Supplemental Games and Activities

S 1: Word Work Folder Games

Flower Garden:

Take all the plastic chips out of the storage pouch. Spin the spinner to find the sight word. Place the chip on the flower that matches the sight word you spun.

Match Game.

Place the tiles sight word down on the board. Flip the tiles to find matching pairs. If they do not match, flip them back over. Continue until all pairs are matched.

Circus Town.

Place the pawn on Start. Spin the spinner to find your word pattern. Move the pawn to the closest space that matches your word pattern. For example, spinner lands on “ake.” Student should move the pawn to “rake.” Keep going until the student finds all the words that rhyme with the chosen word pattern.

Buzzing Around.

Sort all the tiles so that the picture sides are face up. Student chooses a tile and places it in the word family where it best fits (corresponding rhyme). Flip the tile over to check if you are right.

Elephant Lineup.

Sort the tiles so that the letter-only sides face up. Use the tiles to spell the word pictured on the game board. Flip the tiles over to check the answers.

Wood Work.

Sort the tiles so that the letter-only sides face up. Use the tiles to spell the word pictured on the game board. Flip the tiles over to check the answers.

Let’s Celebrate.

Sort the tiles so that the pictures face up. Place the gift next to its matching word. Flip the gift over to check the answers.

Going Sailing.

Sort the tiles so that the pictures face up. Place the tile on the sailboat that matches. Flip the tiles over to check the answers.

Make the Grade Simple Sentences.

Sort all the tiles so that the pictures face up. Read the sentence on the game board. Find the word that best finishes the sentence and place the tile where it belongs.

Refrigerator Match-Ups Simple Sentences.

Sort all the tiles so that the pictures face up. Read the sentence on the game board. Find the word that best finishes the sentence and place the tile where it belongs.

S 2: Roll and Write

The student rolls one die onto the game board.

They then say words by combining the beginning sound on the die with the word family endings it touches on the game board.

Next, have them write the words on their game card.

Example: student rolls the letter “p,” and it touches the endings –ine, -est, -oke, and –an. Student writes pine, pest, poke and pan on their card.

They win the game when their card is full.

 

S 3: Word Family Flip Books

The box contains 30 different little books, each focusing on END sounds. Each book has 10 pictures to go with each sound, and the student flips the book to make different words. Great for rhyming practice and works with various reading levels. Examples of end sounds are –in, -ap, - ock.

 

S 4: Touch & Read Phonics

Select a word card.

First have the student touch the textured dots as they say each sound individually.

Then have them use the arrow to blend the sounds together and read the full word.

Next have them find its matching picture card.

 

S 5: The Fidget Game

Choose a deck of sight word cards to work with according to the ability of the student. Place the deck face down on the table. Give the student a rainbow fidget toy mat.

Student picks one card from the top of the sight words deck and says the word aloud. If they are correct, they roll the die and pop down the number of bubbles which they rolled on the die. If they are incorrect, they do not pop any bubbles.

If the student gets the Unicorn Card, they get to roll the die twice without having to identify a sight word.

If the student gets the Gremlin Card, they must roll the die and unpop the number of bubbles they rolled on the die.

When the student pops all their bubbles, they shout Unicorn! They win the game.

 

S 6: The I-Spy Game

The student chooses a game board.

Next, they spin the spinner and say what letter it lands on.

Then they search their game board to find an object that begins with that letter. When they have found something, they put a jigsaw puzzle piece over that item.

Repeat the process until the board is covered and the jigsaw puzzle is complete.

 

S 7: Rhyme & Sort Rockets

Liftoff!

Set up the rockets (as many or as few as you decide) on the table. Place one rhyming card in each rocket, by the base. Lay out the remaining cards and have the student sort them into the correct rockets.

Space Race.

Give the student a rocket and lay out all the cards so the student can see them. Set a timer and have the student find pairs of cards that rhyme and put them into the rocket. See how many they find in the time.

Rare Air.

Show the student three picture cards (two that rhyme and one that does not). Say to the student, “Two of these words rhyme and one does not rhyme. Show me which one does not rhyme with the others.” Then have the student put the non-rhyming word into a rocket.

Auditory Astronauts.

Give the student a rocket. Set out three cards in front of the student and say a word from the list of rhyming words. The student puts picture cards that rhyme with the word into their rocket.

Cosmic Consonants.

Give the student a rocket. Set out three cards in front of the student. Say “I’m thinking of a word. It starts with (for example) “b” and rhymes with (for example) “sat.” If the student thinks one of their cards rhymes with the word, they announce that word and, if correct, place it in their rocket.

S 8: Rhyming Pups

The tub contains puppy heads and tails, each with beginning and end sounds on them. Simply have the student snap a head and tail together and blend the sounds.

 

S 9: Launch and Learn Beginning Sounds

Place the tiles in the dispenser and have the student choose a game mat.

Then the student launches a tile from the dispenser and identifies the letter and the beginning sound it makes. Next, they place it on the corresponding spot on their game mat, matching the picture to the beginning sound.

