Sight words find a word

Another great game that’s educational and entertaining is sight word search – locating hidden words. This fun activity helps a child learn to automatically recognize high frequency words.

Dolch Sight Word Searches

We created sight word searches using Dolch’s sight words. A child is more likely to encounter lowercase letters; as a result, all of the word searches below are in lowercase letters.

Pre-Primer Sight Word Search

Emergent readers are learning print concepts, e.g. we read left to right. To avoid any confusion, we created all the word searches below from left to right (across or horizontal).

Sight Words	Word Search PDF	Answers PDF
a, and, in, is, it, the, to & you	Sight Word Search	Answers
can, come, for, here, I, me, my & we	Sight Word Search	Answers
up, look, go, big, not, said, see & play	Sight Word Search	Answers
blue, red, yellow, run, make, jump, help & down	Sight Word Search	Answers
one, two, three, find, away, funny, little & where	Sight Word Search	Answers

Primer Sight Word Search

Similar to pre-primer sight words, we created the word searches below so that each word can be found left to right (across or horizontal). To avoid any confusion, there are no vertical, backwards or diagonal words.

Sight Words	Word Search PDF	Answers PDF
am, are, at, have, on, that, was & with	Sight Word Search	Answers
be, he, she, no, so, like, yes & this	Sight Word Search	Answers
eat, get, ate, ran, ride, saw, do & did	Sight Word Search	Answers
all, but, what, who, came, too, say, & must	Sight Word Search	Answers
there, they, want, went, our, under, out & into	Sight Word Search	Answers
good, new, pretty, please, well, soon, will & now	Sight Word Search	Answers
black, brown, white, four, on, that, was & are	Sight Word Search	Answers

Sight Word Word Searches

Using our progressive sight word list, we carefully selected our words. We choose the most common English words that early elementary students typically use in their writings. Some of these words are phonically irregular.

Easy Sight Word Word Searches

These are ideal activities if your child is just learning to automatically recognize sight words – these high frequency words appear often in printed material.

• Easy Sight Word Search 1 – includes the following words: I, the, to, and, a & is.
• Easy Sight Word Search 2 – includes the following words: it, in, you, on, my & we.
• Easy Sight Word Search 3 – includes the following words: the, to, you, a, on & and.

Medium Sight Word Word Searches

After your child masters these words using the easy word searches, use the sight word games below which provide a perfect review. Scholars recommended reviewing previously taught words daily. The medium puzzle below incorporates the 2 easy word searches above.

• Medium Word Search 1 – includes the following words: I, the, to, and, a, is, it, in, you, on, my & we.
• Medium Word Search 2– includes the following words: I, the, to, and, a, is, it, in, you, on, my & we (same words, different placement).

Create Sight Word Search

This is an activity that you can very easily create with a pencil and paper. Write the words horizontally, vertically or diagonally. Create your own grid or use graph paper and enter one letter per box.

If you are proficient in Microsoft Word or Excel it may be easier to use one of these programs to create your word search (see below). If your child is just learning sight words consider creating a word search with mostly horizontal words.

If your child knows some sight words, create a word search using words that your child can automatically recognize as well as new ones. It is recommended to review previously taught sight words on a daily basis.

Make a Sight Word Search Using Microsoft Word

Creating a sight word search in Microsoft Word can be done fairly quickly by inserting a table. This is a good exercise if you want to hand select your sight words.

How to Insert a Table into Word

1. Go to the toolbar located at the top of the Word document and left click on Insert.
2. Left click table from the menu.
3. Two options exist for setting up a table.
   • Option 1(Easy Method): Left click the 1×1 table below the insert table caption (upper left corner) and highlight the number of columns and rows for your table by dragging your mouse over the appropriate number of boxes.
   • Option 2: In the drop down menu, select insert table. You will need to manually adjust the table size. The number of columns and rows to select will depend upon the size of the word search. A good starting point is to set the number of columns to 10 and number of rows to 10. Leave the AutoFit behavior to default settings (fixed column width). Select the “OK” button
4. Begin creating word search by entering a letter in each cell.

