20 smart ideas for reading practice from parents and teachers

Vilde Randgaard, CHLOë TONKIN and Brian Kerr / APRIL 14, 2019

Do you have a first-grader at home who has just begun to learn to read? Maybe a third-grader that needs some extra practice? Or a preschooler who started early? We have gathered 21 smart and playful ideas from parents and teachers, which make reading training exciting, meaningful and fun for everyone!

In order to learn how to read, it usually takes practice outside the classroom as well, but when the children have already spent the whole day at school, they often want to do something completely different. It is not uncommon to end up in situations that feel stressful and frustrating, both for the child and the adult that is helping. But with challenges also come the best solutions!

1. Word train

Mum Monica Bjerkelund Johansen has begun introducing her 4-and-a-half-year-old daughter to letters and reading, but uses playful methods to make it fun and not feel like exercise. This tip, and the next two, come from Monica.

– Word train is when I say or write down a word, then my daughter must come up with a new word that starts with the letter my word ends with. Then we carry on, and I make sure to use words I know she has read.

This becomes a series of words, such as: Ball - lamp - plate - elephant - t-shirt. To make the game more practical and visual, you can draw a train with a new carriage for each word.

3. Word Search

The type of crossword puzzle in which you search for words among a load of letters is also very popular at Monica's home.

– For the youngest you can give out colored pencils and say that every "k" should be yellow, "r" should be blue, and so on. Then they learn to recognize the letters.

You can create your own word crossword, with words your child already knows or needs to practice, and print it out using this Discovery Education tool (click here).

Or use the one we have already created. Click on the image below to get to printable version. The words can be found upwards, downwards, horizontally to the right and left, and diagonally.

3. My ship is loaded with

Start by selecting a letter or letter sound. The first person starts by saying "my ship is loaded with," and then begins with the selected letter or sound. The next person will repeat the phrase, but come up with a new word using the same letter or sound, and so it continues.

For example, say that you choose the letter "k". The first person can then say "my ship is loaded with koalas," and the second can say "my ship is loaded with kettles."

Basically, the round ends when a person cannot come up with more words, but in order to create a sense of mastery in the children, you can easily change the letter when you notice that they start to get stuck.

– "My ship is loaded with" can also be done in writing, Monica tips.

4. The reading game Poio by Kahoot!

Special needs educator and elementary school teacher, Anna Wassenius, recommends Poio, the learn-to-read game by Kahoot!, to teach children to read.

– The game gives them the feeling that they succeed! Above all, it is fun and easy, and the children don’t notice that they are actually practicing reading. They see it as a game, but it is also training.

The digital game motivates children to practice on their own, and is excellent for combining entertainment and effective letter, sound and word training. The best part is that the game can be taken everywhere - maybe your child will crack the reading code in the back seat of the car!

You can download the Poio reading game from the App Store or Google Play.

5. Small daily tasks

Special needs teacher Ingrid Vinje tips on implementing small tasks in everyday life that do not feel like work.

– Read every day, everywhere. Don't make it a reading exercise, but something fun without requirements. For example, play with Alpha Bits, look at the milk carton, and look for letters and words around.

6. Reading time

Another tip from Ingrid is reading time. It is both cozy and an important ingredient in the development of vocabulary and reading and writing skills.

– Read for the kids and with the kids, or have them listen to an audiobook at home, on vacation, and in the car. Anywhere and anytime!

7. Memory games

This game is super easy to make at home with the kids. Also, you can create it according to the child's skill level, in capital or lower-case letters, or both - and match the big ones with the little ones, as we’ve done in the video.

Extra tip: Make small cards for a pocket version that can be taken anywhere!

8. Name tags

Anita Lilja Martinsdottir Trollebø has a five-year-old daughter. At home, she has found an exciting activity that can be varied and done over time. This and the next two tips describe the variations of Anita's activity.

– At home, I thought about getting the five-year-old more interested in the things around us and how they are written. That's why I attach name tags to various things in the home (stairs, crib, table, kitchen, and so on), which she will spell and try to read.

9. Point hunting

Next, when the reading and writing has progressed a bit, Anita tells her to take away the notes and put blank sheets on the same things, and let her daughter write the words herself.

– I'm thinking of making this a "point hunt." When she finds words and manages to spell them, she collects points. She can use these to decide something we should do together, such as baking, having a movie night, going to the library, and the like.

10. Treasure hunt

Anita also has an idea of using the labels with the names of things in the house like a treasure hunt, or puzzle game. Then she will give her daughter a note saying, for example, "bed." She must read the word to know where to go to find the next note. It might say "staircase." At the stairs she finds "bathtub," and so on. When her daughter has made her way through the entire treasure hunt, she finds a prize!

11. Sorting game

Hege Stokke Andreassen is the mother of 5-year-old Oscar. She makes labels with one word on each, within different categories. For example, these categories and words could be…

... food: Cheese, apple, ice cream.

... toys: Doll, teddy bear, ball.

... animals: Cat, horse, fish.

