Rhyming is a pre-reading skill that helps a child develop auditory discrimination. Before learning to read, children need to train their ears to distinguish between sounds that are the same and sounds that are different. When a person rhymes, they say two words that have the
same ending sound. If the last sound matches, the words rhyme.
Words that rhyme end with…
X Hat and hit do not rhyme because their vowel sounds are different.
X Big and bit do not rhyme because their final consonant sounds are different.
It’s hard for children to understand what it means to rhyme. You will need to give them many examples. But since you don’t need any materials – no books – no letters – no picture cards – you can practice rhyming anywhere. I think all of my children learned to rhyme while riding in a car.
Activity 1: listen and repeat
1. Say: “Words that rhyme sound the same at the end of the word. These words rhyme: cat,
hat, bat. They all end with the /at/ sound.”
2. Say: “Now I’m going to say some words that rhyme, and I want you to say them after me.
Are you ready to listen?”
3. Say: “ten, men, hen” (child repeats) “dish, fish, wish” (child repeats)
“ hop, stop, pop” (child repeats) “fan, pan, tan” (child repeats)
4. Repeat step 3 with other rhyming words. If your child can only remember two words, then
only give two words for them to repeat. However, a 3-year-old should be able to repeat three words, so keep practicing. Keep each practice session under five minutes. If you practice every day, it won’t take long before your child will be able to repeat a three-word sequence.
After you’ve repeated Activity 1 about a dozen times, move on to Activity 2.
Activity 2: listen, think, create
1. Say: “I’m going to say a word. Can you think of a word that rhymes with it?
Are you ready to listen and think?”
2. Say: “cat” (possible responses: hat, bat, sat, mat, fat, pat, rat)
The word you say should be a word from one of the rhyming sequences you practiced
in Activity 1.
3. Be patient. When you first start this activity, a child may not be able to think of a word on
their own or they might say a word that does not rhyme. That is to be expected. Try this
instead:
Say: “Repeat these rhyming words after me: cat, hat, sat.” (child repeats)
Say: “Can you think of a word that rhymes with cat?” (If child does not say “hat” or “sat,”
simply tell them “cat and hat rhyme” or “cat and sat rhyme because the words sound
the same at the end. Let’s try another one.”
Say: “Repeat these rhyming words after me: hop, top, mop” (child repeats)
“Can you think of a word that rhymes with hop?”
Activity 2 is very challenging for most children. If they struggle to think of a word that rhymes, it just means that you need to give them more examples. Don’t give up, be patient, and have fun. Keep practicing activity 2 until it becomes fun and easy. Remember: Good rhymers become good readers. Children who can’t rhyme often struggle with reading because they have not yet developed the necessary auditory skills needed to blend sounds together.
Activity 3: listen, think, comprehend, create
1. Say: “Let’s make up a story in which the last word in every line rhymes.”
2. Say: “I’ll start the story and you add a word that rhymes. Ready?”
The most important thing to remember when teaching someone to rhyme is to be patient and positive. For example, If you say “man” and they say “mad,” respond this way: “You said words that start with the same sound. When we rhyme, the words need to end with the same sound. Man ends with /an/. Can you think of another word that ends with /an/?” (If they can’t, simply say, “repeat these rhyming words after me. All these words end with /an/. Man, can, tan.”
Bonus: If you're new to rhyming, here's a list of rhyming words to get you started. Have fun.
The words in each box below rhyme. Say the first word and ask your child to think up a word that rhymes with it. Your child may say a word that is not listed here because the lists are not complete. Sometimes children say something that rhymes, but it’s not a real word. For example, if you say house, they might say bouse. You can reply with “House and bouse rhyme, but bouse is a silly word. Can you think of a real word?”
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