Activity
Sight Words Memory Game
Does your child love to play guessing games? Do they need help reading common words? Engage your child in making a family board game that’s so fun, they won’t even realize they're learning!
What You Need:
- Word list (provided below) marker 80 index cards (or construction paper cut into cards)
What You Do:
Step 1:
Write 2 copies of each word from the following list on index cards, using the marker:
a | and | away | big | blue | can | come | down |
find | for | funny | go | help | here | I | in |
is | it | jump | little | look | make | me | my |
not | one | play | red | run | said | see | the |
three | to | two | up | we | where | yellow | you |
Step 2:
Have your child lay the index cards on a table in rows, in a face-down position. You should have a total of 80 cards. Once all the cards are laid out, it’s time to play! This game is played like Concentration, or Memory Match, only instead of matching Jacks or Queens, your child will be matching common words. Which will help increase their vocabulary and allow them to read more smoothly!
Step 3:
Each player takes their turn by rotating a card to reveal a word and read the word aloud. Then, they flip over a second card and read that one aloud. If the two words are the same, they’ve found a match! They can set aside their pair and go again. However, if the two cards are not a match, players must turn them face down again, and the next player is up. Repeat this process until all of the cards have been matched.
This memory game is a fantastic way for emerging readers to practice high frequency, or “sight” words while potentially learning new vocabulary. As their reading improves, feel free to add more challenging words to the deck. Until then, game on!