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Sound matching game

Phoneme blending and segmentation with manipulatives

These two games will promote phonemic awareness to engage students with the sounds of language. When children engage in these activities, they will develop their ability to hear. Individual sounds within each word.

Differentiation:

Incorporate print into blending the individual sounds in each word. Students who know the spelling and sound correspondence in the words can add more complexity.

Use picture-centered activities to support English-learners and younger students (Reading Rockets, n.d.).

At home:

Parents can play I spy with their children. This helps identify the beginning sound recognition and auditory skills. Parents can also try sound substitution for example AT words can be filled in with Bat, Cat. These at home games played with using repetition will improve a child’s accessibility to learn the sounds.

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Blending: guess-the-word game

This activity, from our article Phonological Awareness: Instructional and Assessment Guidelines, is an example of how to teach students to blend and identify a word that is stretched out into its basic sound elements.

Objective: Students will be able to blend and identify a word that is stretched out into its component sounds.

Materials needed: Picture cards of objects that students are likely to recognize such as: sun, bell, fan, flag, snake, tree, book, cup, clock, plane

Activity: Place a small number of picture cards in front of children. Tell them you are going to say a word using "Snail Talk" a slow way of saying words (e.g., /fffffllllaaaag/). They have to look at the pictures and guess the word you are saying. It is important to have the children guess the answer in their head so that everyone gets an opportunity to try it. Alternate between having one child identify the word and having all children say the word aloud in chorus to keep children engaged.

​Blending: robot talk

Talking in "Robot Talk," students hear segmented sounds and put them together (blend them) into words. See robot talk activity ›

See all Blending/Segmenting Activities from the University of Virginia PALS program

Blending slide

The "Reading Genie" offers teachers a simple way to teach students about blends. Teachers can use a picture or small replica of a playground slide and have the sounds "slide" together to form a word. See blending slide activity ›

Oral blending activity

The information here describes the importance of teaching blending skills to young children. This link provides suggestions for oral sound blending activities to help students practice and develop smooth blending skills. See oral blending activities ›

Sound blending using songs

This activity (see Yopp, M., 1992) is to the tune of " If You're Happy and You Know It, Clap Your Hands."

If you think you know this word, shout it out!
If you think you know this word, shout it out!
If you think you know this word,
Then tell me what you've heard,
If you think you know this word, shout it out!

After singing, the teacher says a segmented word such as /k/ /a/ /t/ and students provide the blended word "cat."

Segmenting cheer activity

This link provides teachers with information on how to conduct the following segmentation cheer activity. See segmenting cheer activity ›

Write the "Segmentation Cheer" on chart paper, and teach it to children. Each time you say the cheer, change the words in the third line. Have children segment the word sound by sound. Begin with words that have three phonemes, such as ten, rat, cat, dog, soap, read, and fish.

Listen to my cheer.
Then shout the sounds you hear.
Sun! Sun! Sun!
Let's take apart the word sun.
Give me the beginning sound. ( Children respond with /s/.)
Give me the middle sound. ( Children respond with /u/.)
Give me the ending sound. ( Children respond with /n/.)
That's right!
/s/ /u/ /n/-Sun! Sun! Sun!

Segmenting with puppets

Teachers can use the activity found on this website to help teach students about segmenting sounds. The activity includes the use of a puppet and downloadable picture cards. See segmenting with puppets activity ›

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Children who can segment and blend sounds easily are able to use this knowledge when reading and spelling. Segmenting and blending individual sounds can be difficult at the beginning. Our recommendation is to begin with segmenting and blending syllables. Once familiar with that, students will be prepared for instruction and practice with individual sounds.

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rhyming activities

Word building

These activities will help children develop phonological awareness by identifying the sounds in each word. Word building activities help students create new words by learning how to manipulate sounds and letters (Bender-Spiteri, 2019). These two activities are engaging and promote an active hands-on learning experience that makes learning fun.

Differentiation:

Small group instruction will help focus more on their individual reading level. Setting up a private area for independent work to create a small group setting. You can also use verbal cues and manipulatives. By grouping students together with their reading level and learning style can increase a child’s Phonics ability.

