Word Games for Kids: WORD HUNT

I am always looking for easy, playful ways for Immy to revise those high frequency words or ‘sight words‘ that we use so often when reading. This game also works well for revising word families and spelling rules, or really any set of words that a child will benefit from the additional opportunity to read! We are calling this our Word Hunt Game and this is how you play…

How to Play Sight Word Word Hunt

Recommended age: This game is suitable for children who have begun the process of learning to read.

You will need:

• A writing surface and writing implement: magna doodle, chalkboard, write-on light board, whiteboard, iPad (in a drawing app) or on paper with a pen

To play:

1. I started by writing a set of six words on the writing pad. I then gave Immy a series of verbal instructions, one at a time, and she needed to find the relevant word and follow the instruction for it. For example, if you look on the image below you can see that she has followed the following instructions;

• Put a cross through the word ‘this’
• Put a tick next to the word ‘some’
• Draw a line under the word ‘have’
• Draw a circle around the word ‘made’

We continued until all six words had been read and marked in some way.

2. We then tried a set of words that looked more visually similar to make the game a little more tricky;

Our drawing actions included;

• Put a tick next to the word _______
• Draw a circle around the word _______
• Draw a line under the word _______
• Draw a zig zag line under the word _______
• Draw a heart next to the word _______
• Draw a smiley face next to the word _______
• Cross out the word _______
• Draw a rectangle around the word _______

3. We continued, each taking turns to write a set of words and give the instructions. Here is one of Immy’s collections of words…

Do you have an early reader who would enjoy our word hunt game?

Be sure to check out this fun collection of 50 playful sight word activity ideas and our printable sight words games pack.