21 Best Classroom Reading Games to Make Learning Fun

If you’re looking for some fun classroom reading games or learning games for home, you’ve come to the right place. This post is packed with the best DIY free games and board games to teach children the fundamentals of reading in a fun and easy way!

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Free Classroom Reading Games

First let’s check out some free reading games that you can create with simple supplies like paper and post it notes. These interactive games are sure to be a hit with your students!

1 | Car Park Reading

Here’s a great way to engage younger students while learning letter sounds!

How to set it up:

• To set up this game draw streets and parking spots on a large sheet of paper.
• Write words on the parking spots.
• On the cars write letter sounds.

How to Play:

• To play students can grab a car and drive it around the town until they find the right parking spot that matches the letters on the car to the word on the spot.
• When they park they can practice saying the word.

2 | Reading Treasure Hunt

Here’s a quick game for young students working on letter recognition that you can create with just paper.

How to set up this game:

• First create map on a piece of paper. You can crumple the paper to make it look old.
• On the map draw letters throughout.
• Then hide the real letters on notecards throughout the class.

To Play:

• Have students find the letters and then mark them off the map.
• They are done when they have found all the letters.
• Have them turn it in to you to receive a small treasure.

3 | Sight Word Cover

Here’s a fun game that can help early readers work on their sight words.

How to Set it up:

• First have students get into small groups.
• Provide each group with the letters they are working on index cards, one sheet of paper and game chips.
• Students will fold their paper into 16^s and write one word in each square.

How to Play:

• To play students will shuffle and then turn the word cards face down on the table.
• Students will take turns picking up one word and reading it out loud.
• They then cover that word with their color chip.
• The first person with 4 in a row is the winner!

4 | I Saw it First

This DIY game is inspired by the game, I Saw it First. This is a great way to work on language development and have fun at the same time.

How to set up this game:

• On two sheets of paper write the words the class is working on.
• Create cards with the same words on them.
• You’ll need game tokens in 3 different colors.

How to play:

• Have students get into small groups of four.
• One person will start off as the card reader.
• The card reader will read the word on the card.
• The players will look for that word on the paper and the first to see it gets to mark the word with their color chip.
• The person with the most chips on the paper wins!

5 | Silent E Game

Here’s an effective way to help elementary students work on silent e words.

Here’s how to set it up:

• On a large easel or a whiteboard write a mix of small words that you can add a silent e to as well as words that you cannot add a silent e to.
• Write consonants in red and vowels in blue.
• Give students an e a popsicle stick.

Each student will get their own colored marker.

How to play:

• Children will take turns choosing which words they can add a silent e to create a new word.
• When they get it right they can write the e on the paper or white board.
• Have them continue until they find all of the silent e words.
• The person with the most words wins.

6 | Word Decoder

This easy game will help young children with word recognition!

How to set up:

• First write several (consonant-vowel-consonant) words on a sheet of paper.
• Next, write all of the vowels on post-it notes.

To play:

• This game can be played with a partner.
• Students can grab a sticky note and add it to a word to create a new word.
• Have them practice sounding it out to decide if it is a real word or not.

DIY Classroom Reading Games

Now’s let’s check out some of the best DIY classroom reading games and word games. All of these learning games you can easily make with a few materials like popsicle sticks, paper cups or even plastic easter eggs. Read on to check out your next DIY project for your classroom!

7 | Reading Kaboom

Reading Kaboom is easy to make and is a great option for older students to work on reading comprehension skills.

How to Make:

• On the back of popsicle sticks write general reading questions.
• Put one question on each side of the stick so students can choose which question applies to the book they are reading. Here are some ideas:
  • Informative-Which details support the main idea?
  • Literal Understanding-Who are the main characters and what role do they play?
  • Literary- Explain how the setting is important to the story.
  • Reflection-How would the story change if it was told from a different perspective?
• Write Kaboom on several sticks too!

How to play:

• First give students a time limit like, 10 minutes.
• Students take turns drawing a stick and try to answer one of the questions on the stick.
• If they answer right they get to keep the stick.
• If they draw a Kaboom stick they have to put all of their sticks back!
• The student with the most sticks when time runs out wins!

8 | Pool Noodle Reading Game

Here’s a creative reading game you can easily make with pool noodles and cardboard rods!

Here’s how to make this game:

• You’ll need two colors of pool noodles, (one for vowels and one for consonants) and a cardboard rod.
• Slice up the pool noodles and write the letters all around each slice.
• Be sure to included digraphs like sh, the, and ch.
• Challenge students to add the noodles and spin the letters to come up with as many words as they can!

9 | Splat

This game will make reading fun for your class and is another use for your leftover plastic Easter eggs!

How to set up this game:

• First write your words of the week on slips of paper and put them inside plastic eggs.
• In a few write the words candy and splat.
• You’ll have to bring in a little bit of candy for this one.

Top play:

• Students will pass the basket around the classroom.
• Each student grabs an egg.
• If they read the word in the egg correctly they get to keep the egg. If not they return the egg to the basket.
• If they read the word candy they get a piece of candy when the game is over.
• If they get the word splat they have to return all their eggs to the basket.

10 | Letter Cups

Here’s a fun game that will help Kindergarten students work on letters and sounds.