 

S 10: Snap & Build Phonics

The student chooses a picture card and identifies the object on it.

Then they snap clips onto the board, sound by sound, to spell the corresponding word correctly.

Example: picture is a bee. Student clips a “b” and “ee” onto the board.

 

S 11: Splash

Take turns drawing a card from the box without looking at it.

Read the word aloud and say the underlined sound (blend, digraph, syllable). If read correctly, keep the card otherwise place it in a discard pile.

If you draw a “Splash!” return your cards to the box. Place the “Splash!” in the discard pile.

Keep playing until one player has 10 cards (or however many cards you decide). The first to 10 is the winner.

 

S 12: Power Pen

Simply have the student follow the directions on the card (reading for them if needed). The student uses the pen to choose an answer, and the pen will “speak” and tell them if they are right or wrong.

 

S 13: Blends & Digraphs Teaching Tubs

Each tub is marked with a particular blend or digraph and contains objects beginning with that sound.

Choose the blends and digraphs that you wish to work on and remove the objects from the tubs.

Have the student name the objects and place the object in the tub corresponding with its beginning sound.

 

S 14: I Can Build Simple Words Activity Box

Choose a picture card. One side shows the whole word, the other has a vowel missing.

The boxes contain foam letters. Either have the student match all the letters correctly or put the correct vowel in the missing space and have them say the word.

S 15: Sight Word Fishing Game

The object of the game is to collect as many fish as possible. The game comes with sight words written on cards; double-sided fish with a sight word written on each side of the fish; magnetic fishing poles. The fish are color-coded according to the degree of difficulty. Begin by choosing a set of fish to work with and putting them in a “pond” in the middle of the desk. Next have the student choose a fishing pole. Then read a sight word and see if the student can catch it with their fishing pole. If they make a mistake, practice saying and spelling the word and have them try again.

S 16: Sight Word Stomp!

The object of the game is to collect as many word tiles as possible. The tiles are double-sided, and color coded according to degree of difficulty.

Choose a set of tiles to work with and lay out 10 or so to use. Have the student choose a dinosaur to stomp with. Next call out a word and see if they can stomp on the corresponding tile. The dinosaur will suction the card, and the student collects it if correct. If they cannot find the word or make a mistake, repeat and practice saying and spelling the word and try again.

S 17: Basket of Books

White basket contains a series of books, both fiction and “reality=based” photos). These are split into 4 skill areas:

  1. short vowels
  2. long vowels
  3. blends - s,r,l, 3 letter blends such as str, and final blends
  4. digraphs - th, wh, sh, ch, ck

Each level comes with a teacher pamphlet.

S 18: Sight Word Swat!

The object of the game is to collect as many flies as possible. The included sight-word flies are double-sided and color-coded by degree of difficulty:

Choose a level to work with and lay out all the tiles so the child can see the words. Give the child a swatter. Next call out a word and the child tries to swat the word as quickly as possible. When the child has swatted all the flies, have them read the words back.

S 19: Sight Words Splat!

Choose the sight words you would like to work on. Place the cards with these words on the table in front of the student. Next, read a word aloud. If the student has a card with this word, they say “Splat!” and flip the card over. When they flip over all the cards, they have won the game. See if they can flip the cards back over and read the words to you.

S 20: Sight Word Seashell Game

Place the sandcastle box in front of the student. Have them draw a card from the box without looking. If they draw a seashell, they read the word aloud. If they read it correctly, they keep the seashell. If not, put it in a discard pile.

If they draw a crab, they return all the seashells to the box and put the crab in the discard pile.

Play until you decide time is up and count how many seashells the student got correct. Review words that are in the discard pile.

S 21: Splash Vowel Sounds

Place the box in front of the student. Have them draw a card from the box without looking. If they draw a word, they read it aloud and say the vowel sound. If they read it correctly, they keep the card. If incorrect, they place the card in the discard pile.

If the student draws a “Splash!” they must return all their cards to the box and place the Splash tile in the discard pile.

Keep playing until time is up/student has 10 cards. Review words that are in the discard pile.

S 22: Find & Write Blends & Digraphs

Before you begin to play, place the plastic pellets and word tiles in the tray. Select a mat and demonstrate how to use the tweezers to pick up a word tile and place it on the correct space on the mat.

Next have the student use a dry-erase marker to write the word in the column on the right side of the activity mat.

As you play, you can ask:

- What two letters together make the digraph/blend sound?

- How many sounds do you hear in this word?

- What word do you hear when you blend the sounds together?

S 23: Alphabet Learning Locks

Choose the letters you wish to work on. Review the upper-case letters and images on the locks and help the student identify each one.

Show the student the keys and help them identify the lower-case letter on each one. Then have them use the key to open the lock with the corresponding upper-case letter.

You can talk about the images and letters as you play – e.g. “I see a picture of the sun. Sun begins with the ‘s’ sound. Can you find a key with the ‘s’ sound on it?”

