fun Rhyming Activities for Kindergarten

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The cat put on a hat.

The frog sat on a log.

Let’s rhyme!

Rhyming words are just one of the many building blocks for early literacy success. Which means it’s one of the many things you may need to work on at home with your kids.

There are so many fun rhyming games that you can try. There’s no need to print out a worksheet, when you can try one of these Rhyming Activities for Kindergarten.

Rhyming can be so much fun when you try one of these Rhyming Activities for Kindergarten. You'll find over 10 hands-on literacy activities for kids.

Disclosure: This post contains Amazon Affiliate and other affiliate links. Please see my Disclosure Page for more details.

Rhyming Activities for Kindergarten

Play Rhyming Dominoes. With just a few simple supplies, you can turn a set of dominoes into a fun rhyming game. You can find the details here at Teach Beside Me.

Take rhyming outside when you play Find & Rhyme from No Time for Flashcards. It’s a great way for kids to run and get their energy out all while practicing rhyming.

Get moving indoors with a fun game of Sweep Up a Rhyme. Find all the details for this game and printable rhyming words here at Inspiration Laboratories.

Create a simple Rhyming Ring Toss Game with a few supplies. Check out Growing Book by Book for all the details.

Stack your rhymes. Go to our post here to find out how to make and play Stacking Rhyming Words.

Rhyming can be so much fun when you try one of these Rhyming Activities for Kindergarten. You'll find over 10 hands-on literacy activities for kids.

More Rhyming Activities for Kindergarten

Transform some old Duplos into a fun word family sorting game. This simple idea from This Reading Mama is a great way to practice rhyming.

Unlock the rhyme. Match the correct key to the lock using rhyming words with this fun idea from No Time for Flashcards.

Play Word Family Four Square. This simple word family game we shared here is also great for rhyming practice.

Practice by playing BINGO. You can get some fun, printable Rhyming BINGO boards over at Growing Book by Book.

Connect the rhymes on a Rhyming Peg Board. Find out how to make this fun learning tool at No Time for Flashcards.

Finally, read some rhyming books! The more you read the more you know. Here’s a great list from Fun-A-Day of fun rhyming books for kids.

Rhyming can be so much fun when you try one of these Rhyming Activities for Kindergarten. You'll find over 10 hands-on literacy activities for kids. #literacy #reading #kindergarten #BetterThanHomework

You may also like one of these fun reading activities:

IN Word Family Game: Hide and Seek Words

The AT Hat Word Family Game

Easy Ways to Encourage Reading Comprehension at Home

Valentine Word Families


Punctuation Game: Cut & Graph Sentence Strips

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Punctuation can be fun.

Seriously. Don’t laugh.

It can be fun with you make into a game and when you add a hands-on element.

This simple punctuation game with printable cut and graph sentence strips is a great way to add the element of fun.

Practice end punctuation with this simple, printable punctuation game. Cut out the sentence strips and add them to the punctuation graph.

Disclosure: This post contains Amazon Affiliate  and other affiliate links. Please see my Disclosure Page for more details.

Supplies Needed:

Printable Cut and Graph Punctuation Strips. (Click here to download and print.)
Printer Paper
Scissors
Glue Stick
Large paper (Just cut off a piece from a roll of paper)

Practice end punctuation with this simple, printable punctuation game. Cut out the sentence strips and add them to the punctuation graph.

Set up your punctuation game

Download and print your sentence strips. They’ll print on two pages of paper.

Cut apart each sentence strip.

Next, set up your graph. Use a piece of large paper to draw three columns. You’ll want one column for periods (.), one column for question marks (?), and one column for exclamation marks (!).

Practice end punctuation with this simple, printable punctuation game. Cut out the sentence strips and add them to the punctuation graph.

It’s time to play

This punctuation game is easy. Each strip has a sentence on it that is missing its end punctuation.

Choose a sentence strip, determine the correct end punctuation, and glue the strip in the correct column.

It couldn’t be easier (or more fun)!

Practice end punctuation with this simple, printable punctuation game. Cut out the sentence strips and add them to the punctuation graph.

Try one of these fun variations

Don’t have any large paper? Take three sheets of printer paper, one for each end punctuation mark. Glue your strip onto the correct sheet of paper.

Or, you can make an impromptu graph anywhere. Make a graph on the floor with painters tape or on a table. You don’t have to glue the strips down, just lay them in the correct column.

Play with a large group of kids. Hand each kid a strip and have them stand in groups for each punctuation mark.

Can you come up with a fun variation?

Practice end punctuation with this simple, printable punctuation game. Cut out the sentence strips and add them to the punctuation graph.

