23 Fun Reading Games for Kids
by Melissa Taylor
It’s no secret that kids love to play. So a fun way to improve reading skills is by playing reading games. And many of these games are free!
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Free Reading Games
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Yes & No Phonics and Word Game
Turn word lists into a “yes” or “no” game with questions such as: “Does the word begin with the letter ____?” “Does the word end in a vowel?” and “Does the word have a long ‘a’ sound?”
(Ages 4+)
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Say and Stomp
Write letters on the top of styrofoam cups. Say the letter sound and stomp the cup.
(Ages 4+)
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Memory Match
Make your own game of Memory with pairs of sight words or short phrases written on index cards.
(Ages 5+)
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Sight Word Bingo
Bingo games give kids a fun way to practice reading a variety of words, from easy to difficult.
(Ages 5+)
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Rhyming Bingo
Call out a word and have kids search their photo-illustrated game cards for the word that rhymes.
(Ages 4+)
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Go Fish (Ages 5+)
Make your own Go Fish game using sight words or vocabulary words. Create pairs or groups of four.
(Ages 5+)
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Silly Voices Reading
Belinda Kinney shares sixteen reading voice ideas. Her original idea is to use the reading voices for reading words, but I think it would be fun to read entire stories or parts of stories in these silly voices, don’t you?
(Ages 5+)
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Vowel Sounds Marble Game
Put a marble underneath one of three cups. Each cup should have a single vowel written on it. Take turns hiding the marble and mixing up the cups. The child guesses where the marble is located and says the vowel sound.
(Ages 5+)
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Connect Four Words
Use word stickers on your Connect Four game pieces. Pick one of the word stickers, read the sight word correctly, then put the word piece into the game. Four in a row wins.
(Ages 6+)
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Word Towers
Add labels with words written on them to Duplo blocks. Build sentences and stories. Then, read what you’ve created.
(Ages 6+)
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Reading Games To Buy
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Say And Stack Sight Words
Players must read the words on the card in the center, scan their own cards for a sight-word match, say the matching word, and put their card on the stackall before someone else beats them to it.
(Ages 5+)
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Zingo!
Match pictures to the correct words to fill your Zingo (like Bingo) board. The first player with a full card wins.
(Ages 5+)
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Squishyland
Draw a card and complete the challenge to move your squishy on the board. Be the first to reach Crystal Castle to win.
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Sight Word Swat!
Players use their swatters to swat the fly of the sight word that’s called out. Collect the most flies and win.
(Ages 4+)
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CVC Words Giant Activity Dice
Color-coded dice help kids make consonant-vowel-consonant words. Make up your own game and rules.
(Ages 5+)
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Fishing for Sight Words
Use the magnetic fishing pole to “catch” the fish with a common sight word printed on it. Give them a word to catch or flip the fish and have kids read what they catch.
(Ages 4+)
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Go 4 It! Word Families
The goal of this Go Fish game is to collect words in word families, such as the “–ake” family of words.
(Ages 5+)
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The Fidget Game Word Pop
Choose a fidget mat and pick a card with a CVC word. Find the letters on the mat and read them as you pop the bubbles.
(Ages 4+)
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Mrs Wordsmith Phonics Blah Blah Blah Card Game
Players must match a letter or group of letters from one of their cards to the card on the top of the discard pile. Draw a new card if no cards match or say “blah blah blah” if you only one card left.
(Ages 5+)
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Kangaroo Cravings 300 Sight Word Board Game
Hop along the path to a delicious pizza, picking up sight word cards with multi-sensory dancing, singing, acting and drawing tasks along the way.
(Ages 4+)
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Jet-Boat Harbor: Short Vowels Game
Draw tiles with short vowels, then use them to complete simple words on the game cards. The first player to build all of the words on his card wins the game.
(Ages 6+)
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Pirate Island: Reading for Details Game
Race around the board by reading short passages and answering the detail questions correctly. The first one to the treasure chest wins.
(Ages 7+)
Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in 2015 and updated in 2025.