I just love snowmen! I found some cute snowman clip art and just knew I had to make a snowman word game of some sort. So, I came up with an editable Roll a Snowman Sight Word Game that I think you’ll love!
I wanted to make something like our Roll a Turkey Game or our Roll a Gingerbread House, but I felt like making a word game this time. And my head hurt to think about cutting out all those little snowman parts. So, I’ve made this one LOW PREP, requiring no cutting beforehand. Woot!
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**The free printable download of Roll a Snowman Sight Word Game can be found at the END of this post. Click on the teal download button.
Roll a Snowman Sight Word Game {Editable}
This game could be played with 2-4 players. I honestly wouldn’t go any higher because that would involve a lot of wait time. If you have a group of 6, just split them into two groups.
Print a copy of the snowman game board for each player and slip it into a plastic sleeve protector or dry erase pockets {we’ve come to LOVE ours!}. Each player also needs to grab a dry erase marker.
Type in the words you want your learners to use for the game on the editable page. This game works best if the players are all on the same skill level, although it can be adapted for those who aren’t {read below under Using Different Word Lists}.
You can type sight words or phonics words. There are 11 spaces for words, so if you’re teaching young learners who don’t have tons of sight words under their belt, type some of your words two times on the page. If you’re unsure how to type in the editable fields, there are step-by-step directions in the file.
Quick tip: If you’d like this activity to completely and 100% NO PREP, print the word pages without typing in the words {they’ll print blank} and get your learners to write their own words on the boards!
To play the game, learners roll a die, add or subtract the numbers, and match it to one of the numbers on the board. For example, if learners roll a 2 and a 3, they could add 2+3 to get 5 or subtract 3-2 to get 1.
Learners read the word associated with that number aloud and then “build” their snowman by crossing out that number on their snowman board. {Everyone must agree that the word was read correctly before the player moves to the next step of the game.}
If they roll a 4, they read the word, then get to roll again. BUT, if they roll two 6’s for the sum of 12 {there’s no 0, so they can’t subtract 6 from 6}, they have to erase one of the parts of their snowman.
The first player to build their entire snowman is the winner. Learners can all erase those snowmen and play again!
Using Different Word Lists
Sometimes, it’s nice for learners to have different playing partners besides those on their own skill level. If you have guided reading groups already established in your classroom, you might pair 2 students from your “Yellow Group” with 2 students from your “Blue Group”.
The “Yellow Group” would have their word list and the “Blue Group” would have their own word list. Players would refer to their own word list as they play each other. And again, each player would need their own snowman board.
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Enjoy teaching!
~Becky
This is adorable! How do they roll a 1 though?
If you subtract, you can roll a 1.
This is such a fun idea! I just had my 3, 5, and 8 year olds play together. The 5 year old did sight words, while the 3 year old did letters and the 8 year old did multiplication facts. It’s a very versatile game!
How awesome! It sounds like you were very creative! It’s so nice to have games they all can play, isn’t it?
I’m really enjoying this game with the students I tutor. I laminated blank boards so I can wipe them off and tailor the words to each student. Lots of fun and using both math and reading skills and the same time.
Awesome! 🙂