Rotten Bananas (black line master included--page1)
(black line master included--page2)
Cut bananas out of yellow paper. Print a sight word on each. Color some bananas brown on one side instead of writing a word. Put all bananas in a can. Pass the can. Students take turns reading drawing a card and reading the word. If they get it right they may keep it. The can moves to the next person even if they get it right. Game continues until someone gets a rotten banana. Then everyone counts his or her cards. The person with the most is the winner.
Crash (black line master included)
Print sight words on car shaped paper. On some cars print the word CRASH. Spread all cars out on the table. Students take turns choosing words. If the student can read the word, he or she may keep it and continue drawing until he or she doesn’t know a word or gets a CRASH card. Students also keep CRASH cards. At the end of the game, the student with the most cards is the winner.
Number Stamp* (black line master included)
This game is for practicing number words. It could be adapted to use with color words as well.
Give each child a paper with a blank at the top and six boxes underneath. Each child chooses a number word to fill in on the blank. Students take turns rolling a die (I use a special 10 sided die). Whoever has the number word that is rolled gets to put a stamp (or you could use stickers) in one of the boxes. The game continues until someone fills all of his or her boxes.
Flip It Down (black line master included)
Divide a regular sheet of paper into two columns and 12 rows. Number each row on the left hand side. In the left hand column, print a word in each row. Make a copy for each player. Cut the left hand column on the rows so that each word is on a strip of paper that can be folded over to the right. Students take turns rolling a die (I used a 12 sided one) or dice (1 or 2). If they can read the word that corresponds to the number they rolled, they “flip down” the word by folding it over. First one to flip down all of the words is the winner.
Pirate’s Treasure* (black line master included)
Print sight words on treasure box cards. I did a 2-letter word, 3-letter word, and 4-letter word on each. I also tried to make sure that the 3 words on each card did not have the same letters. Print the letters to spell each word on gold coins. I purchased “gems” from the Dollar Store but you could also use yellow circles. Put all of the letter coins in a “treasure box” (container). To play, each student chooses a treasure box card with sight words. Then they take turns scooping coins out of the treasure box (container) with a small shovel (I tied mine to the container). If they need the coins to spell a word, they may keep them. If not they need to put them back. The first person to complete a word wins. (Or you could also play that the first person to complete all three words wins).
Pizza Pizza* (black line masters included)
Type simple sentences (using sight words and CVC words) on the pizza slices putting harder sentences on the slices with more pepperoni slices. Cut the slices apart and store in a pizza box. Children take turns choosing a slice. If they can read it, they keep it. This game has 2 winners...the person with the most pizza slices and the person with the most pepperoni slices!
Cookie Monster* (black line master included)
Print a letter on each cookie. Leave a few cookies with Cookie Monster on them. This game is played exactly like BANG except that it uses letters instead of sight words (for my kids who are not reading yet). Children take turns choosing a cookie. If they know the letter or sound, they may keep it. If they get a cookie monster, they must put all of their cookies back in.
Pop* (black line master included)
Print a letter on each balloon. Make some pop cards. This game is played exactly like Crash except that it uses letters instead of sight words. Spread all cards face down on the table. Students take turns choosing words. If the student can say the letter name or sound, he or she may keep it and continue drawing until he or she doesn’t know a letter or gets a POP card. Students also keep POP cards. At the end of the game, the student with the most cards is the winner
Crazy Carrots* (black line masters included--page1)
(black line masters included--page2)
Cut carrots out of sturdy paper. Print a letter on each. Be sure to make “crazy carrot” and “bunny steal” cards. Put all cards in a can. Pass the can. Students take turns reading drawing a card and identifying the letter/sound. If they get it right they may keep it. The can moves to the next person even if they get it right. Game continues until someone gets a crazy carrot. Then everyone counts his or her cards. The person with the most is the winner.
