The goal of reading sight words is automaticity, or being able to look at and read a word without thinking about it. Young readers will learn phonics patterns that help them read words with automaticity, which creates sight words, or any words we want readers to recognize “by sight.” Sight word activities are how students practice the words you’re teaching them to reach automaticity.
It’s a myth that blindly memorizing every letter in a sight word is the only way to learn it. The science of reading tells us that linking sounds and letters in sight word activities is the most effective way for kids’ brains to learn any word. Many common words are easy to tackle using beginning phonics skills (like “at,” “can,” “him,” etc.), so staying true to a strong phonics curriculum is one way to support kids’ sight word learning. Even irregularly spelled words have decodable parts, e.g., kids can use the sounds of “s” and “d” to help with “said,” even if the “ai” is unexpected. Experts often call these words “heart words” to call out for kids that they should learn the unexpected word parts “by heart.”
Check out these low-prep and engaging sight word activities for both teaching and practicing words.
Sight Word Activities To Teach Words
These activities are great when you are introducing new words or when students need a reminder of the letters and patterns that make up each word.
1. Drive a sight word
For this activity, you’ll need paper (butcher paper works great because you can write lots of words), LEGO bricks, and toy cars. Write sight words on paper, put a LEGO brick by each letter or sound that the student is reading, and have students drive a toy car by the bricks to read the word.
2. Shaving cream writing
Spray shaving cream onto a cookie tray and tell students a word. They write the word and then “erase” it by smearing the shaving cream.
3. Sight word smush
Use sheet protectors and play dough for this activity. Write a word on a piece of paper with boxes for each sound. So, the word “Friday” would have boxes for F, R, I, D, and AY. Slip the paper into a sheet protector and have students put a small piece of play dough on each sound pattern. As students read each sound, they smush the play dough.
Buy it: Set of sheet protectors and 10 pack of Play Doh at Amazon
4. Map words with a magnet wand
Print pages with sight words on them. Slip the pages into sheet protectors, and have students move a magnetic chip to each sound as they read the word. Dragging those magnetic dots around is so satisfying!
Buy it: Set of sheet protectors and magnetic wand and chips at Amazon
5. Make a mini book
Fold paper into fourths, write sight words your students are working on, and create a mini-book they can take home with them to read on their own. As they learn more words, you can incorporate sentences as well so they’ll really see themselves growing as readers.
6. Tap it, pop it, learn it!
Use Pop-Its to reinforce reading each part of a word. Write the word and break it out by sound, so “said” becomes ‘s’ ‘e’ ‘d.’ Then, students press a “button” on the Pop-It for each part of the word they read.
Buy it: Set of Pop-Its at Amazon
7. Sight word stamp
With a set of letter stamps, have students stamp each sight word. Either read the words and have students stamp them, or give students a stack of sight word cards and take turns reading or stamping them.
Buy it: Alphabet stamps
Sight Word Activities for Practicing Words
Once students have learned a word, it’s all about practice, practice, practice! These activities will help students learn words “by heart.”
8. Find and swat words
Write sight words on note cards or small pieces of paper. Use a fly swatter to have students swat the word you say. You can also make two sets of cards and have students work in partners. One student reads while the other swats.
9. Wear heart word bracelets
Make kids feel like sight word VIPs and keep sight word review on hand. Write sight words on paper bracelets and have each student wear a sight word all day. You can use this when lining up—have students line up based on the sight word they have on their wrist. Or have students work with a partner where one student has to find the other student with the same sight word bracelet.
Buy it: Set of paper wristbands at Amazon
10. Start a sight word band
Loud but oh-so fun! Write sight words on sticky notes and put each sticky note on a pot, pan, or something else that makes noise. Then, students can read each word before they tap or hit each one.
11. Search for sight word balls
Write sight words on ball pit balls with a chalk marker or dry-erase marker. Kids race around hunting for balls to read and toss in a basket, or hunt through a big tub of balls for a certain word.
