fun assignments reading

13 Fun Reading Activities for Any Book

Whether you walk into a classroom in Asia, North America or Europe, you will almost certainly see teachers and students building their understanding of the world through a dedicated daily reading session full of great reading activities.

Books allow students an opportunity to be informed, entertained or escape as they comprehend fiction and non-fiction texts against their understanding of the world, their personal insights, and opinions and finally compare those texts to others.

Whilst you may have a wealth of books in your school library, developing fresh and engaging ways to study literature can often be challenging.  So today, we will explore 25 proven activities that can be applied to any book and at any age level.

These reading activities to improve reading comprehension are easy to follow and suitable for most age groups within an elementary/junior high school level.

125 Text Response ACTIVITIES, Games, Projects for ANY BOOK

This massive collection of ☀️ READING ACTIVITIES☀️ covers all essential reading skills for elementary/primary students. NO PREP REQUIRED! Works with all text and media types.

Thousands of teachers have adopted this as a GO-TO RESOURCE for independent and group tasks.

A COLLECTION OF FUN READING ACTIVITIES

A lifetime tale in pictures reading task.

Draw the main character from a book you have recently read.  Show them as a baby, middle-aged and an older person.

Underneath each picture, write what you think they might be doing at that point in their life, and explain why they may be doing so.

For example, if you drew Harry Potter as a baby, he might cast spells on his mum to feed him lots of yummy food.

Post-reading activities like this are accessible for all age groups to adapt their skill level and text style.

If you want to learn more about characters, read our complete guide here.

TEXT TO SELF-READING TASK

Based upon a book you have just read, share a  story about yourself related to an event or character in the book.

It is probably best done in the form of a written recount. Link your experience to no more than four situations that occurred within the text.

Text to self is an excellent opportunity for students to become introspective about the content they read and compare it to their own life experiences. 

This activity is appealing to teenagers more so than juniors .

IT’S IN THE INSTRUCTIONS READING TASK

From a book you have just read, select either a critical object or creature and create a user manual or a guide explaining how to care for it.

Ensure you use any vital information learnt from the book and any other information you consider essential.

If you are writing a user manual for an object, remember to focus on using it correctly and taking care of it.

If you are writing a user guide for an animal or creature, focus on keeping it alive and healthy as well as information that explains how to keep it happy and under control if necessary.

Dear Diary, READING TASK

Place yourself in the shoes of one of the characters you have just read about and write a diary entry of a critical moment from the story.

Try to choose a moment in the story where the character has plenty of interaction and emotion to share in a diary entry.

Your diary entry should be around a page long and contain information you learned from the book when the character was in that specific place and time.

Remember, when writing a diary entry, you are writing it from a first-person perspective. It is usually but not always written in the present tense.

Diary writing has been a very popular activity throughout time, but social media tools such as Facebook and blogging have in some ways changed this.

Mapping it all out, READING TASK

How do you make reading lessons fun? This reading activity answers that question confidently.

Have a go at drawing a map of one of the places from the text you have just read. See how much detail you can include, and be sure to discuss your map with another reader so you can compare and add more if necessary.

Take some time and effort to ensure your map appeals to the same audience the book aims at.

All good maps should contain the following BOLTS elements.

B – Bolts

O – Orientation

L – Legend

S – Scale

Express Yourself READING TASK

Using an iPad or a digital camera, make faces of the emotions the main characters would have gone through in your book and take photos of them. 

Put them together in a document on your computer or device and explain the emotion below the image and when the character would have felt this way.

This is an excellent opportunity to use some creative direction for this task.

Be sure to play around with the images, filters and graphical styling available.

Travel Agent READING TASK

Think of yourselves as a group of travel assistants whose job is to promote a  city of your choice from the text you have been reading.

As a group, you need to develop a concept map of all the exciting things that happen in your city and then present it to the class.

Don’t forget all of the exciting things such as theatres, restaurants, sports, adventure activities, entertainment and much more…

If you are a little short on details of the location of your story, do some research if it was an actual location or just get creative and make up some locations and tourist attractions based on what you read.

You’re Hired READING TASK

Select a character from a book and consider what might be an excellent job for them. You can choose something entirely suitable such as a security guard job for Superman or a more oddball approach, such as a pastry chef.

Either way, you will have to write a letter from this character’s perspective and apply for a position.

Be sure to explain why your character would be a great employee and what special skills they would possess to make them ideal for the role. Sell your character by explaining all the great attributes they possess.

What’s the Status? READING TASK

Create a Facebook page for your character with some status updates about what they have been up to.

Include some pictures and ensure your status updates are relevant to the character and the story.

Around 3 – 4 status updates with mages should give an overall picture of the character.

Use your status updates to explore what your character does for a job, leisure time, places they might go on vacation, etc.

Bubbles and Clouds READING TASK

Using speech bubbles and pictures of the characters, draw a conversation between two characters from the story you have read.

Remember, thought is drawn as a cloud, and a spoken statement is drawn as a  bubble.

Be sure to look at some comics or graphic novels for inspiration and insights.

This activity is usually best done on pen and paper, but numerous digital apps and tools will allow you to make this a reality through technology.

Amazing Artifacts READING TASK

An artifact is an object that has some significance or meaning behind it. Sometimes, an artefact might even have a very important story behind it.  I am sure you have a favorite toy, or your parents have a particular item in the house that they would consider an important artifact.

For today’s task, you will select five artifacts from the text you have been reading and explain what makes them significant or essential.

They don’t all have to be super important to the story, but I am sure that at least a couple played a significant role.

Be sure to draw a picture of the artifact and if necessary, label it.

FREE READING ACTIVITIES RESOURCE TO DOWNLOAD

Thinking Differently READING TASK

Choose three important events from the text and explain how you would have handled them differently from the characters in the story.

Explain how it may have changed the story’s outcome in either a minor or significant way.

Be insightful here and think of the cause and effect.  Sometimes your smallest action can have a significant impact on others.

Popplet Mind Mapping Task

Popplet is a mind mapping tool that allows you to connect ideas together using images, text and drawings.

From a text, you have recently read, create a family tree or network diagram that explains the relationship the characters have with each other.

Some may be father and son, husband and wife or even arch enemies.

Try and lay it out so it is easy to follow.

You Have Three Wishes READING TASK

A genie lands at the midpoint of the story you have just read and grants the two main characters three wishes.

What do they wish for and why?

Finally, would their wishes have changed anything about the story?  How so?

Again think about the cause and effect relationship and how this may have altered the path of the book you have been reading.

A COMPLETE DIGITAL READING UNIT FOR STUDENTS

Over 30 engaging activities for students to complete BEFORE, DURING and AFTER reading ANY BOOK

• Compatible with all devices and digital platforms, including GOOGLE CLASSROOM.
• Fun, Engaging, Open-Ended INDEPENDENT tasks.
• 20+ 5-Star Ratings ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

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23 Fun and Easy Guided Reading Activity Ideas

Boost reading skills in small groups.

Guided reading is small-group instruction that supports each reader’s progress with mini-lessons, practice, and feedback. Students read books at their level and engage in activities before and after that help them build core reading skills. Read on to learn how to teach a guided reading lesson, plus see our favorite guided reading activity ideas.

What is included in a guided reading lesson?

You’ll use the same text across multiple guided reading lessons. Depending on the skills you’re teaching and the text, you may plan guided reading lessons that span a few days or a week. The point is to really get into the text and practice reading skills with your feedback and guidance.

Each guided reading lesson is broken into parts:

Mini lesson

A mini lesson that focuses on phonemic awareness, phonics, word reading, fluency, or vocabulary. You can’t hit all of those in one mini lesson, so choose a skill that students will be using in the text they’re reading right after the mini lesson.

