This year my students have pushed me in new ways. More than ever, I have used games for group activities, especially for skill-building. We use math games daily; we use a game to introduce letter formation and so much more. This rhyming game for preschoolers is fun, but it’s also helpful to see where your students are at with rhyming. Rhyming is a skill that follows an often predictable development. Children begin by being exposed to rhymes, then noticing or identifying rhymes, judging what does and does not rhyme, completing and matching rhymes, and eventually creating their own rhymes. This game is for children just new to that last step, creating their own rhymes. Games like this offer many opportunities for children to act as and utilize peer scaffolds. In this case, as they hear other children create rhymes, they are modeling for students still developing the skill.
Roll & Rhyme – Rhyming Game For Preschoolers
Gather your materials. You will need a large die, scissors, and this printable. Oh, and some tape. I tape the pictures on, and when I want to switch out the rhymes, I just tape them on top. I keep a few dry-erase dice, especially for this kind of activity where I cover it in tape. You can get your own here using my affiliate link on Amazon.
Got your pictures added to your dice? Time to play.
Explain the rules of the rhyming game for preschoolers to your students. I usually say something like this:
Today we are going to play a game called roll and rhyme. Look at this die. What does it have on it?
“Pictures”
“Yes, pictures of things – let’s see what. A Can, a dog, a hat, a bug…” this step is imperative because they need to know what the images are of so they can create the rhymes. “We are going to roll the die, and whatever picture it lands on we are going to think up a rhyme for it. Here’s let me show you!”
Rolls the die, and it lands on a star.
“Star – far! Another must-do part of this lesson is to have them repeat the rhyme. They need to say it and hear it to learn. If it rhymes, let’s all repeat it.”
“Ok, I am going to let everyone have a turn rolling the die, and if you have a rhyme for that picture, pop your hand up, and if I call on you, you can share it!” This is how I do it with my class because this is what works best with this group, but in previous groups, simply yelling it out worked, too, especially if you have children who are still pretty new to creating rhymes. Do what’s best for your group.
Play – what I like about this game is that it’s so easy to differentiate and use one-on-one, in a small group, or in whole-class lessons.
We played twice as a group over a few days, and now I have the die accessible for my students to play this rhyming game for preschoolers on their own during free choice.
Need more rhyming activities for preschoolers?
Rhyming is one of my favorite skills to work on at preschool. These rhyming activities for preschoolers are not only fun but they are also important literacy activities too. See my favorite rhyming activities for preschoolers here.
Are you ready to be the preschool teacher you know you can be?
Interested in how to meet early literacy standards using developmentally appropriate playful activities? This summer, I am offering training, including how to do exactly that. Check out my Summer Sessions – professional development intensives. This is professional development created with your pain points, so you leave better prepared with real solutions to challenges in your preschool class.
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