Buy it: Set of ball pit balls at Amazon
12. Use sticky notes to inspire sight word sentences
Have kids stick words on items that give them ideas for sentences. For example, put the word “said” on a helmet for the sentence “My Mom said to wear a helmet!”
13. Wear a sight word crown
Create crowns out of construction paper and write a sight word on each one. Students can wear their word and practice reading each other’s words. This is an activity that works in person or online.
14. Drive a sight word path
This is one of many fun ways to use magnetic tiles for learning! Write sight words on magnetic tiles and have students use a toy car to drive over and read each word, or stand up the tiles and knock down each word they read.
Buy it: Set of magnetic tiles at Amazon
15. Play a magnetic-tile board game
We love new ideas for ways to use magnetic tiles for sight word activities. For this game, write sight words on magnetic tiles. Set up a board game by linking the tiles together to create a path. Then, have students roll a di and move a piece around the path. They read the word they land on.
Buy it: Set of magnetic tiles at Amazon
16. Spell words to a familiar tune
Get sight words stuck in everyone’s head, in a good way, by singing the song “Bingo.” Instead of B-I-N-G-O, spell the sight word. So, if you were teaching the word THE, the song would go: “There is a sight word of the day and THE is its name-o. T-H-E. T-H-E. The sight word is T-H-E and THE is our sight word!”
17. Write words on a sensory bag
Fill a zip-top bag with a small amount of kid-safe paint, seal well, and have kids practice writing sight words with their finger or a cotton swab. When they’ve written the first word, they can “erase” it and write the next one.
18. Feed a word monster
Nom, nom, nom. Create a “monster” with a tissue box. Cut a hole for its mouth, and practice reading words. When a student reads a word, they can feed the word to the monster. This activity is great for centers or large groups.
19. Roll and write words
Roll, write, repeat. Students roll a di and write the sight word you’ve associated with the number on the di. For example, a one on the di is “to,” a two is “the,” etc.
20. Write words with rainbow colors
Assign sight words and have students write them in each color of the rainbow. Bonus points for aromatic markers.
21. Search for the pom-pom
Write sight words on the bottom of plastic cups. Put a set of cups so the words are on top. Hide a pom-pom under one cup. Students read each word as they try to find the pom-pom. They have to read the word before picking up the cup.
22. Trace words with flashlights
Write sight words on paper, a mini whiteboard, or your table. Students trace the words as they read them using mini flashlights. Stock up on batteries because kids never get tired of this!
Buy it: Mini flashlight key chains at Amazon
23. Find words in plastic eggs
Print sight words on strips of paper. Put one word in each plastic egg and put all the eggs in a bin. Give kids a checklist of words to find as they open each egg.
24. Play sight word Kaboom!
Write words on Popsicle sticks. Write Kaboom! on a few of the sticks. Put all the sticks in a cup or can, word-end down. Have students take turns drawing a stick and reading the word. If they can’t read the word, the stick goes back in the bucket. If they pull a stick that reads Kaboom!, all the sticks go back in the bucket. This can be played as a whole-group game (think: morning meeting) or in small groups.
25. Spy words around the classroom
Just add a magnifying glass and clipboard to make kids feel like supersleuths! In this activity, students have a list of sight words. You write sight words on cards and put them around the classroom. Each time they spy a sight word, they check it off their list.
26. Find words in the morning message
Don’t forget about old standbys! When you’re writing your morning message, underline or put a box around the sight words students are learning. Or make it part of morning meeting to find the sight words in the day’s message. This is one of our favorite ways to get kids to recognize sight words in connected text.
Learn more: 24 Morning Messages
27. Build words with bricks
Such a great use for extra building bricks! Write sight words on the longer bricks, then the parts of the words on smaller bricks. Have students build words by putting smaller bricks on top of larger bricks. So, a large brick may read “them” and three smaller bricks might read ‘th’ ‘e’ ‘m.’