Read the book

Students read the decodable book independently. They may whisper-read while you listen, or they may read on their own and read aloud when you ask them to. During this time, you check in with students to make sure they are able to read and understand the text.

Comprehension activities

After students have finished reading, it’s time to talk about what they read. They’ll retell, answer questions, and engage in other comprehension-based activities.

The last part of a guided reading lesson is applying the skills they learned in writing. This could mean practicing writing words from the story, or writing sentences or responses to the story.

Preparing for Guided Reading

Guided reading takes planning—lots of planning. Doing this work on the front end will make guided reading an effective, fun time in your reading block. Here are the three steps you can take to make guided reading work:

Get students into groups

Ashleigh’s Education Journey/guided reading groups via Ashleigh-educationjourney.com

Use data from your school’s universal screening and other assessments to identify which students are working on the same thing for guided reading groups. Maybe you have a group of students who are working on long vowel patterns, while another group is working on reading multi-syllabic words. The text they read will give them a chance to practice what they’re learning, so it’s important to have the right groups. ADVERTISEMENT

Choose an appropriate text

Text selection is key during guided reading. Students should be working in text that they can just reach with support since they’re spending their reading time being closely monitored. Look for decodable texts, or texts that have words that students have learned. So, a short-“a” decodable reader would have words that only have the short “a” sound—it won’t include long “a” words or other vowels.

As students get older, finding books that they’re interested in reading continues to be important, but you’ll look for books that have features you want to teach, like text features or text structure.

Set the schedule

Ashleigh’s Education Journey/guided reading schedule

Set a schedule that ensures that each student gets what they need—students who are able to read and work more independently may need a different schedule than students who struggle to work on their own and need additional help with reading. A weekly schedule lets you make sure you’re hitting all the right skills and practice.

A guided reading schedule may also include intervention or Tier 2 groups. Read more about reading intervention .

Mini-Lesson Activities

Each guided reading lesson will start with a mini-lesson. You don’t have a lot of time, so focus on one aspect of reading that students are going to apply in the book that day.

Build and Write Words

Ashleigh’s Education Journey/guided reading activity via Ashleigh-educationjourney.com

Give students practice forming words with letter tiles or cut-out letter squares. Students choose the letters they need to sound out words that they’ll read in the book. Then, with the model they’ve created, they can write the word in the next column.

Pop and Write

Mrs. Winter’s Bliss/word mapping activity via mrswintersbliss.com

In this guided reading activity, have students use a Pop-It to break a word into sounds. Then, students use a whiteboard marker to write the word. (Could you include more fun things in one activity?!) Combining the Pop-It for phonemic awareness and writing to practice encoding letter sounds is a great way to reinforce two skills at once.

CVC Word Reading

Miss Kindergarten/CVC word reading via misskindergarten.com

Use cards like these from Miss Kindergarten to practice pointing to and blending each sound in a word. Choose words that will be in the book students are reading and point out when they use the same strategy they use during the practice in their actual book reading.

Pre-Teach Vocabulary

The Science Penguin/vocabulary concept building via thesciencepenguin.com

Help students start to organize and remember new vocabulary by having them work with words. In this example from The Science Penguin , students sort new words according to parts of speech to help commit them to memory.

Sight Word Sticker Book

First Grader … at Last/sight word sticker book via Firstgraderatlast.blogspot.com

As students master sight words, have them put stickers by each word. Then, as a warm-up in guided reading, they can review the words they know and practice words they don’t. Set a day as sticker day, when they can prove that they’ve mastered a new word and add more stickers to their book.

Learn more: First Grader … at Last

Fluency Strips

Mrs. Richardson’s Class/fluency Strips via mrsrichardsonsclass.com

In this guided reading activity, have students practice reading fluency with short, manageable strips of a phrase or a sentence or two. You can also print out sentences or short paragraphs from books they’re reading so you can build repeated reading practice into guided reading.

Learn more: Mrs. Richardson’s Class

Read more: Fluency Activities

Word Family Fluency

Miss Kindergarten/word family fluency via misskindergarten.com

Another way to work in some quick fluency practice is with word family sentence strips. Give students the strips for the word family they are working on and have them practice reading through the strips. If you organize them by color like Miss Kindergarten , you can also have a rainbow-sentence option with sentences from all the different word families.

Mrs. Richardson’s Class/phonics practice example via mrsrichardsonsclass.com

Practice making words that have the same spelling pattern—for example, writing all the words that end in -igh. Choose spelling patterns students will see in the book you’re going to read so students can get maximum practice with the spelling patterns.

Read more: Phonics Activities

Preview the Text

Previewing the text, or looking at the main features, is a habit that you’ll want students to have as they read on their own. Use time during guided reading to preview each text before you read it.

Here’s how to preview a text with students:

During reading activities

Teaching With Jennifer Findley/guided reading data tracker via jenniferfindley.com

During guided reading, the most important activity is reading. The teacher’s role is to listen as students read and then give them feedback on their reading. Correct a word here. Prompt them to use a strategy there.

Take notes on how students are reading each session so you have the data to track their progress.

Get it: Free printable guided reading note taker from Jennifer Findley

After reading activities

After students have read the text, it’s time to talk comprehension. They can practice retelling, answering questions, and discussing text with their small group. Their responses will show you how they’re doing in terms of understanding questions and pulling information out of the text.

Retelling Gloves

Buzzing With Ms. B/retelling gloves via buzzingwithmsb.com

Create a retelling glove and have students refer to each of the five fingers for each part of the story they should include in a retelling. This helps students who get lost in telling you all the details. You can have them put each finger down as they tell you that part of the story.

Learn more: Buzzing With Ms. B

Comprehension Fans

Runde’s Room/Comprehension Fans via rundesroom.com

Organize questions onto strips or cards, and put a collection of these questions on a ring to create a “fan” for this guided reading activity. Then have students select a question from the fan to ask a group, or write a response.

Learn more: Runde’s Room

Check out this list of printable questions for book discussions .

Fill In the Graphic Organizer

Courtney Schermerhorn/graphic organizer via teacherspayteachers.com

A graphic organizer is a great way to help students organize information they pull from a text. As students learn how to complete graphic organizers and use text structure to understand text, provide graphic organizers with some parts filled in to model a correct response (read: full sentences) and give students a scaffold to complete the entire organizer.

Buy it: Graphic organizer at Teachers Pay Teachers

Reading Dice

A Love 4 Teaching/reading dice via alove4teaching.blogspot.com

Write open-ended literature response questions on dice. Then, students roll the dice and answer the question that lands on top.

Learn more: A Love 4 Teaching

Comprehension Jenga

Counselor Clique/Questions on a Jenga game via counselorclique.com

Counselor Clique wrote questions for post-career goals in this example, but for guided reading, write questions on Jenga blocks that apply to your students’ age and reading goals. Then, play a game of Jenga—students pull a block from the stacked tower and answer the question they get.

Summarize Together

This Reading Mama/Summarizing Activity via thisreadingmama.com

Students practice summarizing using signal words by using sticky notes and papers that have the key features of a summary: who, what, when, where, why. After students write their signal words, they create a group summary by sticking them onto the paper. Over time, students can do this activity on their own or in a small group without direct supervision.

Read more: This Reading Mama

Bloom Balls

Coffee Cups & Lesson Plans/Bloom Ball activity via coffeecupslessonplans.com

Have older students create a Bloom Ball, a 12-sided ball with space to write on each side. Students write questions they can ask about any text, or projects they can do with any text, on each side. Then, they roll the ball to see which question they answer or which project they do.

Learn more at Coffee Cups & Lesson Plans .

