This Rhyming Words Racetrack activity is a fun game to reinforce all sorts of phonics learning. Here, we are using it to teach rhyming words.
An awareness of rhyme is a very important phonics skill. It shows that the child can hear, and play with the sounds in words, as well as make associations between words. This is a simple and clear explanation of why rhyming is important.
This racetrack activity is a great way to reinforce this skill of rhyming.
Rhyming Words Racetrack Activity
What you will need:
- An outline of a racetrack, divided into sections. The number of sections you need will depend on how many words you want to use.
- A list of rhyming words (see the end of this post for example lists).
- A dice, or a number spinner.
- Two toy cars.
- A pen.
How to play:
- Write one word in each section of the racetrack.
- Read through all the words with your child or student once before you start.
- Line the cars up at the start.
- Take turns to roll the dice or spin the spinner and move the cars around the track.
- When each person lands on a word, read the word. It’s good if you model reading the words when you land on them. For example, you could say “I’ve landed on ‘t-a-p’ tap.” It’s a simple exercise but it really good for reinforcement.
- Congratulate your child when they get it correct, and help them if needed. It’s a game, so it’s meant to be fun!
- The first person over the finish line first, wins!
- When I play this with students, we always go round a few times to make sure all the words are read.
- At the very end, we read through them all again.
Is this rhyming words racetrack activity right for your child?
Sometimes, it can be difficult to know if an activity will be helpful for your child or student. For this activity, the questions below might help:
- Can they finish rhyming songs or stories? For example, can they finish “Hickory dickory dock, the mouse ran up the _____”
- Can they hear words that rhyme? For example, if you say “Do ‘hat’ and ‘bat’ sound the same?” is your child or student able to hear that they are.
- Can they continue rhyming ‘strings’ or lists of words? Like, “Ran, man, pan…”
- Are they reading three letter, one syllable words confidently? For example, ‘hot’, ‘map’, ‘run’.
- Have they started to read words such as ‘hat, ‘bat’, ‘rat’ as ‘h-at’, ‘b-at’ and ‘r-at’? In other words do they ‘chunk’ some sounds together to read simple words quicker?
If the answer is ‘yes’ to these questions, then this rhyming words racetrack activity will be a great way to teach or reinforce glued sounds.
To note
Not every game or activity goes to plan! Here are some things to watch out for:
- If you are using a dice, you might not land on every word. That’s why it is good to read all the words on the track before you start, then even if you don’t land on them, you have still read them. Throughout the game, you could also say “We haven’t landed on…” or, “I hope I land on…” Also, repeating the game a few times will mean you are more likely to land on every word.
- This is a game but also a race, and sometimes that leads to frustration when the race is lost! As the aim of the game is to read the rhyming words, rather than to get around as fast as possible, it might be better if you take away the dice and just move one section at a time, reading each sound as you go.
How to adapt
There are lots of ways to adapt this rhyming words racetrack activity. Here are a few:
1.Use pictures: Instead of writing words, you could use pictures of things that rhyme. This would be good if you wanted to play a rhyming game but your child is not yet sounding out confidently enough to read the words. You could also put the word and the picture on each section if your child needs a little help in sounding out.
2. Add in a few words that don’t rhyme: For example, if most of the words on your track rhyme with ‘-at’ (bat, cat, sat) add in a word that does not rhyme (e.g. ham). If you or your child lands on it, ask if it rhymes with the rest of the words.
3. Use different words: Instead of having all the words rhyming, have a selection of words to sound out. Then after your child has sounded out the word, they think of a word that rhymes with it.
4. Use flashcards: If I don’t have time to make a racetrack, I use flashcard and lay them out in a circle and use it as a racetrack.
5. Use different counters: It doesn’t have to be cars. It could be counters, small action figures, soft toys.
6.Use a checklist: Have a checklist of the words you are using on the racetrack. Then whenever one of you lands on a word, find it on the list and check it off. This way your child or student is reading it twice. You could also get them to write the words they land on.
7. Take it outside: Make large flashcards, or chalk the words on the ground. Lay them or write them in a big circle, roll the dice and use bikes or jumps to move round the track.
Here’s how it looked when I did it in ‘real life’!