If you enjoyed this fun punctuation game, the above photo is perfect for sharing on Facebook. Or you can save the photo below on Pinterest.

Practice end punctuation with this simple, printable punctuation game. Cut out the sentence strips and add them to the punctuation graph.

You may also enjoy one of these fun reading activities:

Punctuation Stickers: A Fun Punctuation Activity

Stacking Rhyming Words

10 Fun Ways to Practice Spelling Words

Sentence Sticks at Teach-Me-Mommy


Stop Summer Slide with Summer Reading Challenges

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My number one tool for combating summer slide is reading. Thank goodness for summer reading challenges to encourage this! We usually enroll every year in our library’s summer reading program. It’s a great place to start. And honestly, if this is the only thing you’re doing to beat summer slide, then you’re in great shape.

Reading every day is so important. Your kids will keep their reading level steady – and they may even improve! They’ll learn some new facts and increase their vocabulary. And best of all, they’ll have fun.

I’ve rounded up some fun summer reading challenges for kids. I know you’ll find some ideas that work for your family.

One way to stop summer slide is by encouraging your child to read. These summer reading challenges are perfect to do over break.

Disclosure: There are Amazon Affiliate and other affiliate links in this article which means, at no additional cost to you, we could receive compensation for our recommendations. You can read our full disclosure policy on our Disclosure Page for more details.

Have fun with one of these summer reading challenges

If you’re looking for something simple, you’ll find a fun reading log your kids can color at This Reading Mom. Each time they read a book, they can color in one of the books on the shelf.

Get a line across, down, or vertical. Or go for the ultimate challenge with a black out! The Chirping Moms has three different BINGO cards you can print for summer reading fun.

Challenge your kids to think outside of the box. Clare’s Contemplations has a fun summer reading challenge for kids that will get your kids reading all kinds of different things.

Try a punch card for a fun reading incentive. Print out these printable punchcard bookmarks at Over the Big Moon. Your kids can earn a punch for ever book they read, or every time they read for 30 minutes, or whatever you decide.

Challenge your kids to read around the world. Print out the reading challenge map at Stuffed Suitcase. You can read the books suggested in the post or challenge your kids to find their own books that take place in the selected areas around the world.

Can you read 100 books this summer? That’s a HUGE challenge isn’t it? If your kids are up for the challenge, they can read a book in each of the 100 places in this challenge from The Measured Mom.

One way to stop summer slide is by encouraging your child to read. These summer reading challenges are perfect to do over break.

More fun reading challenges

Help your kids be a Summer Reading Star with this printable summer reading kit complete with Summer Reading BINGO, reward coupons, a summer reading banner and more. You can find it at How Does She. (Note: This is a subscriber freebie, so you will need to subscribe to the email list to gain access to this printable.

Read along with a daily reading prompt. No Time for Flashcards has monthly reading challenge calendars (for June, July, and August) that will give your kids a reading challenge a day.

Display all the books you read on this printable summer reading chain at Eighteen25. Each time your child reads a book, they can fill in the information and add a new link to their chain. It would be fun to see how long your chain can grow.

Simple As That has a pretty printable summer reading kit with an old-fashioned flair. (I loved how much it reminded me of the old library card pockets.)

Childhood 101 has a great reading log printable that you can use time and time again. Challenge your kids to fill in the entire log. There’s even a star rating system so you can easily remember the books you liked a lot and the books you didn’t.

Are you up for some fun – and somewhat challenging – reading challenges for the summer? Check out these 9 challenges from Growing Book by Book. You’ll be reading books you never would have thought of before.

Go on a library scavenger hunt and see what you can find! Read books across all genres to complete this challenge found here.

Don’t forget to make some fun new bookmarks to help you keep track of your reading.

Get creative with a hole-punch and make these fun and colorful Hole-Punched Bookmarks.

Magic Wand Reading Pointers can work as both a bookmark and a reading pointer. You’ll definitely want a supply of these. Or, your sports fans may love one of these All-Star Sports Reading Pointers from Better Than Homework.

Make some fun corner bookmarks. Red Ted Art has so many great ideas. You can make Minions, pandas, emoji, butterflies, and more.

Keep reading this summer and beat summer slide with one (or a few) of these summer reading challenges!

One way to stop summer slide is by encouraging your child to read. These summer reading challenges are perfect to do over break.

You can find more great ideas for stopping summer slide on one of these posts:

AD Word Family Activity: Highlighter Words

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Teaching a child to read seems like the most daunting task in the world, doesn’t it?

You just start at the very beginning and practice, practice, practice.

One of the areas to practice is word families. This -ad word family activity is east to pull together and is a simple way to fit in a little reading practice after school.