Make a Sight Word Search Using Microsoft Excel

If you are proficient in Excel, create a new spreadsheet and begin creating a word search by putting a letter in each cell. Adjust the width of each column to provide the ideal spacing between each letter – select column A and drag along each desired columns and then globally set the width. For example, if you want 10 columns – left click column A and drag the curser along until column J (unclick) and when you hover over the column you have the ability to make the columns smaller or larger so adjust accordingly.

My family and I enjoy completing word searches especially when we eat out and the restaurant provides a kid friendly menu filled with fun games. Playing sight word games, like locating hidden words, are entertaining activities that help a child obtain a sight word vocabulary.

If you really want to your child to learning how to read, spell and understand sight words, play Erudition™, a sight word board game.

1. Overview
2. Materials
3. Activity
4. Confidence Builder

1. Extension
2. Small Groups
3. Questions and Answers

Skip over Activity G4 and try Activity G5. See Fast Track for more details.

1. Overview

Take away the beginning sound of a word to reveal the “hidden” word that remains, using picture cards as clues. Then identify the sound that was removed from the original word.

Your child will practice separating a single sound from a word and will also learn that changing a sound in a word can change its meaning.

Deer without /d/ is ear!

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2. Materials

• picture cards and word index
• list of words and “hidden” words

Print out the picture cards, preferably on sturdy card-stock paper, and cut them apart. The word index and list are for the adult’s reference only.

You will use four of the picture cards in a session, whichever four you choose.

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3. Activity

Video: How to play Find the Hidden Word

Before starting the game, explain to the child that with some words, you can take away one sound and find a totally different word “hidden” inside.

Before each round of the game, find the appropriate picture card (the word list will tell you which one to use). Go through the images on the picture card and name them, to make sure you and your child are using the correct word for each picture (e.g., art, not painting).

Adult: [showing picture card] Let’s look at these pictures.
            They show owl, ache, and ear.
            Now you name each picture as I point to it.
Child: Owl. Ache. Ear.
Adult: Good.

Be sure to do this identification before introducing the word for your child to analyze.

To start the game, you will say a word from the provided list and have the child repeat it, emphasizing and stretching out the beginning sound. Then have her tell you the “hidden” word that appears when you take away the first sound.

Adult: I’m going to tell you a word and ask you to take away a sound
            and tell me the “hidden” word that’s left.
            The hidden word will be the same as one of these pictures.
            Here’s the word. Listen: fffear. Say fffear.

Child: Fffear.
Adult: Again. Listen: fffear. Say that.
Child: Fffear.
Adult: Now, look at the pictures and tell me the hidden word inside fffear.

[If the child struggles, repeat fffear with a pause (.5–1 second) in the middle: fff • ear.]
Child: Ear!
Adult: Yes, ear.
            What sound did you cut off of fffear to find ear?
Child: /fff/
Adult: Good job. [Show next picture card.]
            Now let’s look at these pictures. They show eat, ace, and oar.
            Now you name each picture as I point to it.
Child: Eat. Ace. Oar.
Adult: Good. Here’s another word. Listen: door. Say d-d-door…

Don’t tell her to cut off the first sound specifically. She needs to discover for herself, through the game, which sound to eliminate.

Go through the other words connected to the four picture cards you selected for this session; that will be about 45 words per session. Slow down the pace and cover fewer words if your child has difficulty with the concept. Introduce the words in random order. At the end of a session, review any words that the child struggled with. Revisit this activity until you have gone through all the words and the child has a good grasp of the concept.

NOTE: Many children can “find the hidden word” easily but have trouble saying which sound was taken away from the original word.

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4. Confidence Builder

Use fewer picture cards, and therefore fewer words, per session. Go through the smaller number of words multiple times in the lesson, in random order.

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5. Extension

• Ask the child the location of the eliminated sound. Was it at the beginning or the end of the target word?
• Hold up two picture cards at a time, so the child has to choose the right answer from six pictures.

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6. Small Groups (2-5 children)

Lesson Objective: Using picture cards as aids, children will hear a spoken word, delete its beginning phoneme, and name the picture of the word that is left.

GELDS (Georgia Early Learning & Development Standards): CLL6.4c

Georgia Standards of Excellence: ELAGSEKRF2.d

Common Core State Standards: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.K.2.D

Adaptation: Read the main activity, watch the video, and follow the instructions above, with the following changes:

Ask the children what hidden means. Can they give an example?

