For very beginning readers, focusing on 2 letter words is a great way to build confidence and avoid overwhelm. This free board game highlights 20 of these words – 10 of them are a consonant + vowel, the other 10 are a vowel + a consonant.
Egg words = vowel + consonant
- in
- on
- an
- it
- at
- up
- am
- is
- as
- us
Unicorn words = consonant + vowel
- do
- be
- go
- hi
- he
- me
- no
- to
- we
- ha!
Putting it together
- Download this 2 letter words game board at the bottom of this post.
- Print off the colour or black and white game board and word cards onto card.
- Cut up the word cards and separate into egg and unicorn words.
- Grab a die and small objects to use as counters.
How to play
Players roll a die and move their counter forward that number of spaces. If they land on an egg, they turn over a word from that pile, if they land on a unicorn, they read a word from that pile. There is no penalty if they can’t read the word, they just take their best shot! The game is finished when all players have reached the end.
Variations
- You may prefer to start out with just the egg words because the vowels are consistently short, which makes them easier to sound out – whereas the vowels in the unicorn words are generally long.
- Use the egg and unicorn groups to discuss the difference between long and short vowel sounds. Practice switching a long vowel sound to a short vowel sound and hear the difference – most of the words will no longer make sense.
Download
Download your LET’S READ 2 LETTER WORDS board game by clicking on the highlighted link. It should immediately download to your device.
Looking for more free reading activities for early learners?
- CVC Cookie Match with pictures and words
- 10 free CVC word puzzles
- CVC self-checking clip cards for beginning and ending sounds
Looking for lots of CVC puzzles?
THIS PACK contains 80 CVC puzzles with clear and engaging graphics.
I hope this Let’s Read 2 Letter Words resource is a helpful addition to your teaching toolkit!
