30 Fun Reading Activities for First Graders
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Make reading exciting for your first grader with these fun, hands-on activities that turn practice into play!
First graders are still actively building their reading skills and need regular practice to keep building their vocabulary, comprehension, fluency, and more. Make that practice fun and engaging with games, creative play, engaging worksheets, and more. You’ll find 30 great ideas listed below, all of which are easy to incorporate into your daily routine!
Phonics and Word-Building
1. Sort Items by Short and Long Vowel Sounds
Vowels can be tricky for kids because they make different sounds depending on various factors. To introduce this concept, have kids say different words out loud, listening to the vowel sounds. Then, have them sort those words into long or short vowels.
You can do this with various items from around the house (cap, bat, phone, plate, etc.) and sorting them by hand or writing them down onto long vowel or short vowel lists.
2. Use the Magic E Wand
Once kids know long and short vowels, it’s time to introduce them to Magic E, which “makes vowels say their name.” Make a simple wand like the one from My Baba by gluing a card with the letter E on it to the end of a stick. Then show your child how simply adding that final Magic E changes the vowel sound.
3. Blends Bingo
Fill a blank bingo card with different letter blends (/tr/, /sh/, /sl/, etc.). Then, read out words containing these blends, while players mark their card for the sounds they hear. The first to five in a row wins!
4. CVC Letter Swap
Use alphabet magnets or other manipulatives for this one. Start by laying out a CVC word, like “cat.” Ask your child to change one letter to make a new word, such as “bat.” Continue playing, making changes just one letter at a time, reading each word out loud as you spell it.
5. Roll a Blend to Make New Words
Longer words usually have consonant blends in them, and some are easier to master than others. To get some practice, write down common letter blends, such as st-, sn-, sk-, and sp-, onto notecards. Then, have your child flip a card over and name a word that starts with that blend to earn a point. Write the words down, and don’t let them repeat any on subsequent turns!
6. Alice’s Word Rhyme
In Alice’s Word Rhyme, players help Alice teach her friendly monsters sight words while practicing with rhyming, enhancing vocabulary and phonological awareness at the same time.
7. Digraph Worksheets
Your first grader is growing fast as a reader—and our digraph worksheets are here to help! Digraphs are two letters that team up to make one sound, like “sh” in “ship” or “ch” in “chat.” These simple, fun worksheets give your child lots of practice spotting and using digraphs in words they’ll see every day.
8. Bongo Beats
Bongo’s Bongo Beats is an engaging and musical way for your first grader to practice counting syllables! In this game, your child joins Bongo in listening carefully to animal names and tapping along to count their syllables.
9. Word Family Sort
Create cards with words from different word families (words with the same endings, such as can, man, pan or start, part, chart). Have your child read the word on each card, then sort it into the correct word family pile. You can use our free printable word families lists here to help with this activity.
10. Practice Syllables with a Word Hunt
Breaking longer words into syllables helps kids decode them more easily. First graders learn about open syllables (ones that end in a vowel) and closed syllables (those that end in a consonant).
Write words with open syllables and closed syllables down on notecards and hide them around the house. Designate two spots in the house to contain the open syllable words and another for the closed syllable words. Then, have your kids hunt down all the syllable cards and deliver them to the correct place.
Sight Word and Vocabulary Activities
11. Sight Word Snowball Fight
Your first grader is going to love this one! Write high-frequency words (a.k.a sight words) on pieces of paper and crumple them up into balls. Then, have a “snowball” fight for a minute or two! When the fight is over, take turns picking up the balls, opening them up, and reading the words out loud.
12. Build a Sight Word
Write a list of sight words, then transfer those words to sticky notes, but split the word in half and write each half onto different sticky notes. Challenge your child to use the different sight word sections to “build” the sight words on your list.
13. Sight Word Garden
Sight Word Garden is an interactive sight word game that helps children build their reading skills by selecting the right sight words to complete sentences about gardening activities.
14. Sight Word Bingo
Sight Word Bingo makes learning sight words easy and fun for your first grader! Just fill in this blank bingo card with sight words—check our our free printable list of first grade sight words for ideas.
Call out the words one by one, and let your child mark each word they find on their card. The first player to get five in a row wins! This simple, exciting game helps build reading confidence and boosts your child’s recognition of important sight words.
