This first grade spelling words game helps children practice 20 first grade spelling words by playing: unscramble the letters, pick the correct spelling, race cars or sprint through true and false sentences. The words include cat, dog, sun and hat and rain, and the wrong choices are realistic mistakes such as a dropped letter or a swapped vowel. Free, with no sign-up.
First grade spelling words game: see how it plays
The grade 1 spelling game opens in Word Scramble and has three more modes. The printable list has all 20 words with a place to write each one.
Word scramble game and three more modes: how the first grade spelling words game works
All four modes use the same 20 words, so a child meets each spelling several times in different ways. These examples come from this list:
| Mode | What the child does | Example from this list |
|---|---|---|
| Word Scramble | Taps the letter tiles in order, ten words a round; hearing the word first costs a point | ihfs becomes fish |
| Balloon Pop | Pops the one correct spelling before the balloons drift off; three misses end the round | milk, mik, miilk, melk |
| Answer Race | Picks the right spelling to move a car forward; the first to 15 beats three computer cars | shop or shpo |
| True or False | Judges spellings for sixty seconds; a streak of five or more scores double | bel is false, bell is true |
The wrong spellings are made by dropping a letter, doubling a letter, swapping two neighbors or changing a vowel, the same slips children make in their own writing.
First grade spelling word list: all 20 words in the first grade spelling words game
The words are 3 to 4 letters long, with an average of 3.6 letters: 7 have 3 letters and 13 have 4 letters. Use the list for a weekly spelling test, or print the word list and play the game for practice.
| No. | Word | Letters | Spelling tip |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | cat | 3 | short a: c-a-t |
| 2 | dog | 3 | short o, ends in g |
| 3 | sun | 3 | short u |
| 4 | hat | 3 | -at family, rhymes with cat |
| 5 | red | 3 | short e |
| 6 | big | 3 | short i, ends in g |
| 7 | run | 3 | -un family: sun, run |
| 8 | fish | 4 | sh at the end |
| 9 | frog | 4 | fr blend, ends in g |
| 10 | jump | 4 | mp ending |
| 11 | milk | 4 | lk ending |
| 12 | nest | 4 | st ending |
| 13 | ship | 4 | sh at the start |
| 14 | shop | 4 | sh at the start, o as in dog |
| 15 | chin | 4 | ch digraph |
| 16 | duck | 4 | ck after a short vowel |
| 17 | bell | 4 | double l after a short vowel |
| 18 | tree | 4 | ee says long e |
| 19 | play | 4 | ay at the end of a word |
| 20 | rain | 4 | ai in the middle of a word |
Spelling patterns in the first grade spelling words game
Words are easier to learn in groups that share a pattern. These are the patterns in this list:
| Pattern | Words | What to teach |
|---|---|---|
| Short vowel words | cat, hat, dog, sun, run, red, big | Three sounds, three letters. Tap out c-a-t on your fingers, then write one letter for each tap. |
| Digraphs sh and ch | fish, ship, shop, chin | Two letters make one sound. Children should treat sh and ch as a single unit. |
| Blends | frog, jump, nest, milk | The letters keep their own sounds: f-r in frog and m-p in jump. |
| Double letters and ck | duck, bell | After a short vowel at the end of a word, use ck (duck) or double the l (bell). |
| Vowel teams | tree, play, rain | Two letters make one long vowel sound. Use ai in the middle of a word (rain) and ay at the end (play). |
Wikipedia’s spelling article explains why English spelling has so many patterns and exceptions, and why teaching patterns works better than memorizing each word alone.
First grade spelling practice: a 4-week plan
Twenty words are easiest to learn in four weekly groups of five. Introduce one group per week, review the earlier groups, and use the game for the final check:
| Week | Words |
|---|---|
| Week 1 | cat, dog, sun, hat and red |
| Week 2 | big, run, fish, frog and jump |
| Week 3 | milk, nest, ship, shop and chin |
| Week 4 | duck, bell, tree, play and rain |
Each week adds its group to the earlier ones. The patterns to point out:
- Week 1: cat (short vowel words), dog (short vowel words), sun (short vowel words), hat (short vowel words), red (short vowel words).
- Week 2: big (short vowel words), run (short vowel words), fish (digraphs sh and ch), frog (blends), jump (blends).
- Week 3: milk (blends), nest (blends), ship (digraphs sh and ch), shop (digraphs sh and ch), chin (digraphs sh and ch).
- Week 4: duck (double letters and ck), bell (double letters and ck), tree (vowel teams), play (vowel teams), rain (vowel teams).
End each week with a short test of that group plus two words from earlier weeks.
Grade 1 spelling words: where the first grade spelling words game fits at school
| Level | What children are expected to do |
|---|---|
| Grade 1 (US) | Language standard L.1.2.d: use conventional spelling for words with common spelling patterns and for frequently occurring irregular words |
See the Common Core grade 1 language standards for the full wording.
First grade spelling words game: frequently asked questions
What are first grade spelling words?
They are words that children are expected to learn to spell in grade 1. This game uses 20 of them, including cat, dog and sun.
How many words are in the first grade spelling words game?
There are 20 words in the list, and each round of Word Scramble uses ten of them, chosen at random.
Which spelling pattern has the most words?
Short vowel words has the most, with 7 words: cat, hat, dog, sun, run, red, big.
What do the wrong spellings look like?
They are slips a child might really write. For milk the choices include mik (a dropped letter), miilk (a doubled letter) and melk (a changed vowel), and for shop one choice is shpo (two letters swapped).