Buy it: Set of mega blocks at Amazon
28. Write words in sand
Put a layer of sand in a pencil box and print out a list of sight words. Have students open the box and write the sight words in the sand. Using the pencil boxes keeps this activity clean and allows students to use it when they have extra time to fill.
Buy it: Set of pencil boxes at Amazon
29. Flip word pancakes
Serve up sight word pancakes while practicing spelling them aloud. For this activity, create the “pancakes” by cutting out brown circles. Write a sight word on each circle and place the word face up. Students slip a spatula under each word, read the word, and flip it. You can also put the words face down and have students flip the word, then read it.
30. Spell words on a construction site
Put kinetic or actual sand in a bin. Give students a list of sight word cards, letter stamps, and a toy bulldozer. Students stamp the word in the sand, read it, and bulldoze it away.
Buy it: Kinetic sand at Amazon and letter stamps at Amazon
31. Spell words with toy cars
Stick letters onto toy cars and have students build words by putting the cars together. So, cars with ‘i’ and ‘n’ on them can spell “in.”
Buy it: Set of toy cars at Amazon
32. Park in a sight word “parking lot”
Create a parking lot for toy cars. In each space, write a sight word. Have students “park” cars as they read sight words. This one is easy to modify based on whatever toys are available in the classroom or at home.
33. “Plant” words in play dough
Roll out a strip of modeling clay and “plant” magnetic letters in the clay to spell sight words.
Buy it: Play Doh and magnetic letters at Amazon
34. Build words in a sensory tub
Because spelling is just more fun when your hands are covered in beans! Fill a bin with beans. Hide letters in the beans. Give students sight word cards and have them find the letters they need to spell each sight word.
Learn more: Sensory Room Ideas
35. Write words on a magnetic drawing board
A magnetic writing board is a great way to practice sight words. Students can put a sight word card in the eraser space.
Buy it: Magnetic writing board
36. Write words on the window!
Everyone wants a turn to write on the window! Read words and have students write them on the windows with window paint.
Buy it: Window chalk markers at Amazon
37. Shhh! Discover words written in invisible ink
Write sight words in white crayon on white paper. Students paint over the word in watercolor and read the words that come up.
38. Dot-paint words with a cotton swab
Give students a page with a sight word written on it. Students use a cotton swab to trace or tap over the word.
39. “Type” words on a keyboard
Use an old keyboard or keyboard cover and have students type each sight word. This is great practice for students who need additional support with letters as well.
Buy it: Keyboard cover
40. Read words before heading through the door
Post sight words on your classroom door and use them for line-up routines. The line leader can double as the word pointer during transitions.
41. Sight word memory
Print sight word cards so that you have two of each word. Turn the cards face down and turn two over at a time. If the words are the same, the student keeps the pair. If not, they read both words and the cards are turned back down.
42. Read the word the teacher’s wearing
Clip a sight word to your pocket or lanyard and refer to it throughout the day. “If you can read this word, clap twice.”
43. Take a sight word cakewalk
Write words in a circle on the playground with chalk or write them on paper and put them on the floor in your room. Students walk around the circle when the music is going, then when it stops they each choose a word. You say one word and the student standing on that word wins.
44. Play sight word hopscotch
Draw a hopscotch board and put sight words inside each box. If you can’t get outdoors, tape on the floor works just as well.
45. Play tic-tac-toe
Assign each student a sight word and have them play tic-tac-toe with their word. The first one to write three words in a row wins.
46. Go sight word bowling
Add sight words to bowling pins and go bowling. Students read the words they knock over. No bowling pins? Use half-filled plastic water bottles instead.
Buy it: Plastic bowling pins at Amazon
47. Ready, aim, read
Draw a target with chalk or on butcher paper. Add sight words around the edges and in the bullseye. Students throw a beanbag and read the word closest to the beanbag.
