This year, one of my goals is to create resources for teachers who are teaching over zoom either long term or for short periods of quarantine. This rhyming game printable works over zoom as an inexpensive material for you to send home or your in-person classroom environment. Pop this rhyming game in your literacy center or on a magnet board during free choice and let the children work on their rhyming skills. Rhyming is a vital literacy skill, and children learn it at different times depending on their individual development. I love having many rhyming materials and activities on hand because once children do get it, they love playing with rhymes. You can use this idea to make your own rhyming hearts or download all 6 pages and 18 rhyming pairs for just $1.99 and print it out as often as you need to.
Rhyming Hearts Prep
After purchasing these hearts or making your own, print and cut out.
Cut each heart in half.
If you are using over zoom or on a magnet board during free choice, add magnets. I haven’t been laminating anything this year because it reflects over zoom, but it’s also terrible for the environment, so I have been trying to limit lamination. That said, if you are using these in a classroom where children are touching them, you may wish to laminate them before adding magnets.
When I use materials like these rhyming hearts in class, I usually put them on my magnet board and invite children to match them up during free choice. I’ll be circulating and observing how they use them and step in to scaffold if needed. The thing is is that there is already a scaffold built-in. I have specific colored hearts to offer children a scaffold or a “hint” for matching the rhyming images. If you have beginner rhymers, make sure you only place one heart of each color out for matching. This supports learners as they work on their rhyming skills.
Rhyming Game Printable Lesson
Here is a video of how I would use this printable rhyming game for preschool – it’s a little choppy, but I think you’ll get the gist.
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I usually ask my students to give me a hand when I am starting a new activity. “Friends, I need your help putting these hearts back together. They are all broken in two. Can you help?”
“Each half has a picture on it, and we need to find the pictures that rhyme.” Here if needed, I remind them what rhyming is with a few examples.
Then over zoom, I use a small cookie sheet for close up matching. Gathering one left side and 2-3 right side options.
‘We need to find the picture that rhymes with pan. Let’s see our choices! Dog, hat, fan.” Depending on the student’s abilities, I may say each one, “Pan, dog – pan, hat – pan, fan.” I usually encourage my students to yell out rhymes like this because rhyming is all about discerning sounds. Hearing other classmates yell out, “PAN FAN!!!” is a great reinforcer. I will then ask everyone together to repeat the rhyme before moving on to the next match.
After a group lesson like this, I like to move my materials to the literacy center for my students to use independently. When I use materials like these rhyming hearts in class, I usually put them on my magnet board and invite children to match them up during free choice. I’ll be circulating and observing how they use them and step in to scaffold if needed. The thing is is that there is already a scaffold built-in. I have specific colored hearts to offer children a scaffold or a “hint” for matching the rhyming images. If you have beginner rhymers, make sure you only place one heart of each color out for matching. This supports learners as they work on their rhyming skills.
For remote schools, offering the file for parents to download and play with at home would be my next step. If you do, you can also offer them the idea to use this as a rhyming hunt. They can place all the left-hand halves of the hearts on a table or rug and hide the others around their home. After their child has found all the right-hand halves, they can match them up. Mixing some much needed gross motor activity into a lesson about rhyming.
Ready to download the printable? It’s just $1.99!
Ryder Whitford says
well done, thank