Highlighter Words is a simple -ad word family activity to help beginning readers. Includes printable word family cards to make the activity easy to set up.

Disclosure: This post contains Amazon Affiliate links. Please see my Disclosure Page for more details.

Set-up is easy

First, you’ll need your set of word family cards. You can get the -ad word family at this link. Or, if you’re working on a different word family, you can access all my word family cards here.

Print out your word family cards, cut them out, and gather several highlighters.

Gather them together in a small container, or pack everything in a bag for a little reading practice on the go.

Download your AD word family cards here.

Highlighter Words is a simple -ad word family activity to help beginning readers. Includes printable word family cards to make the activity easy to set up.

Practice is fun with this -ad word family activity

The more you practice reading, the better you become. We all how important it is for our kids to practice, but the last thing we want to do is overwhelm them.

That’s why I love super-simple ideas and this idea is about as easy as it gets.

Invite your child to pick their favorite color of highlighter and trace each of the words. That’s it. They’ll practice reading, writing, and becoming comfortable with the -ad word family.

Highlighter Words is a simple -ad word family activity to help beginning readers. Includes printable word family cards to make the activity easy to set up.

Extend the fun with one of these ideas

Find as my colors of highlighter as you can. Make each letter a different color for a colorful rainbow word family activity.

Use this method for any set of words you child needs to learn. Pick a different word family, sight words, or even spelling words.

Decorate the words. Add polka dots, flowers, or stripes. Let your child have a little fun with the highlighters (because we all know kids love highlighters) and make their words family cards pretty. They’ll still be gaining familiarity with the words while they’re getting creative.

Highlighter Words is a simple -ad word family activity to help beginning readers. Includes printable word family cards to make the activity easy to set up.

If you enjoyed this -ad word family activity, the picture above is perfect for sharing on Facebook or you can share the photo below on Pinterest.

Highlighter Words is a simple -ad word family activity to help beginning readers. Includes printable word family cards to make the activity easy to set up.

You may also like one of these reading activities:

The -at Hat Word Family Game

Word Family Four Square

Word Family Sort at Creative Family Fun

Stomp It Out Phonics Game for Kids at School Time Snippets


The -at Hat: Word Family Game

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What is a word family?

It’s a group of words that have a common sound (i.e. a group of rhyming words) like “at” or “in”.

Knowing how to see this pattern and decode it is one of the many skills your child will have to work on when learning to read.

Today, we’re going to break it down and start with the -at family with this fun word family game.

Practice your -at words with this fun word family game, The -AT Hat

Disclosure: This post contains Amazon Affiliate links. Please see my Disclosure Page for more details.

Grab your -at hat!

Um, -at hat, you say… what is that?

Well, it’s a hat full of words from the -at word family.

Practice your -at words with this fun word family game, The -AT Hat

Let’s start with the -at word family. What are some words that fit in?

Just start rhyming: at, bat, cat, sat, that, hat. Can you think of more?

Think of your own, or you can download and print this set of -at Word Family Cards.

Practice your -at words with this fun word family game, The -AT Hat

How to set up your word family game

Print out your word list, cut them out, then grab a hat. Why a hat? It rhymes, of course!

Fold up all the words and then put them into your hat.

You’re ready to play and there are so many fun variations of this game.

Practice your -at words with this fun word family game, The -AT Hat

Ways to play with your -at hat

The simplest way to play is to just add all your folded up words to your hat. Have your child a word out of the hat one at a time. Have them say the word and move on to another word.

Do they need to practice writing? Have them pick a word and then write it down on a sheet of paper.

Print out two copies of the -at word family. Leave one of the copies whole. Have your child draw a word, say it, and then match it to the uncut list.

Practice identifying -at family words. Print out cards for one or more additional word families. You can find other examples at this page of Reading and Writing Printable Resources. Mix all the cards together. Your child will need to pull one word at a time. Is the word part of the -at family? Add it to the hat. If it’s not, add it to a discard pile.

Add your own words to the hat. Provide scraps of paper or sticky notes. Have your child brainstorm and write down words from the -at word family to add to the hat.

How would you use the -at hat?

Practice your -at words with this fun word family game, The -AT Hat

If you enjoyed this post, the above photo is perfect for sharing on Facebook. Or, you can pin the photo below on Pinterest.

Practice your -at words with this fun word family game, The -AT Hat

You may also like one of these posts:

Easy Ways to Encourage Reading Comprehension at Home

Word Family Four Square

Stacking Rhyming Words

Word Family Sort at Creative Family Fun

Word Family Snowball Toss at I Can Teach My Child