Fun Activities For Teaching Sight Words

The process of learning sight words can be difficult for some students.  Sometimes, these tricky words don't follow the rules students are learning. All great teachers know repetition and practice help these words make their way into your student's long-term memory. While we should be making sure our students have lots of exposure to these sight words, it doesn't have to be drill and kill all the time. With fun and engaging games and activities, you will be able to provide the practice and repetition needed in a way your students will look forward to. My students always get excited about our sight word games and activities, and I am so excited to share some of my favorite with you! 

Engage Students With Variety

If you have been a teacher for more than 5 minutes, you know that each of your students learns in a different way. Some students learn better when they use songs, some learn best when creating art relating to the skill or concept, and some learn best when interacting with their peers. Using a variety of different activities for practice will help each of your students retain the information and show growth throughout the school year. 

To get started with this, try to intentionally choose different sight word practice activities that will benefit different learning styles. Some activities will be best for visual learners and others will be to help your hands-on learners, but the whole class can still enjoy each one. 

When I'm planning out sight word practice I always look for activities that reinforce the sight words but in fun and different ways. I make sure that we have activities that help with reading sight words and spelling sight words so that students get practice with both skills. Building in variety will help to keep your students engaged and looking forward to the different activities. 

Ready to see the specifics? Here are some favorite sight word activities from my classroom.

Don't Eat Me, Mr. Crocodile! 

Using games, like Don't Eat Me, Mr. Crocodile,  to teach sight words is a win-win! Once students are familiar with the games, they will be able to get them out and get started playing with a group during centers or small group activity time. 

This is such a cute and fun game for students to use when learning their sight words. It's sure to be a classroom favorite. Your students will be giggling up a storm as they practice recognition and fluency of their sight words. 

Using a competitive game is a great way to help students practice their sight words in a way they will actually look forward to. I can tell you from experience, this game is a winner. Indoor recess usually includes a sight word game or two requested by my students. This game is great to use as a center activity or small group activity.  It allows students to help one another which is perfect for building classroom community. 

Climb the Tower

Okay, I have to admit, this is one of my favorite games, and my students love it too.  This word recognition and reading game is great for the class or partners.  When I play with the class, I like to make a big game board with chart paper or butcher paper. Then, I break up the class into two teams to compete against each other to find all of the sight words on their "tower". 

Students take turns spinning the spinner to select a sight word. They read the word, then go up and put a sticky note on the word, or wipe it off the whiteboard. 

The first team to find all of the sight words on their tower wins. It's such an amazing way to get the whole class excited about practicing sight words. 

The students loved this game so much that I turned it into a printable center activity too!  Now the students can play with a partner during center time.  

Find and Write

A word search is a perfect way to get your students to practice recognizing AND writing their sight words. The best part is a word search doesn't just have to be a single student, independent activity. 

While I do love using the Find and Write worksheets for independent practice, turning a word search into a whole class activity can be fun and easy!

You can project the word search onto your whiteboard and complete it as a class.  If your students like competition, you can easily turn it into a team activity too.  The kids love searching the giant word search and then writing the word.

Students or teams will take turns finding a word in the word search and writing it on the board. Really, the kids just love finding the words and celebrating each other throughout the game!

This printable word search is also perfect for centers, morning work, or even weekly homework.  Students will be working on reading, spelling, and writing sight words with this one activity.

Write the Room

This is a popular activity in many classrooms, and for good reason. It's the perfect way to get students up and moving while learning. 

Your kinesthetic learners will love this activity. All you have to do is hide sight words around the room. You can be as obvious or sneaky as you'd like.  These ready to print sight word flash cards are perfect for this! Simply grab the cards for the sight words your students are working on and get hiding.  It's like a sight word scavenger hunt in the classroom!

Use a Bingo-style worksheet with the sight words listed and send students out to find the words. You can also give students a list of sight words to cross off as they find them, or even lined paper to write down and record the sight words as they find them. 

If the weather is nice, this can also be done outside. You can get some student volunteers to help "hide" words around the playground, park, or grassy area. 

This is a great way to get your kids moving and learning at the same time. 

Color-by-Code

Students love, love, love any opportunity to do some fun artwork. Color-by-code activities allow students to have some creative time and practice their sight words. My students always get excited about color-by-code activities because they love seeing the hidden image revealed at the end. 

For extra fun, if a student finishes the color-by-code activity early, they can use the words to create sentences. 

At the end of the day, when you are looking for something to fill those last few minutes before the bell rings, ask students to share some of the sentences they created. They love sharing with the class, and it gives them just a little more practice reading those sight words one more time before leaving for the day. I love using color-by-code activities as morning work, centers, or independent work for early finishers. 

Splendid Sight Words    

Getting your students excited about practicing their sight words with games and activities is the best way to get in as much practice as possible. You will be surprised to hear your students asking to play some of the sight word games over and over again. 

These are just a few sight word activities, but there are MANY, MANY more fun and engaging ways to practice and review sight words with your students.  I have taken all my classroom-tested, student-approved sight word activities and put them into this sight word practice resource. Be sure to check out these amazing packets full of sight word practice games and activities you and your students will absolutely love!

Save These Fun Activities for Teaching Sight Words

Be sure to pin this page to your favorite classroom Pinterest board to come back anytime for more sight word activities and games!