At home:

Look for words everywhere. Building a child's awareness of sound and language can be done at home. Travel around the house and look together at words in print around each room. “Whether it's on the back of a cereal box, in a book, or on a street sign, seeing words, breaking them apart, and connecting them to sounds is foundational to their ability to read”(Scholastic, 2025).

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How to Practice Phonics With Kids at Home

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Support your child’s reading success at home with these 6 tips on how to teach phonics to kids.

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Vocabulary journals

Word games like crossword puzzles, or word searches.

These activities encourages the students to create sentences and to use visual representations. These two activities focuses on context and encourages active participation. Vocabulary can be used during story time when you can incorporate props for hands on memorizing.

Differentiation:

Modify assessments where there are less vocabulary words listed. Teachers can also use labels around the room for students to have visual support (National Council for Special Education, 2020). Technology can also be used for EL students to translate.

At home:

Parents can work together to create and make a recipe with child. Make a recipe chart on a big piece of paper and list all the ingredients with pictures as a reference. Have your child go around the kitchen looking for those ingredients and have them say each vocabulary word as they find the item.

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echo reading

Readers theater

These two activities are a great way to get the students engaging with their peers. These activities will promote fluency through repetition and engagement. Echo reading is when one person reads a sentence and the other person repeats it. This helps students to listen and echo to promote proper fluency (Cleaver, 2024). Readers theater, get students to act out of scripts, which is a great way for them to become more fluent when speaking by having fun.

Differentiation:

Teachers can help students who are struggling by Providing directions for student practice. Have students repeat what they read with a partner or on their own. Teachers should Monitor students’ performance and provide individualized assistance when needed.

At home:

Parents can play reading games with their children to promote more fluency. Go on a neighborhood walk and read store signs. “Through read alouds, children expand their vocabulary, their knowledge about a topic or idea, and their understanding of sentence structures” (Bardwell, 2025).

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Did you see the movie Zootopia? Well, there's a famous scene at the DMV where a sloth takes fooooooreeeeever to help the main character, who is in a huge rush! Even the sloth's laugh is super slow and the whole scene is really very funny.

While it's hilarious in a cartoon movie, when it happens in person, it's anything but!

Over the years, I've had students who read too fast and make careless errors, read too slow and forget what they were reading, or read at a good pace but in a monotone voice.

All of these problems have to do with fluency.

Fluency is the ability to read text at an appropriate speed, with accuracy and expression.

When kids don't have fluency, not only do they sound choppy, but their comprehension also suffers. Luckily, I have some fluency practice activities to help your kids increase their fluency and comprehension!

1. Model Robot Reading

This usually gets them giggling. Speak like a robot when introducing your lesson!

Give them directions to come to the carpet or meeting place, but use a monotone, choppy robot voice. When they comment on it, explain that just like our talking should be smooth and not robotic, so should our reading. Tell them sometimes when people read, they may sound like a robot if they are not reading fluently. Let them know they will learn strategies to help them sound smooooooooth!

2. Reread

Often, students read slowly because they are working on decoding the text. Rereading a sentence several times helps to increase fluency, once the hard work of decoding is done. I often tell my students that the first time they read a sentence, it may sound-like-a-robot, but each time they reread it, it sounds smoooooother!

Encourage kids to use expression as they reread. Have them practice with familiar texts. I had our poems around the classroom for a fun read around the room center. I also made small copies of our Poem of the Week and laminated them before placing them in the table book bins. Kids read them during centers or whenever they finished their work early.

TIME-SAVING TIP* You don't have to type up your poems if you have them on chart paper. Just take a picture of them and print them out before laminating.

3. Echo Read

Model reading fluently with shared text- a big book or text displayed on a screen. Read a sentence, then have kids read the same sentence trying to emulate your fluency and expression. Students can also work with a partner to echo-read books.

4. Reading Contests (against themselves)

My students loved this activity because they were in a race against themselves. I gave students a text (usually a differentiated reading passage, reading warm-up, or sight word fluency passage) and used a 2-minute timer. Students read independently and when the time was up, they circled the last word they read in one color. Then, I'd reset the time and they reread the text, circling the last word in a different color. After a few readings, students were able to notice improvements in their fluency speed.

