Make practicing rhyming fun with these pumpkin clip cards and Pumpkin Rhyming Words.

Learning to rhyme words is an important precursor to reading. The ability to recognize patterns in words and sounds can make learning to read much simpler. There are many ways to practice rhymes from games, reading rhyme books and poems, and other activities. These pumpkin rhymes are sure to be a fun way to practice!

Pumpkin Rhyming Words

Materials Needed:

• Cardstock
• Laminator
• Dot Markers
• Clothespins

There are 3 separate activities in this set, but they all work together and use the same rhymes. This set is great for working with a set amount of rhymes and building rhyming fluency.

Print the clip cards and pumpkin puzzles on cardstock and/or laminate them. They will last much longer when both methods are used.  Cut the pumpkin puzzles in half but make sure to leave the clip cards whole.

You can start with any of the activities – they don’t need to be used in a certain order.

Pumpkin Rhyming Words Puzzles

The pumpkin rhyme puzzles can be used all together or just a few at a time. Simply present the puzzles pieces and show your child how to listen to the ending sounds. Match the ones together that they think rhyme and see if the pumpkins match up. The pattern on the pumpkin will help to show if the rhyme is correct or not.

Pumpkin Rhyming Words Clip Cards

The pumpkin rhyme clip cards all have one correct answer. Listen to the sound of the main word and then listen to the sounds of the smaller words. Have your child clip a clothespin onto the correct answer.

Pumpkin Rhyming Words Worksheets

The last activity can be done two different ways. There is one page with just pictures and another where the answers are words to be traced. For kids already started to read, tracing the words is a good way to have them work on sounding out short words. For kids not quite ready for that, there is an option with photos.

Trouble with Rhymes?

Rhyming doesn’t come easily to all kids! And that’s okay – that’s why we practice! These are the few tips I found most helpful with my children

1. Enunciate the last sound much louder and clearer than the first sound initially. Sometimes you have to greatly exaggerate the sounds so they can hear how alike the endings are.
2. If they guess a rhyme wrong, repeat the words and focus on the ending sound. You may have to completely eliminate the first sound. “Cop and top. Cop ends with op, top ends with op. Op and op. Op op. Is op the same as op?”
3. If they know their letters, write the words out. Not all rhyming words have the same ending letters. However, all the words in this set do have the same spelling. Show them the patterns and how they end the same.

More Rhyming Words Activities

• Rhyming Robots Game
• Transportation Rhyming Cards
• The Gruffalo Rhyhming Game
• Valentines Day Rhyming Cut & Paste Worksheets
• Gingerbread Rhyming Puzzles

Our Favorite Rhyming Books