I like to extend this activity a little further by having kiddos sound out and write each word down in their phonics journal afterward. This activity also makes a great center activity. This way, everyone gets a chance to hear a variety of rhyming word sets from their peers. I like to play this game in small groups and have children read out their word strips one at a time. This is such a fun and easy way for students to work on hearing those rhyming sounds. To play, kiddos say the word for each picture on their strip and then place the trash can on the one that doesn’t rhyme with the other words. This activity is perfect for small groups and will give your students another chance to work on identifying rhyming words on their own. Typically I’ll ask students to raise their hands with their guesses in the beginning, but once I know my students are more familiar with rhymes, I’ll call on specific kiddos to answer the question. My kids LOVE this game so it’s never difficult to get some enthusiasm going when I pull these cards out! I like to sneak this activity in whenever we have a couple of extra minutes to fill between transitions. The hints say things like, “I’m thinking of a word that starts with /b/ and rhymes with pat”. To play, I will choose a card, read the hints to my students and they take turns guessing the word. This method makes it easy to store the cards in my circle time cart and grab them anytime we have a few minutes to spare. Then, I laminate them and keep them together on a large binder ring.

To get started, I print off sets of rhyming word cards (there is a set of cards for both CVC and CVCe words included in my Rhyming Activity Resource).

Rhyming games for kindergarten