Buy it: Bloom Ball template at Teachers Pay Teachers

Prediction Practice

Raise the Bar Reading/making predictions activity via teacherspayteachers.com

Making predictions using information from the text is an important skill students use to maintain comprehension. Use a template, like this one from Raise the Bar Reading , to help students identify the information from the text, then use that information to make predictions.

Buy it: Making Predictions printable at Teachers Pay Teachers

Student-Led Groups

The Mountain Teacher/student-led reading groups via themountainteacher.com

As students get older and learn how to discuss text on their own, put them into groups to discuss. Having roles in the group can help some students stay on task, and ensures that everyone has something to be accountable for.

Learn more: The Mountain Teacher

Guided Writing

The last part of guided reading is writing! This is when students are able to consolidate everything they learned, put it into their own words, and maybe add some more ideas.

Letter Writing

Whimsy Workshop Teaching/letter-writing examples via whimsyworkshopteaching.com

Letter writing is a great way to have students retell and engage with text. You can have students write a letter to a character (like the example from Whimsy Workshop Teaching ). Or have students put themselves in the mind of one character and write a letter to another character in the book from that point of view. This activity is good for after students read an especially dramatic part in the story and one character has a secret or new information they can’t wait to share.

Newspaper Article

Kirsten’s Kaboodle/newspaper template via kirstenskaboodle.com

Newspaper writing is retelling for older students. This activity has students retell what happened in the day’s or week’s reading in a newspaper article format. Use a graphic organizer to make sure that students include all the relevant sections.

Buy it: Kirsten’s Kaboodle newspaper template

Pitch a Sequel

In this guided reading activity, have students write an idea for a sequel to the book or story they just read. Where would they take the characters next? What conflict would these characters get into next?

Comic Strip Retell

Mrs. RM/comic strip retelling via Pinterest

Another way to retell for older students: Use a comic strip format to show the beginning, middle, and end of a story or scene. For longer texts, you could have students build out a comic strip across multiple guided reading lessons, or have students work collaboratively to turn the entire story into a comic.

Graph Character Arc

This one will really engage students’ creativity. Students choose a type of graph (pie graph, chart, etc.) and track the character’s emotions or level of conflict in a scene or book. Label the graph with information from the story.

What are your favorite guided reading activity ideas? Share in our WeAreTeachers HELPLINE group  on Facebook.

Check it out: 49 anchor charts all about reading comprehension ..

WeAreTeachers

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Here are a bunch of free reading comprehension worksheets. These will help students master reading skills. You can print, edit, or complete these worksheets online . Try the nonfiction or short story reading worksheets to cover general reading skills. Or focus on specific reading skills like making predictions .

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325 Comments

Luke lorenc.

I’m really sorry, but “shinobi” is a Japanese word. There are some other inaccuracies in the ninja summary worksheet, too.

Thank you for all the wonderful resources anyway!

Thank you soooo much for all of these great resources! Especially valuable for my ELL students.

gdugeugeuygh

This test makes no sense.

Blanca Portillo

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Priscilla Hagan

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Since comprehension questions in our part of the world are not mcqs – they are usuallyquestions which require short answers – I usually dowload the passages and prepare my own questions, with maybe one or two mcqs from your question bank thrown in. Thus, my students cannot find answers and it makes them do the hard work of comprehending the passages.

I also underline some of the words and phrases and ask them to find words or phrases which mean the same and can replace them in the passage – that’s another important component of questions asked on reading comprehension passages in my part of the world, Ghana. Maybe those complaining about cheaters can use some of these strategies. They can also tweak the questions on this site to do away with cheating.

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Ayana Sanchez

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Keshia Cabriole

Good Morning may we use the Redwoods and Arm Races Story for our study? I would like to say that the story and questionnaire will be a big help if you allow us to use your story to our study.

Of course. Best wishes!

Sahar Zaher

Greetings from Egypt….I’ve been using this site for the past 3 years, and it never failed to impress me and my students. It’s very resourceful and I use it on daily basis. Wherever the owner of this site is, thank you from the bottom of my heart.

You are so welcome! Thank you for using my site.

Honestly, I am writing this short message from the far lower corner of Africa,all the way from Namibia. Coming across this website has just proven to me that truly good people still exist in this world,as opposed to my traditional name which means “Good people are extinct.” I am so grateful to the person who shared all this helpful and precious information. May God continue to fill your heart and life with gifts overflowing upto an eternal fold. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you!

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Your website has been very helpful. I really appreciate all the material and worksheets you have available for free. Thank you!

gabriel simon

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Abeku Adams

Whoever you are behind this resource, know that you are a good person and I am grateful for making such superb materials available to us. I am in Ghana, West Africa. You’ve made life a lot easier. Do you have a button to which those who wish to make a small number of donations can go?

This website is supported by advertisements. No need for donations! But I am very happy that you like the site and took the time to comment. Best wishes!

Malik Radwan

These comprehensions were really helpful in studying It would be great if you would add poetry comprehensions too (the ones that ask for literary elements) Really thank you.

Do you mean poems with questions like these ?

Jornalyn N. Agapito

Thank you so much for this reading material. It was great help to my students to develop love in reading.

You’re such an amazing person! Thank you for sharing these materials. They helped me a lot as an ELA middle school teacher. May God bless you!

Excellent passages

I am looking for material for a 10-12 reading comprehension class. Your materials are great, but a lower interest level from HS students. Any suggestions for upper levels?

Thanks so much for sharing these wonderful worksheets!

JHANNET VELÁSQUEZ

EXCELLENT WEBSITE!

Excellent and the really valuable resource.

Delores J. Mayes

My students has searched and found the answer keys to these readings. I wish there was a way the teacher’s could sign in for the content and keep the cheaters from having the honest kids miss out on these readings. What has our world gone to. This is so sad that my students would copy answers word for word and expect to get a 100% as well as their parents. We are growing a nation of untruth and cheaters.

Yeah, that is pretty frustrating.

It’s tough to keep the content free and open while preventing students from finding the answers.

One thing that might help is downloading the .RTF file and editing the titles of the assignments. A persistent student will still be able to find the answers, but that may make it a little harder.

Also, remember, cheaters are only cheating themselves! And the system and everyone else too, but mainly themselves! Best wishes!

Hi Ma’am Dolores. That happened to me years ago during the MDL (modular distance learning) in our country, Philippines. You know what I did, I shorten my URLs and add number 1 at the end of it. This way, they can no longer trace my resources.

Alexandra Bardon

Thank you Mr. Morton for sharing! Your material is just what we need to keep students busy during lockdown. I really appreciate it. K. Bardon

Harbani Kaur

Thank you so much for sharing so much worksheets

This is a great website! thank you very much for sharing.

PASKARAN RAMAYA

Thank you very much Mr.Morton for providing such good reading texts . You have a big heart to share the resources without expecting nothing in return. I’m a teacher and it has been a great help to me in preparing reading materials for my students. Thank you!

Nusrat Jahan

I am pleased to get such a wonderful worksheet through this website.

love your website, thanks for caring and sharing your talents in many ways. the resources are quite helpful, and the games are invigorating

You, My Friend, have a guaranteed slot in heaven for sharing all of this amazing material.

I am a middle school remedial reading teacher and finding supplemental material for our students is always a challenge. Your content will be so helpful!

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Thank you for the kind words and the blessings. I wish you, as well, the greatest possible success.

Wonderful resources for teachers and learners.Express my heartfelt Thanks.

Great website could be a bit more specific on some stories and grade 4-8 is quite a gap

Übermom Fakoya

This is such a treasure trove, especially during this period of remote learning. To also offer these gems freely is great magnanimity on your part. I am grateful; thank you ever so much!

