Prep: 15 Minutes / Activity Time: 15 Minutes

Children are often first exposed to rhyme in infancy through nursery rhymes and rhyming stories. Their journey into rhyme continues with preschool books that are written in verse. In this activity, your child will use that early rhyming exposure and experience to practice doing some rhyming on her own.

  • pictures
  • index cards
  • glue

Preparation

Step 1: Find pictures of words that rhyme (three to four pictures per rhyming set). Examples include: cat, mat, rat, hat; mad, sad, dad, pad; fan, can, man, pan; wig, pig, dig, fig.

Step 2: Glue the pictures onto 3x5 index cards.

Activity

Step 1: Place three pictures on the floor or table in front of your child (two that rhyme and one that does not rhyme). Name the three pictures. Then ask your child to choose the two pictures that rhyme. For example, if your child chooses rat and hat, you might say:  

“(rat) and (hat)… do they rhyme?

Yes they do, all the time!

Rat and hat both end with at.

Say it with me: rat…hat; rat…hat; rat…hat

Rat and hat are rhyming words.”

Step 2: Ask your child to think of another word that rhymes with the rhyming pair. “What other words can you think of that rhyme with rat and hat?” Give assistance if needed. For example say: “It could be a real word like cat or mat, or it could be a silly word like shazat, or kerplat!”  

Step 3: Continue with another set of picture cards as long as your child remains interested.

Make it error free. Provide three picture cards of words that rhyme. Say the name of each picture as you put them on the table in front of your child. Have your child choose two pictures that rhyme. Say the pair of rhyming words and ask if they rhyme. Have your child repeat the pair of rhyming words and what they both end with.  For each rhyming pair, repeat this poem about rhyming. 

“(rat) and (hat)… do they rhyme?

Yes they do, all the time!

Rat and hat both end with at.

Say it with me: rat…hat; rat…hat; rat…hat

Rat and hat are rhyming words.”

Ask your child to produce rhyming words on her own. Place four of the picture cards on the table (two sets of rhyming words). Name all the pictures. Ask your child to find two pictures that rhyme. Then ask her to produce an additional rhyming word on her own. You might say: “Tell me a word that rhymes with (mad and dad). That’s right – lad rhymes with mad and dad. Can you think of another rhyming word?”