Six Great Reading Activities for Preschool Students to Enjoy

Six Great Reading Activities for Preschool Students to Enjoy
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Hanging Name Plate

Materials

  • Markers
  • Alphabet Letter Printout
  • Scissors
  • Glue
  • Cardboard
  • Ribbon

The first thing preschoolers learn how to write is their name. For added practice, have them create a name plate that they can hang on their bedroom door. First print out the alphabet letter worksheet titled, Alphabet Letters, available from Bright Hub Education as a Word doc by clicking the link. Print one per student.

Next, have each student color only the letters in his or her name, and cut out each letter on the dotted line. Finally, have students glue the letters of their names onto a piece of cardboard. Punch a hole on the top and insert a piece of string so they can hang it on their door.

Hide the Alphabet

Materials

  • Plastic Container
  • Alphabet Magnets
  • Mini Marshmallows
  • Worksheet downloaded from Bright Hub Education titled Find the Alphabet (click on link).

Pour mini-marshmallows into a plastic container and add the alphabet magnets. Shake it up so the letters are hidden. Next, have students look to their worksheet to find out what letter they need to find first. After they have found the correct letter, they should place the letter on top of the written letter on the worksheet. Once they have found all of the letters, they will show the teacher their work. You can use this at the reading station when students are working in small groups. Students can work together to answer the questions.

Hot and Cold

In this activity all you will need is a set of alphabet flashcards. First, group students into teams of two. Next, have one team blindfold their eyes and hide two alphabet flashcards somewhere in the classroom. Then, have the team find the flashcards with the help of the classmates telling them if they are (hot) close to the card, or (cold) not close to the card. Once they have found the cards it’s another team’s turn, until all of the flashcards are found.

Rhyme Box

Materials

  • Tissue Box
  • Small objects (block, clock, rock, sock, car, or star)
  • Construction Paper
  • Glue
  • Markers

First, create the rhyme box. Take an empty tissue box and cover it with construction paper. Then decorate it as you like. Next find small objects to fill the box. Only put one of the items that rhyme from each group into the box. Have the students pull an item out of the box and then try to find the object that rhymes with it on the table. After all of the objects have been paired together, have the students repeat each rhymed pair.

Play a Rhyme Game

Have students sit in a circle on the rug and instruct to them that they are going to play a rhyming game. The teacher starts with a word such as cat, and then the first student would have to think of a word that rhymes with cat, such as mat. Continue until there are no more words that rhyme with the word preceding it. When you get to the final student have them start a new word to rhyme.

Sight Word Mini Books

Preschool-aged children are eager and ready to learn how to read words. Start with simple sight words such as the, a, I, as, at, see, the, can, run. Each day when you read these words to the students have them follow along with you by taking a highlighter and highlighting each word you say aloud. Make simple sentences with these words and put them together in a mini-book for the students to follow along with you. As you read the book, have the students highlight only the sight word. A sample of this activity can be found in the Bright Hub Education downloadable Word docs titled Site Word List and Site Words Mini-Book.

These reading activities for preschool students are sure to get the students actively involved in the beginning reader process.

Source: Author’s own experience