Add more letters as the student becomes more confident. Have them find the letters matching the sounds in their name, or one that has the same beginning sound as another object etc.

S 24: Monkey Balance

This game is helpful for working on number recognition, number-object correspondence and basic addition skills. It consists of a monkey scale, 30 double-sided color-coded cards, 19 plastic monkeys and plastic numbers 1- 10.

To play, first assemble the scale and then decide which color cards to use.

Green cards are for number recognition and number-object correspondence. Balance the scale according to the number shown.

Purple cards are “counting” cards and have either monkeys or numbers on them. Place the number of monkeys on one side of the scale and the child will aim to balance the scale by placing the correct digit or the right number of monkeys on the other side.

Blue cards are for working on addition skills. If the card is a number card, e.g. 2+3, put the 2 and 3 on one side of the scale. The child will then balance the scale by placing 5 monkeys on the other side.

If it is a monkey card, put the corresponding number of monkeys on one side of the scale and have the child balance the scale by choosing the correct number(s).

If it is a combo card with monkeys and numbers on it, put both on one side of the scale and have the child balance the scale by using monkeys, numbers or a combination of both.

That’s a Word! Sight Word Game

This game features sight word cards and pop-up dice. The cards have a picture of an object on one side, and the corresponding word, minus a letter, on the other side. The cards are color-coded according to degree of difficulty and the dice colors match the card colors.

There are 2 suggested ways to play:

  1. Choose a card. Have the child read and remember the word. Next, the child flips the card over and writes the missing letter. Then they look at the dice and pop up the word they have just written.
  2. The child rolls the dice and identifies the word on it. Next, they find the corresponding word on a card, read it and remember it. Lastly, they flip the card and write the missing letter.

Pop & Match Games

Beginning, Middle & End Sound Games

There are 3 separate boxes to target beginning, middle and end sounds. Each game box contains 24 write and wipe game mats, 6 each of 4 different colors coded to one of the four different poppers, and 4 poppers.

Begin by having the child choose a game mat. Explain that the object of the game is to complete the five words on their mat. Have the child identify the word for each picture and tell the child that these are the words they are going to try and build.

Next, the child presses the popper to roll the die. They identify the letter and sound that they have rolled and see if they can use it to complete a word on their card. If so, they write the letter on their card using a dry erase marker. If at any time the die roll shows “WILD,” the child can build any word on their mat.

When they have built all the words, they have won!

Sort That Sound! Activity Set

This activity consists of 44 double-sided sound tiles, 44 divider cards, 220 double-sided picture cards (5 for each sound tile), 3 “No” tiles and 6 sorting trays. The sound tiles are color-coded by category: consonants, short vowels, digraphs (e.g., sh, th, ng), long vowels, diphthongs (e.g., oi, ou, aw), and r-controlled vowels (e.g., ar, er, or).

For beginning sounds, choose a consonant sound tile, e.g., “b” and a "no" tile. Scatter some picture tiles, including all those beginning with "b," on the table. Place two sorting trays side by side, with the "b" sound tile at the top of one, and a “no” tile on the top of the other. Have the student sort the tiles into the correct tray. More sound tiles and sorting trays can be added for practice in differentiating sounds.

The same procedure can be used for short vowels, digraphs, etc.

Blah! Blah! Blah!

The object of the game is to match sounds on the cards in your hand with the card shown on the table. The winner is the first to get rid of all their cards.

Begin by selecting a level to work at:

Next, deal 5-7 cards to the student and yourself. Place one card face up on the table and place the rest of the deck in a pile, face down.

Have the student look at their cards and see if they can play a card from their hand that has a sound matching one of the sounds on the card shown. If they cannot play a card, have them draw a card from the face-down pile. If they still cannot make a match, it is your turn. When a player has just one card left, they must say “Blah! Blah! Blah!” If they forget, they must draw 4 new cards.

You can add difficulty/interest to the game by including the special cards:

For illustrations and further instructions see: Blah Blah Blah Instructions.

Word Families Activity Dice

This activity consists of large green and blue dice. The green dice show beginning sounds, and the blue dice show end sounds.

Have the student roll the dice and read the sounds shown on the top of the dice. Next, have them blend the sounds and identify whether it is a real word or a nonsense word.

For example, the green die shows “br” and the blue die shows “ush” – the student would blend the sounds to make “brush.”

Phonics Dominoes

Just like regular dominoes, but with beginning and end sounds. Start by placing a tile in the center of the table. Give 5 tiles to the student. They must see if they can place one of their tiles at the beginning or end of the tile shown to make a new word.

Keep going until they cannot make a word, in which case they draw a new tile. Once they have played all their tiles, they win!

Spell A Word Flip Book

This book is for practicing spelling and sounding out CVC words. The book contains pictures of items that are CVC words, e.g., pig, man, etc., and 3 rows of flip charts containing all the letters of the alphabet.

Choose a picture to work with, for example, the pig. The child flips the first row until they find the “p,” then finds the “i,” and finally the “g.”

Have them flip over the picture to check whether they have spelled the word correctly.