Do more worksheets for Grades 1-5.

Lawrence Fried

Hi. I use your material alot. Question: Regarding these Reading Comp worksheets, how to you level them at “grades 2-6”? Quite a gap!

I have neglected the earlier grades for a long. I am beginning anew at this website: worksheetland.com

Please join me.

it so excellent helpful for English language learning

Mary Levtzow

Thank you for sharing and caring about each child’s potential.

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27 Fun Reading Activities To Try At Home or In The Classroom

Written by Ashley Crowe

• Fun reading activities for the classroom
• Reading activities for parents & children
• Activities to try after reading
• Other educational activities to help kids learn

Learning to read is a huge milestone in a child’s life. We all know how important a love of reading is for future learning. When children love to read, they can learn anything. 

Make sure your children keep the joy of reading alive by using fun reading activities along with traditional reading strategies .

These fun daily moments can improve reading skills and help reluctant readers find joy in the written word. We’ll be covering reading activities by grade level both for the classroom and at home, as well as some activities to improve reading comprehension after your students are reading independently. 

Though many children begin the basics of reading at home, most solidify their skills and become accomplished readers in the classroom. These activities keep early readers engaged and improving while helping reluctant readers master the basics. Here are our favorite ways to keep reading fun!

1. Find the secret word

Great for: Kindergarten to 2nd grade

Turn a reading lesson into a scavenger hunt! Give each student or pair of students a piece of text, then speak the first secret word. Once they find it, have them circle it in a specific color, or circle and number, then report back to you for word #2. 

Keep this word search up for as long as you like — we recommend choosing about 8 to 10 words for students to find. It’s one part competition, one part scavenger hunt! Choose a prize for each team to receive when they complete the activity. Or celebrate everyone reaching the end with a classroom dance party! It’s a great way to keep your kids moving and learning.

2. Read aloud as a class

Great for: All grades

Kids are never too old to hear a story read aloud. Reading aloud as a class is a great way to keep kids engrossed in a story. Since you are most familiar with the text, you can keep the flow going during the dramatic moments. Then hand it off to your students to take their turns.

Want to add a new element to your classroom read-aloud? Pass around a ball or stuffed animal to indicate the next reader. It’s a variation of popcorn reading to help minimize reading anxiety, and it gives kids the power to pass it on after spending a short time reading. 

3. Partner reading

Great for: 1st to 3rd grade

Sometimes trying to get the whole class to read together is just too much. To encourage more reading time, pair up your students for partner reading. 

During partner reading, each child will get more time to practice their skills. And being corrected privately by one friend may be better for a struggling reader’s confidence. Try to pair a confident but patient reader with those who need some extra help and watch them both learn to succeed.

4. Find the synonym

Great for: 2nd to 5th grade

Once your readers are feeling more confident, take our scavenger hunt game mentioned above and add a new twist. 

Instead of searching for the exact spoken words on your list, give students the challenge to find the word’s synonym in the text. It’s a great way to keep the game challenging for older students.

5. Word searches

For younger students, a word search is a challenging way to encourage early reading. You can do this much like our scavenger hunt-style games, but instead of saying the words aloud, provide a list. 

They can search for one word at a time, with you providing the next word to the team once the first is found. Or provide a full list from the beginning and let them work individually. Add in some color matching (marking the word in the same color as printed on the list) to keep this game fun and engaging.

6. Keyword bingo

Looking for a calmer alternative to the secret word game? Have each child work individually in a game of reading bingo. Choose a grade-level text and compile a list of words found in the passage. 

Read each word aloud, giving about 15 seconds before moving on to the next. It’s a race against your clock to find the words, or they can try to remember them while looking for the others. When they find the words, they can mark them out. Once the list is done, allow 20 more seconds to wrap up any remaining words, then pencils down and count. Whoever finds the most words, wins!

7. Decoding games

Decoding games focus on letter sounds and phonemic awareness. A favorite game for pre-readers is to say a letter and have students find an object that starts with that letter. As they bring the object back, reinforce the sound that letter makes.

Other decoding games can focus on the mechanics of reading — such as reading a word or sentence from left to right. This is a great time to utilize finger puppets, following along with a finger as you sound the words out together.

8. Thumbs up, thumbs down

Great for: Kindergarten to 5th grade

Thumbs up, thumbs down (or the higher energy variation — stand up, sit down) is a great game to keep your students engaged. 

Check reading comprehension when you ask students to give a thumbs up if a statement about a recently read story is true, or a thumbs down if it’s false. Help them grasp grammar concepts by having them stand up when you say an adjective word or sit down if you say a noun. 

It’s a fun way to keep their bodies and brains working. 

9. Discover the missing letter

When you’re teaching letter sounds, it’s fun to get creative. In this game, you’ll call your students to the front of the class by their names — minus the first letter. For example, Stacy becomes tacy and Roland becomes oland. Let the kids guess who you’re calling up, then have them decode the missing letter. 

You can do the same thing for objects, or drop middle letters for older children. Just be sure to prepare your words ahead of time to avoid any slip-ups!  

10. Guided reading ball game

Great for: 2nd to 7th grade

Grab a few beach balls from your local dollar store and get your classroom moving. Take a sharpie and write a discussion prompt on each colorful section of the ball. What is the setting? Who is the main character? What happened after…? 

Toss or roll the balls around. Students answer whichever question their thumb lands on when the ball heads their way. This is an exciting way to mix things up, practice reading comprehension and get kids thinking outside of their seats.

Not all reading happens in the classroom! Parents can play an active role in helping their children learn to read. Here are a few activities to try with your kids.

1. Reading together

Great for: All grades and ages

There’s something special about listening to a book being read out loud. It can capture your attention in a unique way. Whether your child is a baby or fully grown, it’s always a good time to read together.

Take turns reading chapters from a favorite story, or just read to your child. Enjoying good stories is a huge motivator in learning to read.  

2. Silly voices reading

Great for: Kindergarten to 4th grade

Kids love to laugh and joke, so play into this with a crazy story and silly voices. Get really high-pitched, speed it up like a chipmunk, and then pitch your voice low. 

Your kids will love seeing these stories come to life with your words, and you’ll all share a good laugh. To get them involved in the fun, ask them to do their own silly voice!

3. Dialogic reading

The word dialogic means to have a dialogue, and that’s exactly what this activity is designed to do. Instead of reading to your child while they passively listen, invite them into the story. Ask them what they think may happen next, or at the close of the book invite them to create a completely different ending. This is a great way to stretch your little storyteller’s imagination.

4. Reading outside

Kids thrive outdoors. They can run, climb, and dig in the dirt. Outside is also a great place to practice reading and letter writing. Invite your child to help you create words in a sandbox or take a stick and dig a letter into the dirt. 

Older kids can simply take their reading outside. It’s amazing how refreshing a change of setting can be. 

5. What word starts with…

Great for: Kindergarten to 1st grade

Letter sounds are an essential early reading tool. With this game, ask your child to think of words that start with “B” (or any other letter).

 Give an example, like b-b-butterfly, then think of more “B” words together. Choose your child’s favorite things to keep the game fun and exciting. Early readers especially love to talk about the letters in their names.

6. Try nonfiction

Great for: All ages

You never know what a child may love to read. Though many kids enjoy a good princess or dragon story, others will prefer non-fiction books. 

If your attempts at fiction are met with indifference, try a book about their favorite animal (sharks, dinosaurs, or lemurs are popular here), learn about space or strange weather events. Whatever your child is into, and whatever their reading level, there’s a book for them.

7. Create a “book nook”

A cozy spot dedicated to reading can add joy to the activity. Load up a corner or top bunk space with comfy pillows and blankets, make sure it has good lighting, and include some sticky notes and a dictionary. All your child needs to bring is their favorite book! Even better, snuggle in together and discover a new favorite with your child.

