I put together a poetry unit study for my early literature class at our local Homeschooling Co-op, including reading kids friendly poems from some great poets, discussing them, rhyming activities for early learning, and this rhyme matching game. The preschool and early elementary kids came away with a much better understanding of poetry and they all loved it so much, they begged for more poems to be read! They definitely cultivated a love for poetry which I hope continues and grows as they learn and grow. This makes for some good rainy day fun with your homeschooling kids or young kids of all types. The rhythm of rhyming and poetry are fun to listen to, to decipher meaning from, and to play around with!
Kids love the beautiful rhythms of poetry and rhyme.
The earlier kids are exposed to poetry, the more they appreciate poetry, understand it, and form a love for it. Matching rhymes helps kids really listen to the sounds they are hearing in order to find similar sounds. It helps with reading comprehension and is a stepping stone for learning to read and learning spelling later on. This is a fun game to add to your homeschool curriculum and learning about rhyming.
Don’t miss Rainy Poems for kids, which includes poetry books for kids and recommended rainy day poetry to read to your kids, links below.
Rhyming Matching Game
Materials:
One set works for 2, 4, or, 6 players; You can find other printables online if you need more matches or the kids can take turns.
Instructions:
- Cut out the cards on your printouts ahead of time. If you don’t have 6 kids playing keep them in order so you can make sure every card used has a match!
- Sit in a circle, pass out one per person in a random order (if your cards are still in order) face down in front of each child. Don’t let them look at the cards.
- Shuffle: Each child picks up their card, still without looking and runs around the room to get all mixed up. (Fun way to get moving when you’re stuck inside!)
- Yell “STOP!” The kids freeze and look at their cards.
- Then say “GO”, they must find their rhyming match and come sit back in the circle together.
Play as many rounds as you want. My class didn’t want to stop! But, they were getting a little too wound up, so we had to move on. I wished that the cards also had the words of the object written on them; maybe you can find a better printable! Or write them on yourself.
The original way to play this game is: you print two sets and cut the cards on one mat and leave the other mat uncut. Then have your child match the rhymes by placing the matching rhyming cards onto the mat. Not nearly as much fun, though! But, might work better if you only have one or two kids playing.
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