Fun and Learn – Rhyming Word Activities for Kindergarten

Incorporating rhyming words for kindergarten students through games is the best way of having fun while teaching. Rhyming is a critical literature lesson and creating games to teach them to kindergarteners is a perfect way to gain optimal engagement.

After learning phonics with the Jolly phonics method and gaining confidence in letter and sound recognition, developing kids’ phonemic awareness and rhyming is critical. Fluency in rhyming is achievable with practical hands-on learning. Games are one of the best ways to master this skill.

However, before diving into the list of activities, let’s know why teaching rhyming words to kindergarteners is essential.

A] Significance of teaching rhyming words

Rhyming words end with a similar or exact sound (for instance, cat-rat-hat-mat). These skills are critical for kids to enhance their phonemic awareness. Phonemic awareness refers to the sounds that letters make.

Since every rhyming word doesn’t end with the exact spelling, recognising rhyming sounds is essential. After gaining a robust understanding of the letter names and sounds, the next step is to move towards rhyming words.

Rhyming words boost decoding skills and fluency. The reason lies in their ability to segment words into sounds and hear word patterns. Games and fun rhyming word activities keep toddlers from getting distracted. Therefore, combining them with rhyme recognition offers an excellent instruction method, targeting this skill.

B] 12 rhyming word kindergarten activities

Offering a variety of fun and upbeat activities keeps young toddlers engaged and interested in the lesson. Therefore, as a Jolly Phonics teacher adding as many hands-on learning opportunities as possible is helpful.  The following points describe some lively and stimulating rhyming words game for students:

1. Developing rhyming word ladders

Rhyming word ladders are amongst the best activity for kindergarteners. Participants can either form and compete in small groups, go to literacy centres, or play as a whole class. It is fun to play on the teacher’s whiteboard. Let us understand the game process:

• Begin with writing a word at the whiteboard’s bottom.
• Then, call in students one-by-one to write a rhyming word above it.
• Keep going until all the students get their turn and the ladder is complete.

This activity helps teach phoneme substitutions in rhyming. It involves allowing them to change the beginning sound for a new rhyming word. This task will help them understand that even if the endings are the same, the beginning sounds can change.

2. Reading aloud

Another fun and engaging activity involves encouraging kids to read aloud. Here, teachers can kill two birds with one sword:

• One, they can inculcate reading habits among kids.
• Secondly, they can learn rhyming skills, generation, and recognition.

Students can learn segments in words by reading various rhyming format books, poems, nursery rhymes for kindergarten, etc. Teachers can help their imagination by stressing and pausing on the rhyming words. It will allow kids to predict and produce such words. Moreover, teachers can assess whether the students are paying attention.

3. Matching up rhyming words

One of the basic rhyming word activities for kindergarten is the rhyming matchup. This activity requires a few props, including a picture or word cards. In case you don’t have image cards, you can draw them on a notepad and save them for the future.

You can play this game in the following different ways:

• • Matching rhyming pictures

In this activity, teachers can ask kids to match pictures if they rhyme. It can lead to pairs or a whole stack of rhyming pictures for each toddler.

• Choosing a rhyming picture and word card

Selecting a picture with a matching word card that rhymes, this helps decode CVC words. Working on phonics and phonemic awareness skills is an advanced level option.

4. Creating a rhyme book

If you need an activity to keep the kids engaged and learning simultaneously, rhyming books are the ideal choice. It involves instructing kids the following:

• Give them a book/ scrapbook/ notebook for this activity.
• Ask them to draw rhyming objects, cut rhyming pictures from magazines and newspapers and paste them into the books.

It is a hands-on learning experience, allowing kids to learn easy rhyming words for kindergarten.

5. Differentiating rhyming from non-rhyming words

Credit: Angela Lara

You can introduce this game with a fun name like, “One of these is not like the other,” to arouse children’s interest. It is a simple yet interactive rhyming words  activities for kindergarteners to enjoy. Its process involves:

• Prepare some sets of illustrated word family cards.
• Give each kid three cards. Out of the three cards, two will be from the same rhyming word family and one non-rhyming different family card.
• Instruct the children to say the non-rhyming word and keep it aside.