8. Who’s coming over?

This game can be played in a couple of different ways, and both are great for reading comprehension. First, try giving clues so your child can guess their favorite characters. These favorites can be from books or TV. You can mention physical characteristics, some of their best friends, or things that happen to them. Keep giving clues until they guess correctly.

The second way to play is to invite a favorite character over and then discuss what you’ll need for their visit. A special kind of bed, their favorite foods, or a place for their pet to stay are all things to consider. This is a fun way to create your own story around your child’s favorite characters.

9. Take turns reading

As your child begins to read you can invite them to read to you. Don’t push if they don’t want to, but as their confidence builds they’ll be excited to share their new skill with you. 

This may look like you both taking turns reading a new chapter book, or they may want to share all the creature descriptions from their favorite new computer game. No matter the topic, do your best to listen intently and congratulate them on their reading skills.  

10. What happens next?

Keep reading fun and active when you step outside the book and asking your child what happens next:

• What do they think will happen?
• What would you like to see happen? 
• What’s something funny that could happen?

Any question that gets them thinking through the story on their own is both fun and helpful for reading comprehension. 

11. Talk about the pictures

Pictures are a great way for kids to follow along with a story. When your child is beginning to read, have them look at the pictures and ask what they think is going on. As they unravel the story, point out the words they are discovering in the text. Or just let them enjoy creating their own unique version of the story based on the pictures. 

12. Try new reading apps and websites

There are some amazing reading apps for both reading instruction and digital reading libraries. If your child enjoys spending time on their tablet, give some of our favorite reading apps a try and watch them learn while they play.

After your child is reading on their own, there’s still plenty to learn. Reading isn’t effective if they’re struggling to understand the words on the page, or how they all fit together to create the story. Here are a few activities for children to practice reading comprehension.

1. Summarize the text

Once a child is done reading a text or section of a book, have them revisit the main ideas by highlighting or taking notes on the text’s biggest themes. Once students identify the main themes, ask them to break them down further and quickly summarize the story.

2. Book reports

Great for: 2nd to 12th grade

Book reports are a classic reading activity. Have the child analyze the book, highlighting the most important themes. Older children can present arguments pertaining to the story, and provide passages to support their theories. 

Keep book reports even more engaging when you invite kids to give a presentation, complete with dress-up and drama. 

3. Review the book

Ask children to rate their most recent reading. They can assign it a number of stars, but then they must also explain why. Was it too scary? Not funny? What were their favorite parts? What would they do differently?

Not only does this help students think critically about what they’ve just read, but it can also help parents and teacher identify what they might like reading next.

4. Extend the story

Great for: Kindergarten to 12th grade

“And they lived happily ever after…”

Maybe so, but what happened next? Ask your child to keep the story going. Where do they go next? Who do they meet? Favorite characters can continue adventuring when your child takes over the story. This is a great writing prompt , or just a fun dinner conversation!

5. How could it have been better?

Everyone has an opinion, so ask your child for theirs. How could this book or story have been better? Would a different ending be more fun? Or maybe they just think the main character should be named after them. 

No matter their critique, listen and discuss. Then encourage them to create their own tale.

How reading activities help kids embrace learning

Reading keeps kids learning for the rest of their lives. When a child can read, they can take more control over their education. And that’s a wonderful thing!

Fun activities are the best way to keep a child interested in the world of books. Learning to read can be a frustrating journey for some. Others may simply find it boring (especially if they’re being made to read about topics they care little about). These activities are designed to get kids moving and thinking beyond the page. Because when reading is fun, learning happens naturally.

When teaching starts to feel like a drag, or the kids are fighting their instruction, revisit this article. Mix in some fun activities and keep the learning going. Getting up, moving around, or enjoying a laugh together can help stimulate everyone’s mind. 

Looking for even more great learning activities to engage your kids? Here are some of our favorite activity posts for reading, math, and more!

• 21 Classroom Games
• 15 Geometry Activities
• 20 Exciting Math Games
• 30 Virtual School Activities
• 36 Fun Word Game for Kids
• 15 Free Multiplication Games
• 37 Quick Brain Breaks for Kids
• 27 Best Educational Games for Kids
• 25 Social-Emotional Learning Activities  

Get more ways to help kids love learning with Prodigy English , a brand-new learning adventure! Whether you're a parent or a teacher, create a free Prodigy account to access tools that help you support reading and language learning in the classroom or at home.

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Teaching Ideas and Resources

21 Reading Fluency Activities Your Students Will LOVE!

In this blog post: Are you looking to improve your students’ reading fluency? These 21 fun, hands on reading fluency activities make it easy!

Do you have students who can decode with the best of them, but when they read they. sound. like. this?

They can read and probably even understand the text, but it is slooooow and painful to listen to.

The missing piece of their puzzle is reading fluency.

Reading fluency is the ability to read with speed, accuracy, and expression.

Fluent readers are not choppy or robotic. They are able to recognize and read words automatically, which makes their reading smooth.

Why is reading fluency important?

Cognitive overload can quickly become a problem for our early readers.

If students are able to read fluently, they don’t have to dedicate as much brain space to decoding and reading each word. The words have become sight words to them because they recognize them by sight.

That means that they can now focus on the meaning of the words.

Reading fluency is important because it leads to better reading comprehension.

So how do we increase reading fluency in our students?

I’ve come up with 21 easy, hands on reading fluency activities that your students will love!

Notecard Words

This reading fluency activity couldn’t be easier. All you will need to do is write decodable words or sight words on notecards.

Pick a few cards at random and lay them out in a line. See how fast your student can read the words!

Then, have them close their eyes as you swap out one or two of the notecards.

It’s so simple, but I’ve found that the best reading fluency activities usually are!

Beat the Timer

Write letters or words on a sentence strip or place those same notecards from the previous activity in a pocket chart.

Flip over a timer and see how many letters or words your student can read before the timer runs out. Can they beat the timer?

Starting to get stale? You can spice up any of your reading fluency activities by adding in fun props!

Tape a seasonal picture to a ruler and let students use it as a pointer. For example, in March you could use a leprechaun and see how fast he can run as you read.

You could also use a sock puppet “monster” and have him pretend to follow behind and “eat” the words as students read.

Reading Fluency Drills

In a similar vein, timed reading fluency drills are a great way to improve reading fluency in your students. You can use these in the same way you use Beat the Timer, but it’s a print and go option.

Just flip over a timer and see how many words students can read before the time runs out. Can they beat their previous times?

I love to use these timed reading fluency activities to assess students for progress monitoring. They are also a great option to send home in reading fluency folders.

Paired Reading

Paired reading is a research-based strategy that has been shown to greatly improve reading fluency. And thankfully this reading fluency activity couldn’t be simpler!

Basically, during paired reading, you partner two students up to read together. This can be a more fluent student and a less fluent student, or two students who are equally as fluent reading a previously read text.

Side note: This is why I like to have students keep their small group books in book bins. We send them home every few weeks so that they don’t get too full.

They will take turns reading to each other. This can look like:

• One child reads the entire book and then the other child reads the entire book
• They take turns reading every other page
• One student reads until you say, “Switch!” Then the other partner reads

Paired reading is also something that parents can do at home to improve reading fluency. You read a page and then let your child read a page.

Driving Words

There is just something about toy cars that makes any activity more fun! You can add cars into most reading fluency activities to instantly make it new again.

For example, grab those sentence strips or notecards you made above.

Your student can drive the car under the letters or words as they read. Simple and fun!

You can also use pre-made Fluency Roads . Each road targets a different set of letters or phonics skill. Students will love driving the fluency roads and reading the letters or words!

