Fun Ways to Practice Sight Words at Home

If you have a beginning reader, you know that sight words are a big part of the early reading process.  

Sight words help children gain confidence as they read, and increase a child’s reading speed and comprehension.  

Kids learn better when they’re having fun, which is why we love adding different games for kids into our homeschool routine.  

Help get your child excited about reading with these fun ways to practice sight words at home. 

Sight word games are a fun way to work on early reading skills.  

If you have an early reader, chances are they are learning math facts as well.  Check out these fun ways to practice math facts for more learning games you can do at home.  

Fun Ways to Practice Sight Words

Dr. Seuss Sight Word Activities — Mix reading practice with activities inspired by a favorite author of early readers.  

Read to the Top —  Get your child up and moving with this super simple idea that takes just minutes to set up. 

Very Hungry Caterpillar Printable Game — Edit this colorful game with your child’s words for a printable, low-prep game featuring one of the most loved early reading books.  

Reading Farm — Mix up some cloud dough and add toy tractors sight words to create a small world setting that encourages reading.  

Blast Off Sight Word Game —  Outer space fans will be thrilled with this reading game for kids you can make at home.

Dr. Seuss Inspired Reading Game —  Dr. Seuss books are always popular with early readers.  This game, inspired by his books, is easy to make and fun to play.  

Drive to the Sight Word —  Get your little vehicle enthusiast excited about reading with this simple idea. 

Cup Crash — Mix sight words with all the fun of knocking things over in this simple sight word activity.  

Bottle Cap Sight Word Game —   Recycle plastic bottle caps for this fun DIY sight word game.  Start with just a few bottle caps and continue to add words to your collection as your child progresses.  

Sight Word Black Out — Print out one or all 30 pre-made game boards to practice the most common sight words.  

Sight Word Tic-Tac-Toe —  Young children love playing tic-tac-toe.  Turn that favorite game into a sight word activity.  

Sight Word Sensory Bin — Mix sensory play and learning with this simple activity.  Early readers will have fun building words with plastic letters they find in the colorful bin.  

Sidewalk Chalk Reading Game —  Take the learning outside!  Grab the sidewalk chalk and practice those words in the driveway or on the sidewalk. 

Sight Word Bang — Discover how you can use noise makers in a simple sight word game outside. 

Activity Mats — Kids will have fun bending play dough into the letters to form the words on these high frequency word mats. 

Sight Word Smack —  Get your child up and moving while they work on their reading skills.   

Sight Words in Sand —  Incorporate different sensory materials, like sand or shaving cream into learning.  

Contractions with Plastic Eggs —  Those plastic Easter eggs can do more than just hold candy.  Use a few to practice reading contractions. 

Snowy Sight Words — Mix sensory play and learning together in this activity.  This one is perfect for winter time.  

Nerf Gun Sight Word Shoot —  Have Nerf guns at home?  Use them to get your child laughing and learning for hours.

Sight Word Pop.  —  No one can resist popping bubble wrap!  Save those over-sized packing bubbles to make learning to read more fun. 

What is the Purpose of Sight Words

Sight words are sometimes referred to as high frequency words.  These words make up a large portion of the words used in children’s early literature. 

There are two main word lists that are often used in schools. 

• The Dolch sight words are words that appear most often in reading material for students in kindergarten through second grade.
• The Fry words list is based on words ranked by how often they occur in materials for grades 3 – 9, with the first 100 words being the most often used words in the English language.    

Learning to identify sight words is critical for early readers.   

One reason for this is that many of the words are ones that can’t easily be sounded out or illustrated.  For example, think of the words  the, are, & said.  

Being familiar with the sight words also helps children build confidence and fluidity as they learn to read.  

Help your child become a better reader by trying out a few of these fun ways to practice sight words at home this week. 

You may also like:

• Shark Spelling Game
• Printable Activity for Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You
• Lego Sentence Building Activity 

 Originally published February 7, 2016.