FREE Printable Winter Rhyming Bump Game for Kindergarten

This fun, free printable rhyming game is a great way to help kindergartners and grade 1 students practice looking for patterns in words. This rhyming words activities has a fun winter theme making it a great way to work on literacy skills in December and January. Simply print the Rhyming word activities for kindergarten and you are ready to play and learn!

Rhyming word games for kindergarten

Our free printable rhyming game is perfect for kindergarten students just starting to read. This game will help your child practice sounding out and matching rhyming words. Not only is this game fun and engaging, but it is also practices an essential skill that will help your child become a successful reader.

Why Teach Rhyming?

There are many reasons why we teach rhyming. One of the most important reasons is that it helps children develop their phonological awareness. Phonological awareness is the ability to hear and identify the individual sounds in words. Rhyming is just one component of phonological awareness, but it is significant.

Research shows that students who can identify rhyme units have an easier time learning to read. That is why young children must practice rhyming skills. Young learners need lots of practice, and it needs to be fun!

Printable rhyming game

To help you, we have created our free printable rhyming game! As you know, children enjoy games, and this one is sure to be a hit in your classroom. It is very easy to prep and doesn’t require a lot of materials. The game comes in two versions, so you can choose what works best for you!

• Color
• Black and white for those of you who do not have access to color printers

The game is winter-themed, so it is perfect for this year. We based it on the popular Bump games, which children seem to love. Many children are familiar with this game, so that will make it easier.

Rhyming games for kindergarten

We have used CVC words to keep things simple and targeted 5 different word families

• at
• ut
• in
• ap
• en
• ip

Rhyming word activities

This easy game practices two primary skills

• Sounding out CVC words
• Matching those words to another world with the same sound

Rhyming word activities for kindergarten

This game includes two versions of the bump mat and a spinner. It also consists of some simple instructions.

Children need to be able to sound out or read CVC words to play this game. They also need some understanding of rhyming. This game is the perfect way to help the students practice their rhyming skills. The game is great for literacy centers, but you could also send parents the link for this post and suggest making their own set.

You will need

• The game pdf (see below)
• Cardstock
• Small markers that can be stacked, we used link cubes, but Lego would also work
• Arrow game spinners
• Laminator (optional)

Rhyming words game printable

• Print game boards and spinner on cardstock
• Laminate for durability if you wish
• Punch a hole in the middle of the game spinner and assemble the spinner parts.

NOTE If you don’t have a game spinner, you can use a brad and a paper clip. This video shows you how to do that.

Rhyming words free printables

• Each player gets 10 cubes.
• The first player gives the spinner a whirl and reads the word.
• They find a rhyming word on the mat and place a cube on top of it.
• If another player already has a cube on a word they need, it can be bumped off.
• If a player already has a cube on the word, they can stack another on top and freeze the spot. You cannot bump frozen words.
• The first person to put all their cubes on the mat wins.

If you want to make the game last longer, increase the number of cubes.

Extension Activities

• Invite children to pick a word and make a list of words that rhyme with it. Perhaps they could make and illustrate rhyming books.
• Challenge them to make a Dr. Seuss-type rhyming sentence and illustrate it.

“The hen in the Glenn counts slowly up to ten. Should we put this clever hen inside a pen?”

Final Thoughts

Games are a fun way to help children develop their rhyming skills. It is designed to target their ability to identify rhyme units in words. Our free printable rhyming game is just what you need. It is easy to prep and does not require many materials. It is also a lot of fun to play and could become a very popular activity in your classroom. So, print it today and help your students become successful readers!