Echo Reading

You will display a sentence or page from a book. You read the page fluently. Then, your students will echo you and try to match your phrasing and expression.

I love to use the digital version of our decodable readers for this. I can project each page on the board and point to the words as I read.

Then, my students will echo after me.

You can also do echo reading during shared reading or weekly poems. When we read the weekly poem from my Empowering Little Readers units, I read a line or two and then students echo after me.

Silly Voice Cards

Need to change up these reading fluency activities? Grab these free silly voice cards and echo reading or choral reading instantly becomes hilarious to students!

Display words or a sentence. Then, choose a silly voice card.

Students will read the words or the sentence in that silly voice.

It makes reading the same sentence over and over seem like a game, not a chore!

Don’t want to print silly voice cards? Here are some ideas you can try:

Monster voice: growl the words in a deep voice

Mouse voice: say the words in a squeaky little voice

Rockstar voice: sing the words like a rockstar

Underwater v oice: plug your noise like you’re diving underwater and then read the words

Roll and Read

Roll and read is a fun reading fluency activity that can be added into centers, as a small group warm up, or sent home.

Students will roll a die. They will go to the corresponding row and read the letters or words as fast as they can.

You can also make this a partner reading fluency activity by having them take turns rolling and reading to a friend.

Changing Up Punctuation

How we read a sentence will change depending on what punctuation is at the end. Consider these three sentences:

I did that last night.

I did that last night?

I did that last night!

The way you read each of those sentences, even in your head, was probably very different. The meaning of the sentence can also change depending on the punctuation.

This Changing Up Punctuation activity can help students learn to attend to punctuation marks as they are reading.

You will want to write sentences on sentence strips. You will also want to write punctuation marks and cut them apart.

Display a sentence and put a punctuation mark at the end. Have students read the sentence to make sense with that punctuation.

Then, you can either swap the punctuation mark or swap the sentence.

Decodable Fluency Sentences

Decodable fluency sentences are easy reading fluency activities to add as a small group warm up or just when you have extra time. Just give students a ring and let them read!

You can make Decodable sentences even more fun by adding in fun pointers or google eye rings (however, I’ve found that you don’t need to. Kids just love that they can read !)

You can also add these decodable sentences to a fluency station.

If you have a fluency station as a choice during literacy centers, students can go there and choose different fluency activities like beat the timer, roll and read, and reading sentences.

You can differentiate this center by color-coding the activities for each group – the same as how I color code during literacy centers .

Daily Read Alouds

Okay, I realize that this isn’t really an activity for your students… but having daily read alouds is one of the most important reading fluency activities you can do!

Students need to hear fluent readers so that they understand how text is supposed to sound.

The best way for you to model reading fluently is with a read aloud.

There are also many websites now that have read alouds for students, including Epic! and Storyline Online .

Sentence Pyramids

Sentence pyramids are a great way to work on reading fluency at the sentence level.

You can use pre-made sentence pyramids or make your own by simply writing them on the board!

Students will start by just reading the first word. Then, they will add on one more word at a time as they go down the pyramid.

Sentence pyramids allow your students to focus on each word one at a time, while building fluency as they go.

Work On Those Sight Words

I know there has been some debate on whether we should still spend time working on sight words or high frequency words.

To me, the answer is still YES!

High frequency words or sight words are going to show up over and over again in the texts your students are reading.

If they are able to read those words fluently, they can spend more energy on decoding and reading new words.

Your sight word fluency activities don’t have to be anything crazy. You can use the same reading fluency activities as shown above!

You can also add in sight word centers and games that’s our students can play with partners.

Whisper Phones

We want our students to be able to listen to themselves read so they can assess what sounds right and what doesn’t.

Whisper phones are a great way to do that! Students can whisper into the phone as they read.

Even though it’s a whisper, the phone magnifies the sound in their ear. That means you can have students reading all over the room, but still able to only hear themselves.

You can buy pre-made whisper phones, but you can also DIY your own .

Scooping Phrases

Scooping phrases is an easy sentence-level reading fluency activity. You can scoop phrases in isolation or in a sentence.

Sentences are usually made up of groups of words that we naturally group together as we speak. This activity helps students feel those phrases.

For this activity, you will scoop a phrase of around three words. A sentence might have multiple scoops in it.

Then, students will trace the scoop with their finger as they read that phrase. They will then move on and scoop the next phrase.

Finally, they can read the sentence all together.

Splash! Fluency Game

For this reading fluency game, you will type letters or words on the editable cards. You will cut them out and out them in a container along with the Splash! cards.

Students will take turns pulling out a card and reading it. If they can read it correctly, they get to keep it.

If a student pulls a Splash! card, they have to put all of their cards back.

You can grab the FREE editable cards here:

Do you love free stuff?

SPLASH Reading Fluency Game

This ready fluency game makes practicing reading fun!

Read the Room

This reading fluency activity is similar to write the room. Just hang up words or sentences around the room.

Students will walk the room and read! It couldn’t be easier!

If you want to assess that students are reading and comprehending, you can add in a recording sheet with a clipboard.

They will illustrate the words or sentences that they read in the boxes.

Grab the free Read the Room recording sheets here .

Building Nursery Rhymes

Nursery rhymes are often the first poems our students learn. They may even learn to “read” these nursery rhymes before they even learn letters.

Reading nursery rhymes is a great reading fluency activity, but you can extend the practice even more by having students build the nursery rhymes.

Just write each line or individual words (depending on how difficult you want to make it) on sentence strips.

Let students build the nursery rhyme – I do suggest giving them a model of the whole poem.

Then, they can read the poem to themselves, a partner, or a stuffed animal.

Fidget Popper Fluency

Have you jumped on the fidget popper train yet? Here’s yet another way you can use fidget poppers in your classroom!

Grab those notecards or sentence strips you made earlier.

As students read words, they get to pop the bubbles on the fidget popper! One pop for each word read. The faster they read the words, the faster they get to pop the bubbles.

Create Audio Books

The listening center is always a favorite for my students, so how fun would it be to create your OWN listening center audio books?

You can let students record themselves reading their familiar read books in their book box from small groups.

Then, they can play it back and listen to themselves read the story! They can easily assess how fluent they are, and it’s a big motivator.

If you use any apps in your classroom like Seesaw, they can make recording and storing these recordings easy.

Reading Fluency Centers

Giving your students time to work with decodable words and sentences during your literacy centers time can help cement those skills.

You do want to be careful that you are only giving your students centers that practice skills they’ve already learned. For example, this decodable sentence building center :

I would only choose sentences with words I know my students can decode.

Since they can decode the words, I know activity will give them practice reading the words and sentences fluently and with comprehension.

Read, Read, READ!

I know this one might seem kind of lame but… read, read, READ! Give your students time to practice reading ORALLY every single day.

Why orally? Well, if your students are reading in their heads, they can’t tell if they’re reading fluently or not and neither can you.

This can look like:

• Reading in small groups
• Having a set independent reading time with whisper phones
• Partner reading time
• Reading during centers
• Shared reading
• Reading at home

If you’re working on fluency, you will want to make sure that they are reading books or texts that are decodable to them. Previously read texts are the best.

I recommend keeping individual book boxes, bags, or folders that students can choose from during this time.

To Sum It Up

Reading fluency is so important because it’s a necessary step towards reading comprehension. Thankfully, there are many easy, hands on reading fluency activities you can use to improve reading fluency!

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Reader Interactions

February 25, 2022 at 3:19 pm

This was amazingly helpful. Some ideas I use already, however the range of simple, effective activities that engage students and develop skills is incredible. Thank you so much!

