Sight Word Games: Red Rover

Red Rover, Red Rover is an outdoor game that I fondly remember. We made a couple of tweaks; we added sight words and removed the risk factor. What more can a parent or teacher ask for?

Typically this game is played by forming a wall/line by holding hands. When a child’s name is called, he tries to break through the wall. We highly recommended using streamers in lieu of a human wall. We found these streamers at Party City for $1.99 for 30 feet.

How to Play Sight Word Red Rover

Divide the children into two groups. Each group forms a finish line; they should be approximately 30 feet apart. We highly recommended using streamers so just two players would hold the streamers as opposed to each player holding hands. The remainder would cheer on each player.

Typically the game begins by calling another player, e.g. red rover, red rover, let Denise come over. Denise would then proceed to run from her line and break the other line. If she doesn’t break the line, she belongs to this team. If she breaks the line, she then selects one player to join her team.

We slightly altered the game play to include sight words. You can limit the number of sight words to 2 or 3 or have a different word for each player. Using name tags or sticky notes, give each player a sight word. Put each sight word in a hat and randomly select words. If that person has that sight word, they must run and break the streamers. If you prefer competition, each team would receive the same number of sight words. They would complete against each other to see who breaks the streamer first. This game can be played many different ways. The key is to get each child to automatically recognize the sight words while playing a fun active game. The game is over when everyone is in one line.

Please visit our sight word games section for additional ideas.