Playing Word Games
Playing a word game is a reading activity even though it does not involve using books. Teachers of early readers are generally very amenable to using word games as well as books to help develop children's reading skills.
Less able readers, children who lack confidence and those with a short attention span respond well to reading activities that are presented as a game. Some children like a game as a change from reading books and to reinforce the words they have been working on.
You can use games to encourage children to look at words more closely than they do when reading a text. Use games to reinforce the learning of particular words. It is also an opportunity to develop the child's confidence and self-esteem by reinforcing success. The games that the children will engage with quickly are those using words that they can relate to because they are familiar to the child.
There are 'off the shelf' games such as scrabble and boggle which can be adapted to suit the needs of the child you are working with. For instance you could use the scrabble tiles to make your own crosswords without using the board. Matching and memory games (such as Spot the Difference and Matching Pairs) are good for developing early reading skills. Many games can be made specifically for an individual child or children with very little effort and no more than a pen, paper or card and a pair of scissors.
A selection of games to play with your reading partner are listed below. Please click on the name of the game to take you to the instructions:
Build a crossword
Call My Bluff Changing Words Finding Words in Words Growing Words Hangman Jump In Language Experience Link and Spell Making a Storysack Snakes and Ladders | Grid | Blank Grid Word Bingo Words Pairs Word Pyramids Word Search
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