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Teaching kids to rhyme: rhyming match game (free printable)

April 11, 2016 by Meg 7 Comments

Teaching kids to rhyme is not only an essential literacy skill–it can be fun, too! This free printable matching game based on the popular song, “Down by the Bay” is a great way to introduce preschoolers to the concept of rhyme.

Teaching kids to rhyme is a great way to improve reading skills. Here’s a fun preschool learning activity and FREE printable game based on the popular kids’ song “Down By the Bay”.

Did you know that April is National Poetry month?

I love poetry, and when I taught middle school, I loved teaching my students that poetry is about a lot more than weird words strung together by a whole bunch of depressed dead guys. One of my favorite ways to teach them that they liked poetry, even if they didn’t realize it, was through music. And since I don’t think Little Man is quite ready to appreciate most of Wordsworth and Dickinson just yet, I’ve taken the same approach with him.

One of the best predictors of how well a kindergartner will learn how to read is whether he or she knows nursery rhymes.

Why? Because they RHYME. And when kids understand rhyme, they understand the sounds and rhythm of language. This article from The Measured Mom explains more about why it’s so important to teach our kids to rhyme.

Taking all of this into account, I designed a few special activities for Little Man to learn about rhyming in a fun way. I started with the fun, classic song, “Down by the Bay.” I’ve always liked the silliness of the song, and the simple rhyming words in it are perfect for exploring rhyme with preschoolers.

Watch the video

First, we watched this fun music video of the song from The Learning Station.

Sing the song

Then, we sang the song ourselves, and I taught him some hand motions to go along with it. Nerdy brain research alert!…When you use multiple modalities (senses…like touch, sight, sound, etc.) in teaching, kids are much more likely to remember what you want them to learn. By attaching motions to the song, Little Man has a much easier time following along and learning the rhymes. Here are the basic lyrics along with my actions (in parenthesis below each line).

Down by the bay
(move one hand up and down like you’re making waves on the water)

where the watermelon grows
(put arms in front of you like you’re holding a big watermelon)

back to my home 
(bring fingertips together to make the roof of a pretend house)

I dare not go
(shake pointer finer back and forth as if saying “no”)

for if I do
(shake finger at an imaginary person in front of you )

my mother will say….
(cup hands around mouth as if to say something)

(Fill in the rest of whatever verse of the song you’re singing.)

I even let Little Man add some verses. I’d have him pick an animal, and I’d come up with a silly rhyme to go with it.

Play the game

Finally, we played match with the rhyming words from the song.

Print your free
Down By the Bay Matching Game here.

Teaching kids to rhyme is a great way to improve reading skills. Here’s a fun preschool learning activity and FREE printable game based on the popular kids’ song “Down By the Bay”.We played it two ways, making it successively harder the more familiar he became with the rhyming words.
Option 1 (easier)

  1. Lay the cards out on a table (or floor) face up.
  2. Have your child pick one of the animal card.
  3. Then, you can both search for the matching rhyme card. (e.g.-boat & goat, duck & truck, etc.)
  4. Repeat until you’ve matched all the rhymes.
Option 2 (harder)
  1. Place the cards on the table face down this time, making a grid.
  2. Play like traditional memory games, taking turns turning over two cards at a time and trying to find the matches.

We had a great time with this activity, and I’m happy to report that Little Man is slowly beginning to grasp the concept of words that rhyme!

Enjoy!Teaching kids toTeaching kids to rhyme is not only an essential literacy skill--it can be fun, too! This free printable matching game based on the popular song, "Down by the Bay" is a great way to introduce preschoolers to the concept of rhyme.

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Filed Under: Crafts & Activities, Uncategorized Tagged With: Literacy, Preschool, rhyme, Teaching, toddler

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Comments

  1. Lisa Nelson

    April 21, 2016 at 6:13 am

    Rhyming is not trivia. With Ava, I tried to explain it as the same ending sound – even if it’s not spelled the same. This is a really great idea and an option for homeschoolers like me who find it a hard concept to teach!

    Thanks for this! I appreciate this!

    Reply
    • Meg

      April 21, 2016 at 1:46 pm

      I’m glad you like it, Lisa. It was something I made just because I thought Little Man would enjoy it, and he liked it so much, I thought someone else could use it, too! Enjoy!

      Reply
  2. Barbara

    August 31, 2016 at 10:31 am

    Thank you! I plan to use with a student I am working 1:1 with. He is repeating Kindergarten and he is having such a difficult time rhyming.

    Reply
    • Meg

      September 1, 2016 at 4:02 pm

      My little boy still struggles with rhyming, too. He’s super intrigued by the idea, but he still thinks things like sky and cloud rhyme. That’s part of why I made the game. I hope it helps your student!

      Reply
  3. quality calvin

    April 16, 2019 at 10:07 am

    Heya just wanted to give you a quick heads up and let you
    know a few of the pictures aren’t loading properly. I’m not sure why but I think its a linking issue.
    I’ve tried it in two different web browsers and both show the same results.

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Silly songs your preschooler will love says:
    June 21, 2016 at 2:43 pm

    […] do, too. It’s a great song for teaching about rhyming words (see a fun game we play with it here). I taught Little Man the song, and then he likes to make up our own verses by telling me an animal […]

    Reply
  2. 215 Free Kindergarten Homeschool Curriculum Resources | Teach Me. I'm Yours. says:
    May 19, 2020 at 1:59 pm

    […] bluff, etc., but not with through”)Down by the Bay rhyming cards from Early Learning Ideasrhyming match game from The Many Little Joysrhyming word games and activities from Lessons for Little […]

    Reply

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