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Rhyming Games for Toddlers

Whether you're a mom, teacher or caregiver, you can easily combine rhyme and play for toddlers and preschoolers with rhyme-centered games and activities with developmental and educational value. Rhyming games assist in reading development and fluency and, when combined with kinesthetic play, can promote active and discovery learning among the younger age groups.

Music Circles
- Lesson plans and educational games that incorporate music provide a deep sensory experience for youngsters, actively engaging them in meaningful social and developmental learning experiences. For a fun age- and developmentally-appropriate rhyming game for toddlers, sit in a circle with children and take turns singing an old favorite, such as ̶0;Who Stole the Cookie From the Cookie Jar?̶1; For an active, kinesthetic-based rhyming game, play ̶0;The Farmer in the Dell,̶1; which requires children to get up and move around while singing along to the classic rhyming song.
Matching Games
- By combining pictures with familiar words, you can create educational-based rhyming games for very young children, even at the prereading level. Play a rhyming match game by providing toddlers with large, laminated flash cards that depict a picture of a simple object along with the item's name below the picture. Ask children to match cards that rhyme. For example, give children flash cards that depict a clock, a sock, a book, a hook, a duck, a truck and a chair. Challenge children to match the rhyming words while identifying the card that doesn't rhyme. For a fun adaptation of this game, use actual, kid-friendly objects such as pants, a large, plastic ant or a hat.
Freeze Dance
- For a quick, spur-of-the-moment rhyming game, conduct a freeze-dancing activity with an age-appropriate song. Before playing the song, choose a word for children to listen within the rhyming lyrics. Play the song, pausing it each time a rhyming word is heard. Offer a prize, points or other small reward to children who freeze at the rhyme to encourage participation and reward good listening skills.
Story Time
- Instead of simply reading to toddlers in circle or story time, encourage young learners to create rhymes and contribute to a group story with simple story starters. Plan for the game by creating a chart with three noun columns: people, places and things. One row of your chart, for example, might include the words ̶0;Bill,̶1; ̶0;hill,̶1; and ̶0;grill.̶1; One by one, select a child and have them compose a simple, one- or two-sentence portion of the story, using two or three of the words on your chart. Encourage children to build off of other story segments as you go along, offering hints and tips and weaving the narrative together with supplemental plot elements when necessary.

Kids Games