15. Alphabet Words
Here’s a fun way to work on beginning sounds and building vocabulary: the alphabet game! Pick a category, like animals, then take turns naming items that fit the category in alphabetical order. In this case, the first person might say “ant.” The second player could say “bear,” and so on. Tip: It’s okay to leave out X and Z!
16. Word Scavenger Hunt
Choose a word type, such as words with a silent-E or those with consonant blends. Then, read a story, looking for words that fit the category. As you find each one, have your child write it down on a list. You can also do this with magazines, cutting out the words and creating a collage.
17. Free Printable Vocabulary Worksheets
Vocabulary worksheets can help first graders learn and practice new words, boosting their reading and communication skills. These worksheets include engaging activities like word searches, crosswords, and coloring by words, covering a variety of words from simple (like “map” or “jug”) to more challenging (like “eagle” or “dragonfly”).
18. More First Grade Sight Word Activities
This post shares more fun activities to help first graders practice sight words. From scavenger hunts and flashlight word finds to interactive hopscotch games, each activity offers playful ways for your child to become confident recognizing and using important sight words.
The ideas are easy to set up at home or in the classroom and provide plenty of engaging repetition to help young readers master these foundational words.
19. Color by Sight Words
These Color by Sight Word Worksheets are a fun, engaging way for first graders to practice recognizing and reading high-frequency words—those common words kids encounter most often in text. Available in three difficulty levels, each worksheet helps children match sight words to colors to complete a picture.
Reading Fluency Activities
20. Flip and Read
Lay out a row of word cards face-down on a table. Starting at one end, ask your young reader to flip the card and read the word. If it’s correct, they leave the card face-up. If not, they turn it face-down again. When they’re able to read all the cards correctly on the first flip, they win! Otherwise, shuffle the deck and try again.
21. Speed Reading
Set a timer for one minute. Give your first grader a page with a list of words to read, turned face down. When you say “go,” they flip the page and begin reading as quickly as they can. Place a checkmark by every word they read correctly. If they don’t know a word, they can skip it and move to the next. When the timer goes off, award one point for every word they’ve read correctly. Then, try to beat that score!
22. Word Bowling
Pick up an inexpensive toy bowling set, or make one yourself from empty plastic bottles. Label each pin with a word before you set them up. Then, bowl away! To get the points for each roll, your child must correctly read out the words on the pins they knocked down.
23. Starry Night Word Path
Starry Night Word Path is a fun rhyming adventure designed especially for first and second graders! In this game, children help Ben and his robot friend, Galileo, find their way to the planetarium by selecting sight words that rhyme.
As kids identify matching rhymes, they’ll work on strengthening their word recognition, increasing reading speed, and building fluency.
Reading Comprehension Activities
24. Reading Skits
After reading a book, make up a skit to act out some or all of what happened in the story. Write out the lines and practice your parts, then act it out for family or friends.
25. Character Sketch
Dive deeper into understanding the characters in a story by creating character sketches. First, draw a picture of the character. Then, add words around it to describe them, like “plays baseball,” “loves to sing,” or “doesn’t like to share.”
26. Character Guess Who
Make a list of characters in a story, then play Guess Who! One player chooses a character, keeping it secret. The other player asks yes-or-no questions to find out who it is, such as “Is the character a cat?” See how quickly you can figure each one out!
27. Story Roller Coaster
Introduce the concept of a plot arc by riding the Story Roller Coaster. Draw an arc on a piece of paper, with spots for the rising action, climax, falling action, and conclusion. Then, write in the story events that match each part of the arc.
28. New Ending
Encourage creativity and critical thinking by coming up with new endings for a story. First graders will have to think about what happened early in the action as well as what they know about the characters to come up with alternate endings that could have fit the tale.
29. Book Talk
After reading a book, ask your child to prepare and give a book talk. They should include the title, author, and illustrator of the book, plus a brief overview of the plot.
Then, they can share their own thoughts and reactions to the story. Did they like it? How did it make them feel? Would they recommend it to a friend?
30. Try the 5-Finger Retelling Method
After reading a story, ask your child to describe the characters (thumb), setting (first finger), beginning (second finger), middle (ring finger), and end (pinkie). It’s simple but effective.
Reading Activities with ABCmouse
ABCmouse’s reading program is expertly designed to help children build essential reading skills starting in preschool. Engaging online lessons, interactive games, videos, songs, and more capture your child’s interest and encourage early literacy skills from the very beginning. Worksheets and offline activities support and enrich your child’s learning experience, helping them become confident readers. Discover more about the ABCmouse reading program and join today!
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