What are rhyming words?

Rhyming words are words that sound the same at the end, like cat and hat.

How do rhymes help with reading?

Hearing rhymes helps children notice word endings, which makes it easier to read word families.

Some words have the same sound at the end. We call these rhyming words. Rhymes are fun to say and hear. Many songs and poems use them!

Say cat 🐱 and hat 🎩. Do you hear it? They both end with -at. That means they rhyme!

Now say dog 🐶 and frog 🐸. They both end with -og. They rhyme too!

Say these pairs out loud. Listen for the matching ending.

The beginning sound is different, but the ending sounds the same.

Pick a word, then think of words that rhyme with it. Try cat:

cat → hat → bat → mat → sat

Wow, so many rhymes! Now try sun:

sun → fun → run → bun

Which word does not rhyme? Say them out loud.

Ask a grown-up to say a word. You say a word that rhymes. Then swap! How long can you keep the rhyme going? 🎵

You can now hear rhymes. Rhyming helps you spot word endings when you read. Sing rhyming songs to practise more.