Rhyming Tag

Rhyming is an important skill for early literacy. It's also, in my opinion, the most fun to develop. Kids love to rhyme and they also love to play chase. This game combines kids' need to move their bodies with rhyming for an easy, educational activity.

Do you remember playing Freeze Tag as a kid? When you were tagged, you'd have to freeze and wait for someone to crawl under your legs to unfreeze you. In this variation of the game, the unfreezer calls out a word and the frozen player must yell out a word that rhymes with it to get back into the game.

It's that simple.

I love hearing the rhymes kids come up with. And, don't worry if the rhymes aren't real words. They are still working on their phonological awareness as well as developing familiarity with patterns in oral language. All of this will give them a firm foundation when they transition to written language in both reading and writing.

Now get outside and play tag!

Do you have a favorite classic game you play with your kids? Have you altered it to teach them a specific skill like rhyming? Tell us about it on the Scholastic Parents Facebook page.