Rhyming is such a crucial part of reading. Not to mention it can be plain out fun and silly at times. Banana-nana-fo-fana (you now have that stuck in your head, sorry). Here is a super easy activity that encourages rhyming, word families, and practices breaking down words to read.

Supplies:

• Paper towel roll
• Dry cleaner hanger
• Scissors
• Marker

Cut your paper towel roll into sections.

Write the ending sound of a word on a section. You can write another word fragment on other sides, too. I wrote “an” and “at” on this one.

Now write letters or the first sounds of words on another piece of cut tube. You can throw in some weird ones that will not make words to get some giggles, too.

While I was writing, I had some help. Little sister loved helping out with writing all over her piece. She is actually a lefty, so this is photo is hilarious to me. At least she is interested.

Pull out one end of the hanger from the bar.

Slide your tube pieces on and replace the hanger end back inside the bar.

Now your child can spin the first letter (or sound) of the word to make different words.

You can practice rhyming as you go through them. It is fun to sing out the words and maybe dance a bit, too. But we are pretty active around here and I am sure your house is just as wild spirited.

My favorite thing about this is that it transports so easily. I know we can grab it and take it to another room without messing it up and causing a meltdown. It hangs easily on the toilet paper roll holder so we can play while we take our extra long potty breaks. It keeps my kids engaged while I do things in the kitchen and even can hang on the back of mommy’s seat in the van for playing while we run errands.

I hope you enjoy this activity as much as we do.