Kindergarten Sight Word Activities

I really believe in play in the classroom to enhance learning.    I try to make learning fun for my students, yet still challenge them.    I love teaching sight words because there are so many fun ways to teach them that the students love!  I wanted to share a few of our favorites. 

Sensory Tubs
This was my first year trying out a sensory tub in the classroom and I am completely hooked!  For this center, I added letters to the sensory bin for the student to make sight words with.  I tried to make it a little more challenging for them so I color coded each word, so students found letters of the same color and tried to make a word from them.  

Sight Word Hangman
My students are OBSESSED with this and beg to play it.  I found this adorable Melissa & Doug hangman at Michael's but its also available on Amazon or the students can simply make their own template Travel Hangman (Affiliate Link)

Differentiated Dice
These dice are one of my favorite and I use them for so many different things.   When using them with sight words, it is so easy to differentiate.  You can easily differentiate based on how many words you are using.  Based on where the students are at, you may only use two sight words (with each word showing 3 times), for others you can have up to 6 words.  For one of our sight word activities using these dice we sit in a circle and a student rolls the dice. We go around the circle to spell the word. 

For example if we rolled here, the next student in the circle would say h, the student next to them e, the next student r and the last student e and then we read the word as a group one more time.  The next student in the circle then gets a turn to roll the dice.  My students love this game and it is so simple!!  You can find these dice here: Differentiated Cubes (Affiliate Link)

Sight Word Printables
Sometimes I think students also need something paper and pencil to practice as well.  I created these printables to practice sight words. They give the students many different opportunities to practice the word by exposing them to the word in a variety of ways.  Students trace the sight word, rainbow write it, read it to a friend have have them sign their paper, identify vowels and consonants in the word, write it, clap it and identify how many syllables, find it among other words and find it in a sentence. 

It can be done whole group or as a center activity.  The fun part about this sheet is that it can be kept as a word sheet or students can turn it into a little book.  To do this, they simply cut the rectangles and staple at the top.  It has worked out so well for me.  Students who are quick finishers are able to make them into a mini book, while students who take a little more time just keep it as a worksheet.  

 You can check them out at my TPT store by clicking the links below:

 Sight Word Mini Books

over 130 sight words are included in this packet!

 

Or you can check them out for free here first:

Sight Word Mini Books Sample

Sight Word Spinners
This is a fun and kindergarten friendly way to get your students reading sight words.  It is so easy to differentiate as well by having different word lists available for students.  Students spin a top and read the word that it lands on.  This is a great warm up activity for skill groups or as a center.  
I keep the word list and top in a cookie tin for classroom management so it stays contained during the activity.  

Guess My Sorting Rule
This is another fun game that I love playing with my students.  This game is so great to really get your students to use higher level thinking skills. To play this game, I use a pocket chart and have sight words sorted some way.
I choose all different ways to sort them.
I may sort by beginning sound...

or by the numbers of letters in the word. 

Sometimes I will sort by words that rhyme or words that have/ do not have a specific letter.  Students then decide how I sorted.  I usually then have a few more words that we will add and decide where they belong.  

Games

What kindergartener doesn't love playing games.  This is a simple sight word game that I play with my students.  Students choose a card, read the word and move that many spaces on the game board.  We play it in the classroom, but I also send it home with students so they can practice at home too.  We prep everything in the classroom, practice playing and then they have this activity to play at their house too.

This game is editable and is a freebie available in my TPT store.  You can check it out by clicking on the image or link below.

Sight Word Make and Take Freebie

  Sight Word Musical Chairs
This is another fun way to get your students moving.  I place sight words on chairs.  I do small groups of around 6 chairs and have 4 groups in my class.  We just turn our chairs around at our table groups so it is so easy!!  I love doing it this way because it is more manageable for me and I am able to differentiate.  If several students are all working on one word, I make sure to include that word in their group so I can really target the students learning.  
Students all carry a crayon with them and when the music stops, the students stop, they trace the sight word and then read it to the person next to them.  This gets the students reading and writing their sight words.  

Sight Word Towers
This is a center that I had to implement in my classroom.  We did a tower challenge on the 100th Day of School and my students we begging to play it over and over again so I had to make it into a center.  For this activity, we begin with all cups stacked.  Students pick the top cup, read it and then stack it in a tower.  If they are unable to read it, I have taught my students to "coach," or give them a clue to help them read it.  My students LOVE playing this game and have so much fun practicing sight words while playing. 

 
Morning Messages
These are another way to not only practice sight words, but if your students are making errors in their writing to help point out common errors.   Each day I write a message on our board with errors in the spelling of sight words and sentence convention mistakes.  I may forget spaces between my words, leave a capital letter in the middle of a word or begin with a lowercase letter.  Students first share with a partner a mistake that they see and tell why... This way, every student has an answer if they get called on to share.  As a group, I then call on students to fix the errors.  While they are fixing the errors, as a group we will spell that word in some fun type of way.... we might cheer out the word, write it on a friends back, or spell it in a monster voice.  They love it and it is another great way to practice words that we are learning.  

Sight Word Bowling
This will for sure be a classroom favorite and was so simple to create.  I was able to find these bowling pins at a dollar store.  I added flash cards and boom we have an instant center.  Students bowled and then read the words they knocked down.  My students absolutely LOVE this center.  I also have a clipboard at this center and students write down the words that they bowl giving them more practice with the words.  

Magnetic Boards
These little magnetic boards are another fun and enaging way for your students to practice writing their sight words.  It is important that students can not only read but also write the words since these skills are so closely related.  I picked up these boards at Dollar Tree and they were such a big hit in my classroom.

Word Stairs
These are another very easy way to practice writing sight word.  One of my students favorites is sight word stairs.  Students create stairs by writing the word one letter at a time.  If students are working on a particular list they can write all of these words in "word stairs."

I love this activity because students are paying close attention to the letters in the word.  

Roll and Read
This is another great sight word activity for reviewing several words at a time. 

Students play with a partner, so they do have support and accountability from a peer.  I love how easily it is to differentiate by just giving students different words.  I grabbed this copy free on TPT from The Reading Bungalow!  I have included the link below. 

Roll A Sight Word EDITABLE!!! {Freebie} 

Wordle
This is a free and amazing website and one of my favorites.  You can type in a word list and it will make a collage of the words.  You are able to play with the colors and fonts of the website.  
I print several different versions since it is great for students to see the words in different fonts.  Students can then search for their sight words.  I keep them in sheet protectors and the students circle the words with dry erase markers.  

I hope that you were able to find some new ideas for teaching sight words in your classroom!! I would love to hear any fun ways that you teach sight words in your classroom!!