You can also have partners work together on this. At a fluency center, place different texts as well as sand timers. One student reads while the other is in charge of the timer and helps to monitor accuracy.

4. Record Reading

Sometimes kids don't even notice that they are reading too slow or without expression. It's helpful if they can hear themselves reading. Use a voice recording app to let kids record themselves reading a text. Then, have them listen to it while reading the text again. What do they notice? What can they do better?

is a great platform for this if you have a subscription. Or, a free voice recording app like Kids Recorder. Or, if you don't have either, simply use a camera with the lens facing down on the table to just get the audio without the visual distractions.

6. Practice with Punctuation

Often, errors are made when punctuation is disregarded or misplaced. Teach children how to use punctuation as a guide to help with fluency. I always get a kick out of using the phrase, "Let's eat grandma!" When I read that first, of course kids are appalled, but those shocked looks turn into giggles when I add the comma after the word eat!

Model reading a text with no punctuation, emphasizing awkward parts of the text. It didn't make sense, did it? Authors include punctuation to help us read and understand, so we have to pay attention to them!

Also, practice reading the same sentence with different punctuation marks. This helps with expression! The skill cards below are included in my Guided Reading Warm-ups.

The book Punctuation Takes a Vacation is a fun way to teach about punctuation too (although it includes advanced punctuation that will likely go over kindergartners and first-graders heads). Here is a link to the book being read on YouTube.

7. Use Silly Voices

Rereading can be boring, right? It's less so when you use different voices! We love changing our voice to practice fluency. You can have kids read the text in a "Mickey Mouse" voice, monster voice, or any creative voice you can think of.

The picture below shows my Sight Word Pocket Dice cards. I use these to practice sight word fluency.

I also have fluency review slides in my Sight Word Body-Spelling Bundle.

8. Reader's Theater

Most kids love acting out stories, so why not add a little extra fluency fun with mini-plays? Rehearsing for a class presentation is a great way to practice fluency (and team collaboration).
Having a solid sight word vocabulary increases fluency as well. When they don't have to stop and decode every word, they'll be able to read faster and with better comprehension. Have your kids practice sight words in context, using multisensory methods when possible.
9. Teach Sight Words

10. Scoop Phrases

Sometimes kids can decode words, but are used to reading one word at a time. Train the eye to look at several words at once with scooped phrases. They can read each word carefully, then reread and scoop their fingers on the arch to read smoothly.

These scooping phrase cards are part of the 900 skill cards in my Guided Reading Warm-ups. They're included for each level after A.

11. Mini-lesson on Just-right pace

Some kids think that reading super fast is reading fluently. We know that reading too fast is just as bad as reading too slow! Here is an easy activity to demonstrate just-right reading.

Write the following sentence on paper, each word on a separate sheet: We like to play with friends.

Invite student volunteers to come up and hold the papers, one for each word.

Squish all the kids together and read the sentence super fast, so that kids can't understand what you said.

Then, ask students to stand as far apart as they can around your room. Read the sentence slowly as you walk to each student.

Discuss what made it hard to understand each way. Explain that a just-right pace is neither too fast nor too slow. Place kids just a few inches apart and read at a just-right pace to model.

12. Point

Have kids point to a text while they listen to it being read with good fluency and expression.

13. Stop the Pointing

What? I just told you to have kids point!

Pointing past a certain level can actually hinder reading. If students are reading one word at a time choppily, it's time to put the finger away so their eyes can glance across the page at several words.

14. Read a short text with an Assigned Emotion

This can be hard (and silly), but give kids a text and tell them to read it while displaying a certain emotion- sad, happy, shy, afraid... If the emotion doesn't match the text, it's extra silly (and therefore more fun!).

Ask them to think about how the characters are feeling in the stories they read, and to use expression accordingly to show that emotion.

In addition to listening to their own recordings and your modeling, have kids watch short YouTube clips of kids giving reviews. Discuss how kids used their voices to show their emotions, using fluency and expression.

Without fluency, it's extremely difficult to have good comprehension. In my Reading Strategy Tent Cards, I include teaching cards for fluency and expression with examples you can use to model each. Hopefully, the activities above will also help make teaching these skills fun for your students!