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Teaching tips, 35 fun literacy activities to help kids with reading.

Did you know that children who are  read to  at least three times a week are almost  twice as likely  to score in the top 25% in reading compared to children who are read to less often? Reading to children is just one way to help boost their early literacy skills and the best news is, it’s easy and enjoyable for children and adults alike!

In addition to reading aloud, there are many simple literacy ideas that you can do at home or in the classroom to help boost children’s early literacy skills. It really doesn’t have to be too difficult, and I’m here to help!

Let’s check out 35 fun literacy activities for kids!

What Exactly are Early Literacy Skills?

Early literacy skills in young children are the fundamental skills they need in order to start reading and writing.

Early literacy skills include:

✩ phonological awareness

✩ print awareness

✩ letter recognition

✩ vocabulary skills

✩ comprehension

✩ listening skills

✩ fine motor skills

✩ narrative skills

✩ early writing skills

Let’s even throw in language skills! 

I know what you might be thinking…

… this list of basic literacy skills is LONG!

Parents, caregivers and teachers can all help early childhood ages with these skills by providing a print-rich environment, engaging in conversations, reading regularly and offering activities that promote phonological awareness.

But don’t worry! I’ve got some super simple and fun ideas below that will take no time and barely any supplies to start implementing TODAY! Keep reading to see my top recommendations and grab some freebies!

Phonological Awareness Activities for Kindergarten

What is phonological awareness exactly?

Phonological awareness  means being able to recognize and manipulate sounds in spoken language. The sounds that make up a word are also called  phonemes . There are actually 44 phonemes in the english language! It involves skills such as understanding rhyming, blending, segmenting and understanding the different sounds in a word.

There are many different ways to work on phonological awareness skills in kindergarten. Let’s look at some fun activities below to use with children to help improve their literacy skills !

1. Syllable Scoops (FREE ACTIVITY!)

This fun little game from my Printable Literacy Games Pack is for 2-4 players. Each player will need ten small objects such as mini erasers or pom-pom balls for their “ice cream.” Students will draw a card, count the syllables, and cover up an ice cream cone with that number.

Other than that, just print, cut, and you’re ready to play and have fun! This game works great for small groups and partner work.

You can download the Syllable Scoops game for free! Just add your info below and it will be sent straight to your inbox.

2. Read Picture Books

As I stated above, reading books to kids sets up a strong foundation for making them both better readers and writers. They’ll associate reading with feelings of positivity and enjoyment!

Set aside a read aloud time in your classroom; I always liked to do this right after lunch time. If you are a parent and looking for literacy ideas at home, read your child’s favorite story to them at bedtime or right when they wake up. Talk about simple words in the story to help them with vocabulary development. 

For example, if there is a tow truck in the story, point to it and label it for your child: “Ooh-I see a tow truck. I wonder where it’s going?”

If you need a place to get started, check out my favorite alphabet books for kindergarten !

3. Sing Nursery Rhymes

Nursery rhymes are another great way to easily sneak in a literacy activity in your day. Babies all the way up to kindergartners (and sometimes older) love nursery rhymes!

I bet you don’t even realize how many different literacy skills you can hit with singing nursery rhymes!

They help kids to understand rhyming skills, how to sequence a story because they usually have a beginning, middle and end, plus they also help with recall and memorization!

4. Street Signs & Environmental Print

Environmental print is all the words and signs that you see around you every day – like stop signs, store names and logos.

Think about the golden arches-kids know by a pretty young age that that is the sign for McDonalds. They may also recognize the environmental print for places like Wal-Mart, Target and Chick-fila. They are going to know the environmental print of the places they frequent the most often.

Make sure you are naming places as you drive by or even when in a building, simply point out the restroom or exit signs. These are all ways to practice reading and vocabulary words!

5. Magnetic Letters

Magnetic letters are tons of fun! Chances are you already have some in your classroom, too. You can use them with magnetic cookie sheets to let students explore the letters, or use them in a more scaffolded activity.

For example these  Letter Magnet Cards  are a staple in my literacy centers at the beginning of the school year. Just print, laminate, cut, and watch the engagement unfold!

Another fun way to use magnetic letters is with these sorting mats ! Mix together a bunch of magnetic letters and have students sort them. (Tip: I also use letters from games, mini erasers, and letter tiles to this activity!) This works great for letter of the week; just use the sorting mat for the letter you’re focusing on and add it to centers!

6. Introduce New Sight Words/ High Frequency Words

In preschool and kindergarten, young children start to be exposed to sight words to strengthen their reading skills. These may also be referred to as high-frequency words . These are simply words that are seen frequently in text. Words like: “is, the, saw, little, not” (just to name a few).

You don’t have to make sight word practice boring:

You can practice in a playful way such as writing them in chalk, rainbow writing or building with magnetic letters.

You could also try to  create sight word mini books  or have students  read and sort their sight words.

Plus, when you read books aloud to students, you can always point out the high frequency sight words while you are reading!

Recognizing rhyming words is a  basic level of phonological awareness. Most of the time, learning how to rhyme just takes a lot of practice and exposure! Games and songs are such an easy way to give students practice identifying and producing rhymes.

For example, this is the Rhyming Robot game from my Printable Literacy Games Pack . To start the game, students place a mini eraser on all the pictures. Then on their turn, the student removes one, two, or three erasers and produces a rhyme for the picture under the erasers they took. It’s easy to learn, hands on, and guaranteed

8. Practice Alphabet Letters at Bath Time

If you are a parent reading this, you know how fun bath time can be. Kids are silly, they usually have a ton of things to talk about and they want to play.

Bath time can actually be the perfect time to help children work on early literacy skills.

Use foam alphabet letters like these to practice naming letters and sounds, finding the letters in their name, or putting the letters in order. You could also grab these lowercase foam letters to help them distinguish the difference between lowercase letters and uppercase letters. So many opportunities here!

9. Make Letter Shapes Out of Play Dough

Most children love play dough ! Adults love it, too – it’s inexpensive and you can even make it yourself !

Why not take something that they are interested in already and incorporate a little learning? 

Making letter shapes out of play dough is such fun way to work on fine motor skills, too!

10. Word Games

For this idea, you can really be creative with it and differentiate it to fit your classroom needs.

There are many types of word games you can play with kids to help their phonics skills:

• Sight Word Bingo
• Word Wall Relay: Students race to the word word wall and tap on the word the teacher calls out first.
• Sight Word Pictionary
• Sight Word Simon Says: Simon says touch the word “the” (have the sight word cards spread out around the room)

11. Go on a Scavenger Hunt

Going on a scavenger around the school is yet another neat idea for a literacy activity. Simply make the clues all having to do with phonics.

Check out some ideas for clues:

• Find an object that starts with the letter B.
• Find something that rhymes with bat.
• Locate a book that has the word  is  in the title.

12. Literacy File Folder Games

Having some simple file folder games to pull for independent work or small group time is another really simple way to help younger children with phonological and early literacy skills.

I used these  Literacy File Folder Games  because they aligned with Common Core standards and there are 24 different games to choose from.

They range from upper and lowercase matching to beginning sounds, ending sounds and CVC words. This makes them perfect for differentiating within groups in your class!

13. Write Letters in Sand

Any type of activity with sand is an automatic hit for most kids that I know! All you need is:

• A sturdy container, a plastic tray , or you can get really fancy with a sand tray like this
• Sand (I like to get multiple colors to change out throughout the year; for example, I use orange around Halloween time)
• Letter cards ( here’s one option )
• Optional: Some kids don’t like the feeling of sand, so I include a pencil (they can use the eraser end) or witch fingers

14. Everyday Activities

When you think about it, there are actually ways that we can practice literacy skills in everyday activities.

