Fun & Easy Reading Activities for Kindergarten

If you follow my blog at all, you’ll know that I am obsessed with reading activities. My special interest comes from memories of learning to read with my mom, working with struggling kids in my husband’s childhood elementary school, and teaching my own children to read. It is such a critical skill, and I want every child to be able to master it. These fun reading activities are perfect for kindergarten and 1st grade, and they can be made in just minutes.

I used CVC words for these games, but you could substitute sight words, digraphs, spelling words, or any other word lists you are working on. You’ll need paper, a marker or pen, scissors, and a brad.

To make our reading spinner activity, I started by pulling a plate out of the cupboard and tracing a circle on a sheet of white card stock and a sheet of scrapbook paper. Then I cut out the circles.

I cut a view hole out of the scrapbook paper large enough for a word to show underneath. Then using that as my guide, I wrote words in the -a family all around the outside of the white card stock. I poked a tiny hole through the center of both circles and then attached them using a brad.

Then all we had to do was spin and read.

The second activity is a reading slider. For this game I cut matching rectangles from the card stock and colored paper. Then, I glued them together. Using scissors, I cut parallel, 1 inch slits about 1/2 inch from either side edge. Then I wrote CVC words on strips of 3/4 inch tall paper. When we’re ready to practice, I slip a word strip in and out through the slips, and the kids can pull it through the viewer as they read each word.

They are both very simple activities to create, but they are fantastic and engaging reading practice for those kindergarten and 1st grade kids who are just learning to read. I hope you enjoy them, and if you make them yourself, share your pics with us on facebook or instagram. We’d love to see how you made it your own.