How to set up:

• You’ll need Play-Doh and paper cups.
• Write letters on the top of the cups.

Here’s how to play:

• Have children get into pairs.
• One child will close their eyes and the other will hide the Play-Doh under one cup.
• Then the student will read the letter and the sound it makes to guess which cup the Play-Doh is under.
• When they guess correctly, they can make the letter with the ball of Play-Doh inside.

11 | Growing Sight Words

This might be the perfect game for 1^st graders working on sight words!

To set up this game:

• For this game you’ll need Play-Doh and letters.
• First create half papers that say the sight word with enough room for a row of Play-Doh.

To Play

• Students will practice spelling the sight words by planting the letters in the Play-doh!

12 | Roll and Cover

Here’s an easy game that you can create with very little prep.

How to set up:

• First write letters randomly on a large sheet of paper.
• You’ll need dice and mini-erasers or any kind of game pieces to cover the letters.

To Play:

• Have students roll a letter dice or a normal dice. (Create a key for them to match numbers on the dice to letters)
• Then they find the letter, name it and its sound and cover the letter with the mini-erasers.

13 | Dot Marker Four in a Row

You can customize this game for each child’s ability or based on what reading skills the class is working on.

How to set up:

• You’ll need dot markers.
• Create a dot sheet and write letters, words or sounds that you are working on in the circles.

How to Play:

• Have students grab a partner.
• Each students gets one dot marker in a different color.
• Students will take turns reading one word, or letter and sound, and if they read it correctly they get to mark it in their color.
• The first child to get four in a row wins!

14 | Cup Contractions

Here’s a fun hands-on game that will help older children learn contractions.

How to set up:

• Write letters on colorful cups.
• Have one cup with an apostrophe on it.
• Set up cups spelling out words that can become contractions such as:
• Was Not
• Is Not
• They Are
• You Are

How to Play

• Have students take turns grabbing the apostrophe cup and knocking out the letter that it replaces.
• Then move the cups together to create one word.
• For example if the two words are was not they will knock out the o to spell wasn’t.
• This will help students visually learn how contractions work!

Fun Classroom Reading Games

Next, I want to show you some reading games that your students will have so much fun with they’ll forget they are learning!

15 | Is or Isn’t

If you want to teach your students synonyms and antonyms while also helping them expand their vocabulary here’s the perfect game for your class!

Who this game is good for:

• Students ages 6 an up.
• It’s great for strengthening vocabulary and learning synonyms and antonyms.
• Children will learn what words have the same meaning and what have the opposite.

How to Play:

• Players will take turns rolling the die and then moving their pawns around the gameboard matching synonyms or antonyms on their bingo boards & covering the matched square with a token.
• The first player to fill a row or column with four tokens wins!

16 | Spelligator

Here’s a great phonemic awareness game that works well for students that are five through nine years old.

This game will help young learners understand basic sounds while spelling out words. It teaches a variety of letter consonants, vowels, digraphs and blends.

17 | Lily Pond

This is a great game to help student learn spelling skills as they hop to different letters on the board in the same order as the word on their card.

This game builds letter recognition and improves literacy skills!

18 | Pop Reading Game

Older students in upper elementary grades or middle school will have a lot of fun with this game while enhancing their reading comprehension skills!

How to set it up:

• Head over to the Dollar Store and pick up some popcorn containers.
• Then create cards for students with reading comprehension questions. Here are some ideas:
  • Literacy- What is the main idea of the book?
  • Literal Understanding- What are the key events in the book?
  • Critical Thinking-Do you agree with the decisions or actions of the main characters? Why or why not?
  • Choose an example of figurative language and explain what it means as it is used in the text.
  • Interpretation- What can you infer about the author’s purpose in writing this book?

To Play:

• Students will randomly draw and then answer questions based on the books they are reading.
• After they answer they get to keep the card.
• If they pull the pop card they have to give all of their cards to another player.
• The player with the most cards win!

Classroom Reading Games on Amazon

If you’re shopping for new board games for your classroom read on because I have scoped out the best reading games that are available on Amazon.

19 | Zingo

Here’s a fun way for young children to improve their reading skills. This game is like bingo where the bingo cards are full of sight words. The sight words are listed on letter tiles. When the letter tile pops out of the Zingo machine students mark it off on their Bingo cards.

This educational game was created by teachers who wanted a game that was effective and entertaining!

20 | Word Pop

Word pop is a sensory game and a phonic game in one that is perfect for Kindergarteners and 1^st graders. This would be a fun game to add to your literacy center.

Players choose a CVC word card and then try to find the word on their fidget mat. When they find it they get to pop the letters as they spell them out.

21 | Sight Word Slap

Young readers would have a lot of fun with this game while learning their sight words.

With this game you can choose different colored words based on your students’ grade level. It includes sight words preschool, Kindergarten, first-grade, second-grade and third-grade.

How to Play:

• Students get into small groups four.
• One of the sight words is called out and then students try to be the first to swat the fly with that word.
• They get to keep the flies that they swat and try to gather the most!

I hope that you found some fun classroom learning games to try with your students this year. Feel free to save your favorite ideas to your Pinterest boards. TO do that just click on the picture, the P, then choose your board.

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