48. Play muffin tin ball toss
Write sight words in the bottom of muffin liners. Put the muffin wrappers into a muffin tin. Toss a ball or pom-pom into the muffin tin and read the word. It’s easy to use colored muffin cups to prep different sets of words.
Buy it: Muffin tin and muffin liners at Amazon
49. DIY sentence flash cards
Create flash cards by having students write sight words and sentences using those sight words or drawings showing the sight word. Send the flash cards home with students for practice.
50. Play sight word checkers
Add sight words to the spaces on a checkerboard. Students play checkers and read the words they land on. If kids don’t have a partner available, they can “play” with a stuffed animal and get double practice.
51. Play sight word Guess Who?
Set up this game once and use it forever. Create sight word cards that fit into a Guess Who game. Then, have students guess which word their partner has. You might want to create question cards to help students like “Does your word have an ‘e’ in it?” and “Does your word have a ‘b’ at the beginning?”
Learn more: Guess Who? Template
52. Sight word jars
Prep this activity with tiny jars and magnetic letters. Students organize a big jar of letters into words and pack them into smaller jars. Or put the letters you need for each word into a jar and students pour out the letters, then spell.
Buy it: Set of magnetic letters at Amazon
53. Sight word bingo
For these sight word activities, write sight words on bingo cards, or get a bingo game, and get ready to aim for a cover-all. Students listen to words read aloud and cover the sight words they have on their card. Add a level of challenge to this game by having students write a list of the words they hear but don’t have.
Buy it: Sight Words Bingo
54. Sight word fishing
Put paper clips on note cards with sight words written on them, and have students use magnetic wands to go fishing.
Buy it: Magnetic toy fishing poles at Amazon
55. Sight word balloon toss
Write sight words on the sidewalk using chalk. Throw water balloons at the sidewalk to “bash” the words. Use reusable water balloons to be able to play this game over and over.
Buy it: Reusable water balloons and sidewalk chalk at Amazon
56. Sight words on the menu
Put magnetic letters and sight word cards on a “menu” in the pretend-play center. Students can request, and then be served, sight words.
Buy it: Set of magnetic letters at Amazon
57. Sight word dominoes
Create sight word dominoes out of note cards by dividing the cards in half and writing two sight words on each card. Create a set so that each word has a match. Then, have students play dominoes, matching sight word with sight word.
58. Sight word caterpillar
Write letters on bottle caps and have students build sight words by either matching bottle cap letters to words that are already written, or by spelling a word they hear read aloud.
59. Sight word rubbings
Create raised sight words using a glue gun on poster board. When the glue is dry, students can use the cards to color over and see sight word rubbings.
60. Sight word popcorn
Prepare this sight word activity by writing a bunch of sight words on small slips of paper (they can be shaped like popped popcorn if you’d like). Then write the word “Pop” on five slips of paper. Put all the slips of paper into one bag. Then, students take one word out at a time. If they read the sight word, they can keep the word and build a pile of popcorn. If they draw a “Pop” card, all the words they’ve collected go back into the bag.
61. Sight word stack
Write sight words on a stack of plastic cups. Students read each word. If they read it correctly, they add the cup to the stack. If they don’t, the cup stays in their stack.
62. Sight word scavenger hunt
Write sight words on note cards. Hide the word cards around the room. Then, give students a list of the sight words they need to find. They can read the word list then search the room to check off each word.
63. Whack-a-mole
Spell sight words with this spelling game. Create a mallet, and print out the letter cards. Tell students a word and they whack out the spelling.
64. Musical sight word activities
Write sight words on note cards or construction paper. Place the sight words around a carpet or the floor. When the music plays, students walk around the sight words, and when the music stops, they find a sight word and stand over it. Then, they read their sight word. The rule: You can’t end up at the same sight word twice. Play until everyone has a chance to read each sight word once.
65. Word jump
Write sight words on note cards or paper. Students jump from word to word. They either stop and read each word they pass, or you can have them jump for one, two, or three hops and read the word they land on.