1. Overview

Complete a sentence with multiple rhyming one-syllable words. Your child will learn to create rhymes quickly with no contextual clues.
pack the plane
“Pack the plane with pears!”
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2. Materials

  • Script
  • Beanbag, ball of yarn, or soft ball
Here are some groups of one-syllable rhyming words that could be used for this activity. (There are many more besides these!)
  • mop, pop, top, cop, flop
  • boat, coat, goat, float, moat
  • block, clock, dock, lock, rock, sock, smock
  • cab, lab, scab, tab, crab
  • ham, yam, lamb, jam, ram, clam, spam
  • cake, lake, rake, take, snake, flake, steak
  • shoe, blue, two, zoo, moo
  • duck, truck, buck, cluck, stuck, puck
  • bill, dill, hill, pill, grill, drill, mill, spill
  • rig, fig, jig, pig, wig
  • tree, flea, bee, key, me, pea, tea
  • ink, sink, wink, pink, drink, slink, stink
  • hat, mat, bat, cat, gnat, pat, rat, vat, flat, splat
  • bear, pear, hare, fair, lair, mare, chair
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3. Activity

Video: How to play Pack the Plane!
Explain that you are going to play a game in which you load up an imaginary airplane with lots of things that rhyme with each other. Then you start the rhyming sequence:
Adult: Pack the plane with mops. [Toss the beanbag to the child.] Child: Pack the plane with…pops!
Then she tosses the beanbag back to you. You repeat the initial rhyme (mops), pass the beanbag, and the child comes up with a new rhyming word, such as tops, cops, flops. (They don’t have to make sense, as long as they rhyme.) Keep going till she can’t think of any more rhymes, then start a new series: “Pack the plane with trees.” As the child grows more comfortable with the game, pass the beanbag faster to increase the pace of the game. ↑ Top

4. Confidence Builder

If you need to make the game a little easier, add a clue to the sentence. For example, if the original sentence is, “Pack the plane with cakes,” and she has trouble coming up with a new rhyming word, try “Pack the plane with slithering ______.” Include hand motions to indicate the movement of a snake. This should prompt her to say snakes in response. ↑ Top

5. Extensions

Rhyming Pair: Ask your child to come up with a pair of rhyming words. Then ask him if he can think of any other words that rhyme with that pair. Explain that sometimes there are lots of words that all rhyme with each other. Synonyms: For a little extra challenge, you can introduce the concept of synonyms. Let’s say your last sentence in one series is, “Pack the plane with hats.” Follow that up by asking, “What is another word for hats?” Your child should respond with caps, and then you can make caps the beginning of your next rhyme series. ↑ Top

6. Small Groups (2-5 children)

Lesson Objective: Children will be able to complete a sentence with multiple one-syllable rhyming words, with no context clues. GELDS (Georgia Early Learning & Development Standards): CLL6.4b Georgia Standards of Excellence: ELAGSEKRF2.a Common Core State Standards: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.K.2.A Additional Materials:
  • optional: toy plane
Adaptation: Read the main activity, watch the video, and follow the instructions above, with the following changes: Arrange the children in a circle, on the floor or at a table, depending on the size of the group. Begin the game by saying, “Let’s pack the plane with cars.” Hand the ball or beanbag to a child, and ask: “What can you take on the plane that rhymes with cars?” The child gives a rhyming word (“Jars!”), then passes the beanbag to someone else, who gives another rhyming word. Keep passing until no one can think of another rhyme. Let a child begin the next game. “Let’s pack the plane with dogs.” Reinforcement: Do the activity above, but with a different theme. Here are a couple options:
  • For My Birthday
    • For my birthday, I want a dog.
    • For my birthday, I want a hog.
  • In My Bathtub…Fancy That!
    • In my bathtub was a cat.
    • In my bathtub was a hat.
Use this Reinforcement at Home form to tell parents and guardians how they can reinforce lessons outside the classroom. ↑ Top

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