Play the game as a group. Name all images on the card. Give the word from the word list, stretching it out. Emphasize the beginning sound when you say each picture name.

Tell the children there is a hidden word that appears when you take away the first sound (the one that was stretched out). “Can you find that picture?” Practice with several cards together. This can be a difficult concept to grasp and may take several sessions.

Reinforcement: Play the game several times. The word list provides many opportunities for practice. Be sure to present the words in random order.

Use this Reinforcement at Home form to tell parents and guardians how they can reinforce lessons outside the classroom.

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© 2023 Sight Words: Teach Your Child to Read

Teachers are always on the hunt for great sight word activities. Sight words are any words readers recognize automatically “by sight”—for fluent readers, that’s almost all words! High-frequency words, the most commonly occurring words in written English like those on the Dolch list, are often thought of as the most crucial sight words.

It’s a myth that blindly memorizing every letter in a sight word is the only way to learn it. The science of reading tells us that linking sounds and letters is the most effective way for kids’ brains to learn any word. Many common words are easy to tackle using beginning phonics skills (like “at,” “can,” “him,” etc.), so staying true to a strong phonics curriculum is one way to support kids’ sight word learning. Even irregularly spelled words have decodable parts, e.g., kids can use the sounds of “s” and “d” to help with “said,” even if the “ai” is unexpected. Experts often call these words “heart words” to call out for kids that they should learn the unexpected word parts “by heart.” (If all this is unfamiliar to you, it can feel overwhelming, but you’ve got this! Check out teaching guru Jillian Starr’s explanation for more help.)

Check out these low-prep and engaging sight word activities for both teaching and practicing words.

Sight Word Activities for Introducing Words

1. Map it and drive it

This is a genius way to introduce words with appealing materials: Say the word, represent each sound with a LEGO brick, write letters for each sound, and “drive” to read it.

Source: @droppinknowledgewithheidi

2. Smush play dough for each sound

Set up a routine that works for any word. Play dough squishing for each sound is the ultimate multi-sensory component.

Source: @playdough2plato

3. Map words with a magnet wand

It is so super-satisfying to drag those magnetic dots around! Watch the video below for lots of tips on introducing a word using this process.

Source: @warriorsforliteracy

4. Make a mini book

Lots of handy info in one place for your little learners.

Source: @hughesheartforfirst

5. Tap it, pop it, learn it!

Hardwire those words in kids’ brains with this comprehensive word intro routine. (You had us with the pop its!)

Source: @hellojenjones

Sight Word Activities for Practicing Words

6. Find and swat words

An oldie but such a goodie. Find a word in an array and WHACK! Swat it with a fly swatter!

Source: @kids_play_learn_laugh

7. Flip word pancakes

Serve up sight word pancakes while practicing spelling them aloud.

Source: @bee_happy_teaching

8. Wear heart word bracelets

Make kids feel like sight word VIPs.

Source: @teachingmoore

9. Search for sight word balls

Write sight words on ball pit balls with a chalk marker or dry-erase marker. Kids can race around hunting for balls to read and toss in a basket, or hunt through a big tub of balls for a certain word.

Source: @preschoolforyou

10. Start a sight word band

Loud but oh-so-fun! Feel the rhythm while tapping and reading sight words stuck to homemade percussion instruments.

Source: @earlyyears_withmrsg

11. Drive on a sight word path

This is one of many fun ways to use magnetic tiles for learning! Kids love “knocking down” word tiles with a toy car as they read each one.

Source: @travisntyler

12. Use sticky notes to inspire sight word sentences

Have kids stick words on items that give them ideas for sentences. “My Mom said to wear a helmet!” = so good!

Source: @kinneypodlearning

13. Write words on a sensory bag

So easy: Fill a zip-top bag with a small amount of kid-safe paint, seal well, and have kids practice “writing” sight words with their finger or a cotton swab.

Source: @makeitmultisensory

14. Wear a sight word crown

Wear your word proudly and practice reading others’ words. Fun in person or virtually.