Shooting Stars* (black line masters included)
To make this game you will need to purchase star shaped beads (or some other type of small plastic stars in various colors). Place the stars in a container. Print the shooting stars game boards and glue to cardstock. One side should have the blank game board and the other side should have the color words game board. This game can be played several ways:
1. Color words: Create color word cards that correspond to the colors of stars. Each child takes a turn choosing a card. He read the color word and checks his game board to see if he needs that color. If he does, he uses the tweezers to place a star bead on that color word on his game board. The first player to fill his game board wins. For a shorter game, play like BINGO…the first to get 3 in a row wins.
2. Generic game board: Create word cards (or other concept cards). Each child chooses a card and read the word/letter/problem. If he gets it correct, he rolls the dice and chooses that number of star beads to place on his game board. He may choose ANY color of stars. This game has 2 winners: 1.) The first person to fill his card wins and 2.) After all cards are filled, the teacher will choose a winning color by drawing one color word card. The player with the most beads of this color wins.
Football (black line masters included--page1)
(black line masters included--page2)
I originally created this game to help a fourth grade student with multiplication facts. However, it could be used for addition, subtraction, letters, sight words, etc. It is played very much the same as Rotten Banana. Print a sight word on each of the football cards. Print out one (or more) sheets of the whistle/touchdown/tackle cards. Put all cards in a can. To play, pass the can. Students take turns drawing a card and reading the word/solving the problem. If they get it right they may keep the card. The can moves to the next person even if they get it right. If someone draws a tackle card, he may take one card from another player. If he gets the touchdown card, all players must give him their cards. Game continues until someone gets a touchdown card. Then everyone counts his or her cards. The person with the most is the winner.
Sound Sandwiches (black line masters included)
To create this game I used a pad of paper made by Colorbok that is shaped like a sandwich. It has 6 different kinds of paper shaped like the different parts of a sandwich (bread (2), meat, cheese, tomato, onion). I purchased the paper at Michael’s (craft store) but you could also cut the pieces out of construction paper or print them from clip art. Put a picture that begins with a given letter on each sheet of paper (6 different pictures for each letter—I used Matchword software to get the pictures; you could also use clip art). You should have a complete sandwich for each letter. Put a different letter on each sound sandwich card. I divided the alphabet into 3 sections (beginning, middle, and end) and printed the cards for each section on different color cardstock so that I really have 3 different games. To play, spread all sandwich pieces face down. Give each child a sound sandwiches card with a letter. Each child takes a turn choosing a sandwich piece. If the piece begins with his letter, he keeps it. If not, he turns it back over and the next player has a turn. The first one to get all 6 pieces to complete a sandwich wins.
Boo (black line masters included--page1)
(black line masters included--page2)
Print a word/letter/number/etc on each jack-o-lantern card (they are preprogrammed with color words but you can change that). Print out word cards and "Boo" cards. This game is played like Bang: Children draw a card and read the word. If they are correct, they keep the card and the next player goes. If they are incorrect, they put the card back. If they get "Boo", they put ALL of their cards back.
4-in-a-Row CVC Words
To create this game you will need to print out the playing cards (above) and make a six-sided die with the following written on the sides: red, yellow, green, purple, top, bottom. To play, the child rolls the die and reads a word that meets that requirement (ex: red--any red word, top--any word in top row). If correct, he covers the word. The first person to get 4 in a row (like Bingo) wins. The printable cards above have CVC words or color/number word but they can be altered to reflect any skill.
*It's always interesting to see who uses strategy and who just picks any word!*
Under the Sea (black line masters included--page1)
Using sticky back foam shapes and a large sheet of Fun Foam, I create a game board called "Under the Sea". I drew circle spaces and placed 1 of each foam shape (see cards for shapes used or alter cards to use shapes you already have) randomly along the path. At the end of the path, I drew a treasure chest. It is played similar to Candy Land. Children read a word card (from any set of flashcards) and then draw a card to see how many spaces to move. If they draw an "under the sea" card featuring one of the foam shapes, they move directly to that shape or follow the directions on the card. The first person to reach the treasure chest wins.