Reading is one of the most important skills that help a child develop. However, as many parents know, helping children learn to read is not an easy task. But if you approach this issue creatively, you may be surprised to find out that it takes a few games to make this process simple and fun. What is more, it is effective. Below are engaging reading games/activities to get started with.

5 Games to Help Your Kid Start to Read

Read Aloud

Reading books with your child is the key to them learning to read.  Use books that are appropriate for your child’s age and have colorful pictures. Pictures are needed to make the reading process easy and visual for the child.  Read aloud and from time to time show your child simple words, name letters, and read the word together.

It is also recommended to practice repetition over time. That is, have the child repeat everything that you read after you. In this case, you need the child to follow what they repeat. Use your finger or pencil to show your child which word you are reading. This will allow your child to quickly start reading and memorize the spelling of words. While this isn’t a game in its purest form, it’s still a useful practice to help the child develop reading speed and memorize the correct spelling visually.

Use a Board

You will need a children’s chalk or magnet board where you can write words and letters. It is a good tool to help your child learn letters and words. You can start by studying the letters and then move on to the words.  Write the letters, propose the child name each letter, and remember the word that begins with the corresponding letter.

Then you can start writing words and complicate the task each time. Gradually, you can move on to writing whole sentences. If you notice that your child wants to write letters or words, then encourage them. This will allow your child to quickly learn not only to read but also to write.

Play Scrabble 

This game can be easily adapted to teach your child to read. It is a great tool for both letter learning and word learning. Here are some options for customizing this game for your child:

• Learning letters: Divide letters into vowels and consonants. Begin studying the letters individually and pinning them on the board. After a while, start asking the child to independently choose vowels and consonants among the letters. Start with 4 letters and eventually work your way up to the whole alphabet. 
  
  
• Learning words: pre-compile a list of the simplest words that consist of letters that are well-known to the child.  For example, you can start with the word “cat”. Add one extra letter and ask your child to spread this word on the board.  After this game becomes a habit, start using all letters and collecting any words.

Create Letter Flashcards

Flashcards are applicable for any age and are used for teaching both adults and children. Teaching your child to read with the help of flashcards can be an effective tool for learning vowels and consonants. You can create such cards yourself; there are several options. To study letters, vowels, and consonants, you will need to make cards with a letter and an image. For example, for a card with the letter B, it is possible to add an image of a ball, and for the letter F, add an image of a fish. These cards will allow kids to learn letters and divide them into vowels and consonants.

The second option of flashcards is to create separate letter cards and separate cards with images for each letter. Consider this version of cards as a finishing process in the study of letters.  The idea of using such cards is for the child to pick up the appropriate image for each letter. At the initial stages of studying with cards, start with 3-5 letters and pictures and gradually increase the number.

Gather a Word Puzzle

When your child already knows all the letters and can read simple words, it’s time to start complicating the process. You need to teach the child to quickly recognize words. You can solve this with the help of a puzzle, the essence of which is to find elementary words among a chaotic set of letters. This is a puzzle where there is a need to find a word among a set of letters vertically and horizontally and highlight it with a pencil.  It is recommended to create such a crossword puzzle with the simplest words that your child knows and can read without difficulty. For example:

• yes
• no
• cat
• dog
• mom
• ball

Start with a small puzzle and when this activity becomes familiar, you can start adding words and the number of letters around them. Also, this type of puzzle is suitable for learning separate topics. For example, animals, vegetables, sports, and so on.

Conclusion

Use these games to teach your child to read. Do not forget that these are games, not lessons at Harvard, and give your child time to rest or the opportunity to do something else if they do not want to proceed with a game. Remember to have fun!

Author: Frank Hamilton has been working as an editor at essay review service Writing Judge and an author at custom writing company Best Writers Online. He is a professional writing expert in such topics as blogging, digital marketing and self-education. He also loves traveling and speaks Spanish, French, German and English.