What other activities do you use for teaching fluency? I'd love to hear about them!

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15 fun and easy fluency practice activities to get your K-1 students reading at a just-right pace, with accuracy and expression!

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phonics bingo

Word wall

Creating a bingo game helps students to call out words while other students find the corresponding letter sounds on their card. Having a word wall will help student students form new sentences with new vocabulary words.

Differentiation

For students with disabilities, you can provide visual aid symbols next to the words on the Wordle, you can also provide them with the sentence starters.

At home:

Reading together encourages children to want to read with their parent during a read aloud discuss a story ask questions and encourage your child to ask questions. Also children will be able to practice fluency decoding and vocabulary in a comfortable environment.

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When you think of reading games for preschoolers as a parent, you probably don't have a lot of fun activities in mind. But did you know that reading can also be made into an exciting game for kids?

When kids or preschoolers think of having fun, they hardly think of educational books. They probably dream of playgrounds, coloring tools, gaming arenas, and other kids their age, but the chances of them thinking of reading, in the same way, are slim.

Fun Ways to Teach Your Kid How to Read

Teaching your kid how to read can always be turned into a fun activity. Here are some of the most fun ways to teach reading to your child:

Read to your child.

Play rhyming games.

Create a reading nook.

Play the alphabet game on road trips.

Make letter crafts.

Go to the library.

Read signs on the road.

Take books with you when you travel.

Give your children books as gifts.

Read the mail together.

Make up silly songs together.

Ask them to read the pictures to you before they can read the words.

Do word searches.

Play sight word games.

Best Time to Teach Your Kid to Read

There is no cut and dry method to teach anything to anyone, especially when it's kids we're talking about. That's because every child has different talents and abilities, and their interests vary as well. It is undeniable that a child's mind becomes sharper if exposed to reading from an early age. Right after their birth, kids begin to gather skills that enable them to improve their reading.

The ages between 3 to 5 are crucial years for your child's reading abilities. Use those years to read to your child and introduce them to the world of books and stories. Reading to your child also helps you bond with them better.

Once your child begins to speak, you will realize the positive effect of reading on them. They will also be able to read the words on stop signs, store signs, and mail that comes your way.

By playing some fun reading games for preschoolers, your child will be able to hold a book correctly, name letters that begin certain words, make up rhymes or silly phrases, recall familiar words and phrases from their favorite books, and also turn the pages properly.

For some advanced preschoolers, reading can also help them guess what might happen next in a story or even retell stories that they know. The more they practice, the more they can improve.

How to Support Your Child in Preschool?

The growth of a child is directly proportional to the support they receive from their parents. If they are subjected to a loving, comforting, and intellectually stimulating environment, they will automatically grow up to be smart and sensible adults. Since reading is an integral part of any child's learning journey, it is essential to start supporting them early on.

Gift them books, read to them, make up games you can play with them one-on-one and also as a group, see the kind of words and stories they respond the most to, and create a healthy learning environment. This way, you will be preparing them better for what's to come in their classroom sessions.

Teach Your Child to Read with SplashLearn!

With SplashLearn's game-based learning, you can introduce your child to different reading grades for a wholesome, holistic reading experience. All of these lessons are created after intense research and help the kids remember as well as create.

Reading games can further be divided into Phonics and Sight Words. Some of the reading online games for preschoolers from both the categories that you can play with your kid are as follows:

Phonics Games:

Sight Words Games:

Takeaway

As a parent, you must try different tools to enrich your kid's young mind. SplashLearn's fun reading games, for instance, help in enhancing your child's reading ability. Play these games with your kids and help them read better.

Learn more with SplashLearn. Get to create curated lessons for your kids. Use this platform to gain access to reading games for preschoolers and gain an insight into the progress your child makes.

Is there something we missed out? Write to us at help@splashlearn.com with your feedback and comments. We love to hear from you and improve the learning experience for your kids.

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Preschool ELA: Reading Games | SplashLearn

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Explore 'Reading' games designed for preschoolers. Engage kids in fun and interactive activities and improve their early reading skills with ease. Start for free!