Editable Sight Word Games for Kindergarten

Published: March 1, 2023
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Games are a great way to review sight words! These fun sight word activities for kindergarten students are editable and provide hands-on practice to help build sight word fluency and mastery.

Sight Word Games for Kindergarten

One of the best ways to practice old and new sight words is with fun sight word games. Before we dive into those games, I do want to quickly talk to you about the difference between high-frequency words and sight words.

What are Sight Words?

Sight words are such an important element of kindergarten literacy development. They are thought of as the building blocks for reading and writing. Sight words are words that your students can effortlessly read on sight. Knowing common sight words with help your young readers become fluent readers. There are different ways to practice and review sight words and you will undoubtedly, use a variety of resources to keep your students engaged in sight word practice throughout the school year.

What are High-Frequency Words?

High frequency words are words that are commonly seen in print. They CAN be decodable OR they can be irregular words. Our goal is to turn those most commonly occurring words known as high-frequency words into sight words for your students. So no matter if they are decodable or not, your little learners will know several words on sight that will increase their reading fluency and beyond!

We provide reading instruction and practice so our young learners recognize those high-frequency words instantly on sight!

Teaching Sight Words in Kindergarten

The Science of Reading research stresses the importance of kindergarteners recognizing sight words in order to grow their reading skills. SOR tells us that kindergarteners should be able to easily recognize sight words and be able to use them in writing activities too. As kindergarten teachers, we must also make sure that our students are exposed to a variety of texts so they can become more familiar with sight words. Through this type of exposure, our little learners will be better able to build up their overall reading proficiency.

Research also strongly suggests that we should teach high frequency words in concert with phonics instruction. Students, with teacher guidance, will use their knowledge of phonics to map these new words.

I go into a TON of detail about teaching sight words and the word list that I think is great to use for kindergartners, first graders, and in second grade. (Hint! It’s a list from Dr. Wiley Blevins and a combination of both Fry words and the Dolch list.) You can read that blog post by clicking the link below:

Turning Kindergarten High-Frequency Words into Sight Words

Why Should We Use Sight Word Games in Kindergarten?

Once students have learned how to map high-frequency words, they then need to practice those words so they become sight words. Research suggests that some students will need 7-8 interactions with a word to master it, while others might need 25-50 interactions. Having engaging new sight word centers and games as students are building sight word mastery is vitally important in the kindergarten classroom.

These sets of sight word games, and games in general, are a fun way to help our kindergarten students develop important skills such as problem-solving, fine motor skills, and social skills. With sight word games, kindergarten students can grow their individual reading skills in a fun and engaging way and learn cooperative learning skills too.

Editable Sight Word Games

Alright kindergarten teachers (and first grade, too!), let’s make learning fun with these hands-on sight word activities! Also, just so you know… each one of these great games is editable! Woo!! I love when you can add your own sight words for students to practice.

Just Roll With It!

The pocket dice we use for this game are pretty much amazing! If you don’t have a set, click here to check them out on Amazon. They are a GAME-CHANGER and make practicing a list of sight words SO MUCH BETTER!

This fun game is seasonal and there is a different theme each month to keep up the engagement.

In this simple game, students roll the pocket dice and write the correct sight word on their response sheet.

You can find this resource here:

Just Roll With It Math and Literacy Pocket Dice Centers – 126 Activities!

Sequence Sight Word Printables

This game is great for building fine motor skills in those little hands! Daubers are another exciting tool for your kindergarten friends.

You can use the pocket dice again for this game or print out the provided spinner. Once again, this is an editable game so simply type in and print the sight word cards your students need extra practice with. This game is great for 2 students, each using a different color dauber. The objective is to get 4 in a row. So simple, yet so much fun!

Click the link below to see the Sequence bundle for students to practice letters and sight words:

Sequence Printable Pack for Letters and Sight Words

Roll, Say, Keep

If you are looking for just a game to practice word recognition without a student response sheet, this is a great option. The Roll, Say, Keep games are a fun activity to add to early finisher buckets or morning work tubs. You could also utilize this game during your small groups as a warm-up activity.

Students place 6 cards on the game board. A student rolls a die and reads the word in that space on the game board. If they get it correct, they collect the word card.

This garden-themed gnome game is too cute and perfect for Spring and Summer! Check it out here:

Roll, Say, Keep Gnome Home

Check out the Roll, Say, Keep bundle here:

Editable Sight Words and ABC Center Games Bundle

Sight Word Editable Worksheets

This printable activity is great for saving ink. There are multiple themes so your students can practice writing sight words throughout the school year.

Your students will love the seasonal roll and write printables! You can find the bundle here:

Roll and Write Editable Worksheets | Seasons

Sight Word Bingo

A classic game turned more engaging! Students find and color the sight words on the thematic picture. This sight word game is perfect for practicing those kindergarten sight words in small-group.

You can find the bundle that includes an editable sight word activity each month, by clicking here:

Bingo Games to Practice Sight Words and Phonics Skills

Kindergarten students reap countless benefits from learning sight words through Science of Reading (SOR) research-based lessons. Remember, sight words are so important because they help our students to recognize, read, and understand the text quickly — without having to sound out each individual letter. This is integral in improving fluency, which then improves comprehension!

SOR methods are an effective way for young readers to develop language structure, spelling patterns, and word recognition — all of which help them become confident and successful readers. When SOR lessons are incorporated into our reading instruction, kindergarteners can develop a strong base of literacy skills that will serve as building blocks of lifelong success in reading.

I hope you and your students enjoy these awesome sight word activities!

Be sure to check out the blog post linked below with more ideas about games and activities for your literacy centers!