When a child is involved in pretend play, there are so many different ways that you can sneak in learning about phonological awareness:

Make him or her the chef of the kitchen and have them create a restaurant menu.

Write letters to friends and have your child deliver them as the mailman.

Play school and they can be the teacher.

When you take your child to places like the grocery store, look for letters and sight words within the store and on the products. Talk about the letters that the fruits and vegetables you are picking up begin with.

Take the child’s lead and go with their interests on this. It will make it more fun for them and they will want to continue playing longer and be more engaged.

15. Alphabet Songs

Singing alphabet songs are some of the main building blocks of literacy. The more your child is exposed to the alphabet, the better they will know it!

Try having the Alexa play the alphabet song while you are making dinner, sing it during bath time or sing it while you brush your teeth!

16. Labeling Everyday Objects

Labeling everyday objects is another great way to work on literacy development. This is especially important for really young kids like babies and toddlers. It’s important to constantly talk about what we are doing so that kids can help interpret what the meaning of a word is.

For example, if you are mopping the kitchen floor-say that out loud. I’m mopping the kitchen floor because it’s dirty. 

17. Alphabet Puzzles

Alphabet puzzles are another simple activity for kids during anytime of the day. Letter recognition skills become of utmost importance by the time kids enter kindergarten so they have the right tools for reading.

This set is just one of many good options out there!

18. Letters of the Alphabet Treasure Hunt

Print out letter cards. I like to use this gold coin themed set from my Alphabet Fine Motor Pack.

Hide the letters around the school or classroom in advance. (This is a great after-lunch activity!) 

Explain to the class that they are going on an alphabet treasure hunt, and their mission is to find all the letters of the alphabet. They MUST work together to find all 26 letters!

Begin the hunt by providing the child with the first letter. You can hand it to them or give them a clue that leads to the location of the first letter. If you don’t want to give clues for this, you actually don’t have to. They know they are done when they have all 26 letters and that is the beauty of it – if you need a fun activity in a pinch, this could be it!

Once they work together to find all 26 letters, put the letters in order, practice the sounds of each and give them a prize! (a small eraser or sticker will do! Keep it simple!)

19. Tell a Short Story

A new activity to try is having your child or student tell short simple stories.

Encourage them to tell the family stories at home or do this as a class at school. Try to guide them to have a beginning, middle and end.

They don’t need to write the story down-they can just verbally tell you. They could also draw a picture for their story and then tell you about it.

20. Name Activities 

One of the most important life skills is for young kids to know their name, be able to spell their name and identify which letters are in their name.

Have students rainbow trace their name, outline each letter with stickers or spell their name with magnets to mix it up a bit.

21. Use Alphabet Beads

Do you already own plastic alphabet beads? There are some letter-shaped ones out there, but any beads with letters will work for this activity. Plus, it incorporates fine motor work so it’s obviously one of my favorites!

Simply print any sort of alphabet cards ( like these ). I like to laminate them for durability. Tape half of a pipe cleaner on back so it sticks off the side of the card as shown. Provide students with alphabet beads and let them sort the beads by threading them on the pipe cleaner!

TIP: Starting with all 26 letters is probably too much for preschool or early kindergarten, but it’s up to you! It takes more planning, but I like to sort out and use only the first few letters we do for letter of the week.

22. Letter Hopscotch

This one is just like it sounds-your classic hopscotch games with letters on the board. For students that need the challenge, try putting sight words on the hopscotch board instead.

23. Use Clothespin Clipping Activities

Here’s yet another way to incorporate building fine motor strength with early literacy! You can use any type of clothespins that you have. I like the plastic ones because they’re colorful and there’s no risk for slivers.

Clothespin clip cards can cover virtually every early literacy skill you could think of. Here’s just one example:

24. Write Letters in Shaving Cream

Does anyone else remember doing this when they were in kindergarten? It’s the perfect activity because it’s hands on and exciting, plus you’ll have sparkly clean tables and desks when you’re done!

Here are a few ways to make shaving cream letter writing work in your classroom:

• Have students write their name in shaving cream (have them look at their name tag for reference)
• Have students write letters they know
• Call out a letter and have students write it
• Call out a letter sound and have students write the corresponding letter
• Call out CVC words and have students write them

25. Dab-it Alphabet Pages

Kindergartners love bingo daubers ! They are perfect for keeping little hands busy, engaged and are even great for working on fine motor skills.

Students can use the bingo daubers to practice letter formation. You can print large letters or you could also use the dab-it pages from my Alphabet Fine Motor Pack . Another favorite activity is my “ spot and dot ” letter identification printables. They’re perfect for whole group activities, small group practice, and centers.

26.  Letter-Sound Coloring Pages

If you are looking for a quick and east no-prep literacy activity, simply print these 26 letter-sound coloring pages and watch the magic happen! Students will color the pictures on that page that begin with that letter. Kids stay really engaged and focused during this since their hands and minds are busy.

They work really great for morning work or literacy centers also!

27. Story Sequencing Cards

Sequencing short stories and events is a skill all kids need help with. You can print out pictures yourself or buy some sequencing cards for your home or classroom.

28. Play “I Spy”

Playing I Spy is honestly just a great game to help with vocabulary and comprehension. You can play this as a class or in the car with your child! That is the best part of I Spy- you don’t need anything at all to play!

29. Fingerprint Letters

This fine motor activity idea is from  Happy Toddler Playtime.

You’ll need a washable ink pad, paper and a marker. Start by writing large letters spread out on the paper. Then instruct your child to dip their finger on the ink pad and make fingerprints along each letter. This is a great way for little ones to start recognizing letter shapes even if they can’t quite trace with a pencil.

30. Play Memory Games

Memory is a classic game that can also be applied to many early literacy skills. From simple letter matching to reading CVC words, memory is easy to learn and simple enough for kindergarteners. I have several memory games in my Printable Literacy Games pack , so there’s no need to go reinvent the wheel!

31. Make Alphabet Mini Books

Mini books are something I absolutely love using in the classroom. They usually practice a variety of skills, and the book format adds a fun component. Students love taking their mini books home!

If you’d like to try a mini book, you can try my Letter A Mini Book for free! Just sign up below and I’ll send you my Letter A Activity Pack, which includes the letter A mini book shown above.

32. Create a Word Chain

This is a fun idea when you have about a 20 minute minimum block of time.

• Start by writing a simple word on the whiteboard or paper (e.g., “cat”).
• Explain to the students that you’re going to create a chain of words, where each word starts with the last letter of the previous word.
• Ask the first student to come up and say a word that starts with the last letter of the word you wrote (e.g., “cat” ends with “t,” so the next word could be “turtle”).
• Write down the new word.
• Continue the chain, with each student adding a new word to the list.
• If a student can’t think of a word, you can provide a hint or allow the next student to take their turn.
• Keep the chain going until everyone has had a turn or until you reach a designated stopping point.

33. Word Family Books

This is a set of five word family books . Students will cut out CVC words and pictures and sort them onto the correct word family page. You can have students work on one word family at a time, or they can work on two or more.

34. CVC Word Games for Early Readers

Games like these are really versatile and work for small groups and partner work. You only need to print them and throw in some small objects. Check out some different options below:

Short A CVC Word Games

Short E CVC Word Games

Short I CVC Word Games

Short O CVC Word Games

ShortU CVC Word Games

35. Try a Kindergarten Literacy Night at Your School!

Have students invite a family member to come up to literacy night with them to create  eight Make & Take Literacy Activities !

What are your favorite literacy activities for kids?

No matter which ideas you use, we know that it’s easy to have fun while teaching kids about letters and boosting their phonological awareness. I hope these literacy activities help inspire you and make teaching even easier!

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