In addition, the following can happen:

• After identifying the non-matching card, ask the kids to pick and find its pair in the class.
• The students matching correctly will win.

6. Using rhyming mats

Rhyming mats are the perfect hands-on rhyming game for kindergarten. The mats must include the following sets: CVC words, CVCe words, short vowel words, and long vowel words. The playing procedure is as follows:

• Students will see the mat.
• They will state the name of the picture.
• Correspondingly, they will cover it with a rhyming picture card.
• Next, they can record the rhyming words in their notebook. It will help them practice the word, sounds, and spellings.

7. Playing with the sticky notes

Out of the fun rhyming activitiesbasket, the sticky notes game appears next. It is a super easy-to-prepare game, needing a whiteboard and sticky notes as props. The following procedure states the game:

• Make five columns on the whiteboard with different vowel sounds for each. This point is flexible, and you can put as many rhyming families and columns as you like.
• You can add visual aids by drawing a picture for your students if needed.
• Further, you should write words rhyming with those on the sticky note. There can be many or few; it depends on the size of the group activity.
• Then, either pass the sticky notes to the students or have them pick one out of the pile.
• The last step involves inviting them to the whiteboard and having to stick the notes in the correct column.

The rhyming must match accurately with the word on the board or paper.

8. Building a rhyme

A super-versatile and fun game of rhyming words for preschool toddlers is building a rhyme. Magnetic letters or others are the props you need to play this activity. The different ways of undertaking this game are as follows:

• Display a picture and ask students to form a word rhyming with it.
• Give students a word and let them think of its rhyming word.
• Allow the students to create two rhyming words.
• Allot students a word family and ask them to build as many rhymes as possible. It can form a fun group task.
• Ask them to build rhyming words heard in the read-aloud.

9. Rhyme the surrounding

If you want a rhyming words game that requires active student participation, play rhyme the room with them.  The game begins with the teacher hiding illustrated rhyming cards around the room.

Students receive a recording sheet with matching pictures of hidden illustrations and a pencil. They move around the room, finding clues. Once found, they write the rhyming word with the associated image on the sheet.

10. Forming a rhyming circle

An easy and fun rhyming for kindergarten activity that requires no props is – passing the rhyme. Here, students form a circle to sit in. Then, one person says a word out loud. The following person comes with its rhyming option.

This cycle continues until all students have had their turn. It is an excellent activity that offers ample opportunities to learn new rhyming words. Students practice their listening skills for the same ending sounds and get exposed to new words to add to their vocabulary.

11. I Spy rhyming edition

A classical favourite rhyming activity, I spy rhyming edition is a must to play. It involves:

• Instruct a child to say the rhyming word of anything in the room. For instance, if a child chooses a ball, they can say, “I spy with my little eye, a phone call.”
• Other students will have to use their brains to guess the rhyming word intended and the matching object in the surroundings.
• You must maintain a little flexibility by allowing students to make up nonsense words.

12. Rhyming jump game

The rhyming jump game activates a child’s brain and strengthens their neural pathways. It involves the following:

• Lay out cards with rhyming words from the same family in a line on the floor.
• Within them, add a few non-matching words from other families.
• The students must jump on words and pictures of the same rhyming family.
• However, they must jump over the ones that don’t belong in the community.

This way, you incorporate movement and brain in active engagement.

Further reading: Phonic activities and games for early readers

Conclusion

These rhyming word activities for kindergarteners make the learning process for kids fun. You can incorporate these lessons anytime and fasten the skills growth in toddlers. Contact us for more information on phonic classes for kids.

Hema Dave

Stemming from the aspiration to nurture and inspire young minds, Hema started her professional journey into education 20+ years ago. She founded 'Phonic Smart' as a trained educationist, an institute committed to equipping children with phonics skills and helping parents and teachers implement them effectively. Her diverse skill sets, encompassing teaching, teacher training, and coaching allow her to contribute valuable insights to the education industry.