5 Fun and Engaging Rhyme Games for Kids

Engage your students with these interactive rhyme games for kids!

Introducing new games to your class is an easy way to boost engagement while practicing new or learned skills. But the best games require little to no time out of your day for prep and set-up. Games that rhyme for kids can be as simple as putting sticky notes on a wall!

1. Pass the Rhyme

To play this game with your class, begin by having students gather to form a large circle. Either you or a student comes up with a word to start, then the students take turns going around the circle saying a word that rhymes with the starting word. If a student is stumped, classmates can help to brainstorm words that might work. If no one can help come up with a rhyming word, the next student creates a new starting word. This game also works as an ice breaker or a team building exercise!

Have your students first practice their rhyming skills with this eSpark game. Students will help Fox and Raccoon build a campfire to roast marshmallows by choosing the correct rhyme.

2. I Have, Who Has

For this game, you’ll need a collection of items that can be used to form rhyming pairs. For example, you could have a stuffed cat and a hat, a key and a toy bee. Next, create a card for each student that says “Who has something that rhymes with ___?” See the example below! Next, hand one item and one card, at random, to each student in your class. Then, have students take turns saying “I have ___.” then reading what is written on their card. Once your students make it all the way back to the starting word, they win!

3. Race to the Rhyme

In this outdoor racing game, students are each given a rhyme word for kids that is part of a rhyming pair. They shouldn’t know who has the word that rhymes with their own. Students will then run around the playground or an open space until the teacher says “Find your rhyme!” The students who correctly find their rhyming word pair win.

4. Sticky Rhymes

This rhyme game for kids encourages students to get out of their seat and adds a physical element to the lesson. Before starting, write three to five words on the white board, each in their own column. Using sticky notes, students will take turns writing words that rhyme with those on the board and sticking them to the appropriate column. If a word doesn’t fit in the column it was placed in, the class must discuss what word could replace it.

First, have your class read this story about the witch living in Jimmy’s shoes and answer questions along the way. Then select words from this story to use in the game.

5. Poems for Kids that Rhyme

eSpark offers a number of grade-level poems and rhyme games that feature video and audio aids to enhance comprehension. To make poems a whole-class activity, have students discuss which words create a rhyming pair, or have each student attempt to list every rhyming pair they read — the first student to list all the pairs correctly wins!