– I put all the words in a single pile, and put out containers for the different categories. One idea is to use a cooking pot for all things that can be eaten, a toy box for all toys, and so on. Then the child should read the words and put each note in the correct container.

If two children play together and you want to make the game a little more advanced, you can cut the notes so that the words are split in two. The children each get a pile with a part of each word, so they have to work together to put the words together and put them in the right container.

How many words can they manage to sort? Maybe they will get a small prize in the end.

12. Read and decide

Poio's own Mia Hansson is the mother of 6-year-old Moa and 7-year-old Lo. The activity they do at home at the weekends solves more small everyday challenges than just reading.

– Here we have started with a "read and decide" game at the weekends. I give the kids options on different things to do by writing them on a note, then having the children read and choose one of them. Then they even get to decide what the day should look like, and they want to decide!

It can be about choosing what to do after breakfast, Mia says. Dress or brush your teeth? Then it may be how to go up the stairs. Jumping on one leg or going backwards?

– The day continues like this. Should we go to the cinema or bowling? Simple and fun. And best of all: There is very little arguing and noise. Win-win! Says Mia.

13. Letter hunting

Kristina Liljegren has a son of 5 years who has learned most letters and can put together short words. She has many fun activities up her sleeve that they often use at home, and in the next tips you'll find out about some of them.

– We play letter hunting, or really "hunting for something that begins with a certain letter," at home. I usually make six squares on an A4 sheet and write one letter in each box. Then my son will try to find something at home that begins with each letter. When he is done, we turn the sheet and start another round of new letters. The 5-year-old thinks it's great fun to run around and look!

14. Pen pal

– Now we have even provided a pen pal for our son, Kristina says.

So far, the parents write most of the letters themselves, but the son writes "hello" and the pen pal’s and his own name himself.

– Still, I think it gives him a clear and positive experience of how to use reading and writing to communicate.

15. Shopping list

The next activity Kristina intends to do with the 5-year-old is to write a shopping list together, and make a kind of treasure hunt out of the store visit.

– When we are in the store, our son can try to compare the words on the list with the products in the store.

16. Letter-fishing

This cute, little game can be varied depending on how long the children have been reading. See how to make it in the video below.

Easy: Fish one color
How to make the game: Make only the vowels - several of each, but each vowel of the same color (e.g.: every "a" in pink). You should only make the letters the child is practicing now.
If the child doesn’t know letters yet, this is a great way to start. Ask the kids to fish for color and try to remember what the letter they are fishing for is called. In this way, they will be able to recognize the letter shape.

Medium: Guess the letter sound
How to make the game: Make the whole alphabet.
For each letter that is fished up, the child must guess the letter sound. If you want, you can set points for each correct guess and try to set new records.

Difficult: Put words together
How to make the game: Make 2-3 of each letter of the alphabet.
Fish letters that can be put together into short words. The children can play alone, cooperate with each other, or compete.

17. Raffle

Mette Strømsted and Daniel Senn are parents of 5-year-old Leon and 7-year-old Aksel. They are also the family behind the reading game Poio, and there is no doubt that they are busy above the average with reading education. At home, it is important to use creativity to make the exercise fun for the kids.

An activity they use a lot is about creating activity tags with the kids - they have to try to write them for themselves.

– The activities can be many. Like cycling, making cake, clearing up, building Lego, playing tag, football, reading books, drawing, painting, beading, and so on, says Mette.

Then the children draw lots of what to do, and they must try to read the note they have drawn.

– If the words are a little too difficult you can use drawings as support, Mette tips.

– The motivation to write one's own lot, and to understand others, is great when it is fun and especially if you focus on fun things to do.

18. Role playing

In the reading game Poio there are small characters ("readlings") who eat letters. Otto eats O, Anna eats A, Ebbe eats E, and so on.

You and your child can play as you go in search of your own initial letter. Find things around you that contain the letters and pretend to eat them.

For example: Ole can eat the sOfa, the clOck, the flOwers. Vilde can eat the Vase, the serViettes, the tV.

19. Find the reading material the child thinks is interesting

One last piece of advice from Anna is to get involved in finding reading material that the kids are interested in and that you can talk about together. If they like fishing, for example, then read and talk about fishermen. If it's hard to find books that your child likes, you can go to the library together. It can be an exciting outing, and you get good help from the librarians.

– If there is still no interest, it is important not to force the child. Instead, try to take advantage of all the media we have today, advises Anna.

Maybe it will be more exciting for the child to find a video on YouTube, or play a game on their tablet or phone?

20. Finger path

In the do-it-yourself video below, we show you how to easily create a finger path card that your child can use to repeat lettering, anywhere and anytime!

If your child has difficulty remembering certain letters, this is excellent for repeating the letter shape and the way it is written.

Let the child decorate the card and it will be extra fun! Not only do they get to create something nice, but it also makes it easier to remember what's up and down.

Give your child the best possible start to their reading journey! Download Poio by Kahoot! today!

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