Source: @mrsjonescreationstation

15. Play a magnetic-tile board game

We love new ideas for ways to use magnetic tiles for sight word activities. Easy to set up and fun to play.

Source: @twotolove_bairantwins

16. Spell words to a familiar tune

Get sight words stuck in everyone’s head, in a good way. We’d add a line for chanting the sounds in the word!

Source: @saysbre

17. Feed a word monster

Nom, nom, nom.

Source: @ecplayandlearn

18. Search for the pom-pom under sight word cups

Read all the words as you try to find the cup that hides the prize.

Source: @la.la.learning

19. Play sight word KABOOM

This classroom classic is perfect for sight words. If you need a refresher on the rules, Jillian Starr covers them.

Source: @essentiallykinder

20. Roll and write words

Roll, write, repeat.

Source: @mylittlepandamonium

21. Write words with rainbow colors

Bonus points for aromatic markers.

Source: @mylittlepandamonium

22. Trace words with flashlights

Stock up on batteries because kids never get tired of this!

Source: @giggleswithgerg

23. Find words in plastic eggs

Give kids a checklist of words to find as they open each egg.

Source: @blooming_tots1

24. Spy words around the classroom

Just add a magnifying glass and clipboard to make kids feel like supersleuths!

Source: @readingcorneronline

25. Find words in the morning message

Don’t forget about old standbys! This is one of our favorite ways to get kids to recognize sight words in connected text.

Source: @tales_of_a_kinder_classroom

26. Build words with bricks

Such a great use of extra building bricks!

Source: @raysinkinder

27. Write words in sand

Easy-peasy to set up and keep neat if you use plastic pencil boxes.

Source: @teacherhacks

28. Spell words on a construction site

Bulldozing over each word to read it is the best part!

Source: @planningplaytime

29. Spell words with toy cars

Drive on over!

Source: @lozlovesprep

30. Park in a sight word “parking lot”

This one is easy to modify based on whatever toys are available in the classroom or at home.

Source: @msbendersclassroom

31. “Plant” words in play dough

Watch those reading skills grow!

Source: @planningplaytime

32. Build words in a sensory tub

Because spelling is just more fun when your hands are covered in beans!

Source: @coffeeandspitup

33. Write words on a magnetic drawing board

That eraser track makes for a perfect word card holder!

Source: @moffattgirls

34. Or write words on the window!

Everyone wants a turn to write on the window!

Source: @kindergarten_matters

35. Shhh! Discover words written in invisible ink

Write words in white crayon and reveal them with watercolors on top!

Source: @teachstarter

36. Dot-paint words with a cotton swab

Calming and effective.

Source: @sightwordactivities

37. “Type” words on a keyboard

Busy day at the sight word office! Use a keyboard cover or any old keyboard.

Source: @lifebetweensummers

38. Read words before heading through the door

The line leader can double as the word pointer during transitions.

Source: @ms.rowekinder

39. Read the word the teacher’s wearing!

Wait, is there something on my shirt?

Source: @theprimarypartner

40. Take a sight word cakewalk

Choose a winning word when the music stops!

Source: @joyfulinkinder

41. Play sight word hopscotch

If you can’t get outdoors, tape on the floor works just as well.

Source: @wheretheliteracygrows

42. Play tic-tac-toe

I’ll be team “the.”

Source: @create_n_teach

43. Go sight word bowling

No bowling pins? Use half-filled plastic water bottles instead.

Source: @thecreativeteacher_

44. Ready, aim, read

Just throw a beanbag at a word target if foam darts are a no-go.

Source: @laurens_lil_learners

45. Play muffin tin ball toss

Toss and read. It’s easy to use colored muffin cups to prep different sets of words.

Source: @homeschooling_fun_with_lynda

46. DIY sentence flash cards

Authentic use of words in context for the win.

Source: @teachertipsandtales

47. Play sight word checkers

King me! If kids don’t have a partner available, they can “play” with a stuffed animal and get double practice.

Source: @sightwordactivities

48. Play sight word Guess Who?

Set up this game once and use it forever.

Source: @lessons_and_lattes

We’d love to hear—what are your favorite sight word activities? Share in the comments below.

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Plus, what are sight words?