First graders need to be able to read color words quickly and accurately, without taking the time to sound them out. Here's a fun bingo game designed to give your first grader fun, colorful practice learning to recognize words like "red" and "purple."

First graders benefit greatly from learning to read words quickly and automatically, but practice doesn't need to be a chore. In this "out-of-the-box" approach to practicing sight words, practice looks a lot like play!

First graders develop their reading skills rapidly, applying a range of learned strategies to decode unknown words. Help your child practice reading, and blending them into words, with this fun activity!

In first grade, vocabulary moves to center stage. But when a kid gets stumped--and we all feel that way sometimes, even as adults--it's time to turn to a lifetime resource: the dictionary. Want a fun way to help your child start making friends with this reference tool? Try this treasure hunt!

Take a regular old beach ball, a sharpie marker, and a first grader. What do you get? An outdoor activity that works on reading comprehension, in the midst of a game of catch!

At some point in your life, you've probably played the game "I Spy." It's perfect for boring waits at the grocery store, or long car rides. But with a little tweaking, the game can also help kids practice a key first grade concept...syllables. Here's how to play:

Compound words may look hard at first, but things get easier if kids can spot two smaller words that they already know. Want to add a little "holy moly!" to something that can feel ho hum? This card game will help you practice making compound words-- and have some fun while you're at it!

This hunt for leprechaun gold is so much fun, kids won't even realize they're working their reading muscles at the same time.

Who are the people young readers meet in their books? How do authors help us know what these characters are like? This reading and writing activity will help your first grader build important comprehension skills that she'll need in second and third grade, too.

A contraction is an abbreviated form of two words. It contains an apostrophe which indicates that there are missing letters. Help your child figure out contractions and their original two words by playing this simple game.