Games to Play at Home
- Play a game of rhyming I spy. I spy with my little eye. Something that rhymes with hat….cat, Chair…stair Jar…car, Spoon…moon, Bed…ted
- Rhyming pairs - In a pairs game, use pictures of objects with names that rhyme. The children take it in turns to turn two cards over and keep them if the pictures are a rhyming pair. If they are not a rhyming pair the cards are turned face down again and the next person has a turn. Start with a small core set of words that can then be extended.
- Finish the rhyme - Use books with predictable rhymes that children are familiar with and stop as you come to the final word in the rhyme. Invite children to complete it. Use plenty of intonation and expression as the story or rhyme is recounted.
- Make up funny sentences about members of the family Mummy has a poorly … tummy, Dad is feeling…sad, Ted wants to go to …bed, Molly wants to find her…dolly etc.
- Make up appropriate rhymes to go with a task e.g. Rub-a-dub-dub Give the dolly a scrub, We’re off to the shop With a hop, hop, hop etc.
- Odd one out - Ask your child to identify the ‘odd one out’: the name that does not rhyme. Start with a small set of words that can be extended. Your child needs to be familiar with the rhyming word families before they can use them in a game – spend time looking at the pictures and talking about the pairs.
- Throughout the day encourage your child to think about and play with rhyming words. The adult begins with the prompt I know a word that rhymes with cat, you need to put one on your head and the word is…hat. This can be used for all sorts of situations. As children become familiar with rhyme, they will supply the missing word themselves.