Reading Games

At Home or on the Road - Reading Games

Playing reading games is one way to help your child develop her skills and associate reading with fun. Many educators encourage parents and teachers to use games to teach basic skills.

Reading games exist for every age group. In their book, Straight Talk About Reading, Susan L. Hall and Louisa C. Moats offer a section of reading games for pre-schoolers and kindergartners. It's never too early to start playing reading games with your child. You can sing the alphabet to your baby and give your toddler blocks with letters to make words.

As your child grows, you will discover other reading games. Some games only need a few household items while others may require a trip to the store; some are sedentary activities, while others encourage physical activity.

One simple activity only requires alphabet noodles or cereal, a pie pan, and dark construction paper. Your child can sprinkle letters into the pie pan and pick out letters to spell everyone's name. The construction paper will make the letters stand out. Add glue to this endeavor, and your child can make holiday or place cards by picking out words and names and gluing them to the paper.

For the sports fan, offer a reading goal based on a sports record. Is Marcus Allen your child's favorite football player? Allen caught 587 passes in his career. Challenge your football fan to read that many pages during the football season, and give him a suitable prize for succeeding. Visit www.rif.org for variations on this game.

Keep paper, pencils, and clipboards in the car so you can play reading games. For instance, you can have everyone find a word for each letter in the alphabet. Younger children will be less frustrated if the game is cooperative, but as children get older, they will enjoy competing with you to find items.

Create games to coincide with your child's interests. Start by making variations of games you both already know. Compose word search games and crosswords to go with your child's favorite books. For inspiration, get a stack of game books at the library.

Many online sites feature reading games and inactive play. Check out PrimaryGames, Words and Pictures, and Kaboose.

Whatever reading games you play, the object should be both fun and learning. The more enthusiastically you participate, the more excited your child will be.