Free Online Sight Word Games for Extra Practice
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Online sight word games can be a great way for young readers to practice sight words. Sight words are high-frequency words. That means that they appear frequently in text. Memorizing these words can increase reading fluency.
There are two main sight word lists:
- Dolch list
- Fry list
Dolch sight words were determined by Dr. Dolch in the 1930s. The lists are made up of the most common words in children’s books. The Dolch sight word list contains a total of 315 words.
Fry sight words were created by Dr. Fry in the 1990s. The list contains 1,000 most commonly used words. He claims that children’s books are made up of about 90% of these words.
There are debates about which list is the best to use, but honestly, I don’t think it is worth debating among homeschool families. Choose the list that works for your family or teach both.
When I was making this list I only included free online sight word games. Many of the websites offer membership options with benefits such as ad-free playing, saving games, or mobile access to online games, but all of these websites have a free option.
These fun games can make practicing common sight words fun!
Free Online Sight Word Games
ABCYA
Out of Sight Words – Students play Out of Sight Words by matching words with the corresponding illustration. Some of the images are easy to spot and others are a little trickier. It reminds me a bit of the hidden picture pages in Highlights magazine. This is a great game that my kids enjoyed playing when they were little.
ABCYA appears to use the Fry list of sight words, although I couldn’t find any confirmation.
Sight Word Bingo – Sight Word Bingo uses words from the pre-primer (preschool), primer (kindergarten), first grade, second grade, third grade, and noun Dolch sight word lists. You can choose a list or use all of the lists.
The game functions like any bingo game. Kids hear a sight word read and then click on the matching word. When they have a full row matched they win. Students can choose a 3×3, 4×4 or 5×5 bingo board.
Submarine Spelling Practice – In the Submarine Spelling Practice game, kids practice spelling sight words. They can choose from pre-primer, primer, 1st grade, 2nd grade, 3rd grade, or all Dolch spelling lists.
Words are read aloud to the student who then moves the letters into the correct spots. Every time a word is spelled correctly a submarine moves closer to a treasure chest.
Fun 4 the Brain
Snowball Fight – This is a cute and simple online sight word game. There are three piles of snow, each with a cute snowbear hidden behind and a sight word written on the snow. Kids hear a sight word and then click on the correct sight word. Clicking a word throws a snowball at that bear. Kids continue throwing snowballs at the sight words until they are out of snowballs.
Starfall
Make a Match – This sight word matching game is essentially a sight word memory game. Kids click on two cards to see the sight words. If they are the same sight word, they have made a matching pair and those cards are removed from the board. They continue until all of the cards have been matched.
Mr. Nussbaum
Sight Words Audible – This online sight word activity feels more like a digital worksheet than a game. Kids hear a Dolch sight word and then they drag the letters into the correct spaces. It is a good way to practice sight words, but there are not any traditional game elements.
Sight Birds – In this sight word game kids do a little bird watching while spotting sight words. They use binoculars to see birds with Dolch and Fry sight words written on them. After they hear a word, find the correct bird, and click on the word they will hear another word. It is a good way to get extra practice with sight word recognition.
Word Game Time
Kitten Hop Word Practice – This game is exactly like the name. Kittens hop while practicing sight words. Kids race other anonymous players or the computer in an attempt to read the sight words fastest. When a word is read the kittens hop to that word. The first player to read all of the words wins.
I hope these fun sight word games provide different ways to learn high frequency words. Explicit instruction is beneficial for early readers who are just learning sight words, but fun educational games definitely have value.
Check out these other sight word posts!