I have been playing this game for years, well decades actually. When I was a student teacher reading Holes to my 6th graders I needed something to keep them engaged, and a simple list of words found in the book for them to listen for and cross out did the trick. Well that and the candy associated with having a completes sheet. When my son was little I adapted it to words he could read and now I have more formally adapted it using the Dolch list my daughter’s school district uses, no need for candy.I have created three different printables with pre-primer, primer and a combination of both to use with my favorite children’s book, Where The Wild Things Are. Every word in these sight word activities can be found in the text of Where The Wild Things Are and these sheets are perfect for listening stations or one on one time with your child.
Gather your materials. You will need to download and print off the listen and find sight word sheets below, a copy of (affiliate link) Where the Wild Things Are and a Do-a-dot or other paint dauber. If you are doing this on a soft surface grab a clip board too. 
Print the sheet you want to use out and go over the words with your child.
Pre-Primer Printable <— click to download.
Pre-Primer & Primer List ( words from both are used) <— click to download
Primer List Printable <— click to download and print.
Make sure they are familiar with these words, this is a practice activity not an initial learning one. This will be incredibly frustrating for a child who can’t find the words at all. If there is one or two words that are not at all familiar go ahead and color those in before the activity. This isn’t a test, it should be fun!
Pop the sheet on the clipboard and get ready to read. 
As you read the book your child will mark the sight words they hear. Oh and the gloves are optional. 
She was into it right away. I was praying the paint wouldn’t splatter. 
After we read it we noticed she missed a few words. So I asked her what she thought we should do. We could look through the book for matches or read it again. She chose to read it again! 
Only a few pages in on the 2nd try and it was full!
Kristin says
This was a great hit with my five year old! We played together once (reading aloud) and then he looked through the book and played once on his own. Thank you!
Allison McDonald says
Oh I am so thrilled to hear that!!
Rebekah says
This is great…thank you!
Shannon says
I cannot get the primer word list to open up. It opens up as the previous one. Like the first choice has a blue header and the other two choices are the red header.
Allison McDonald says
So sorry I am popping over there now to fix it!
Allison McDonald says
Should be all fixed now, so sorry for the mess up!
Jo says
Great, simple, easy to resource/extend activity! Thanks for the idea – can’t wait to try it out with my 3 year old!