Tired of rolling gutter balls with your reading students?

Pick up a lucky strike with our engaging sight words identification game! 

🎳 This Sight Word Learning Game Is Right Up Your Alley 

Through bowling activity, students will show they can read common words by sight from the Dolch Primer list of high-frequency words.

To play, the students will choose a bowling ball card and read the sight word. If they have the matching bowling pin, they’ll remove it from their set. 

Scaffolding + Extension Tips 

Challenge fast finishers who already understand the concept to write the words in alphabetical order on a separate piece of paper.

Support students who need help understanding the concepts by using an anchor chart or sight word wall as a visual reference.  

Get our 10 Best Scaffolding Strategies here! 

Turn 1 Game Into More Fun Sight Word Activities 

We created this resource for your reading center as an independent practice activity. You can also use it for small group and full-class instruction through scoot activities, lesson reviews, formative assessments, and more! 

We suggest these: 

🔍 Scavenger Hunt

Divide your class into teams and give each an equal set of bowling pins to keep at their team station. Hide the bowling ball cards around the room when your students are not around, then set them loose! As soon as they find a card that matches the word on one of their pins, they bring it to their station and match it. If they find a card that does not match one of their pins, they leave it in the same spot they found it and set off to find the others. The first team to match all their pins and bowling balls wins! 

👟 Sight Words Relay Race

Split the class into two teams and have them line up in their group on one side of the room. Place the bowling pins in a central location between teams. Shuffle and divide the cards between teams, putting the card piles face-down in front of each line. When you say, “Go!” the first player in each line will grab the top card, run to the other side of the room, read it, and bring the matching pin back to their team. Then the next person in line does the same, and so on. The team that correctly matches the pins to their cards first wins.

🃏 Memory Match

Bonus points for this version of the game as it helps students with their memorization skills! Print 2 sets of bowling ball cards and lay them all face down. Each player takes their turn flipping 2 cards at a time until either finds matching words and sets the pair aside to keep score. 

Easily Prepare This Resource for Your Students

Print on cardstock for added durability and longevity. Place all pieces in a folder or large envelope for easy access. 

Before You Download

Use the dropdown icon on the Download button to choose between the PDF or Google Slides version of this resource. 

This resource was created by Lindsey Phillips, a teacher in Michigan and Teach Starter Collaborator. 

Why stop there? We have plenty more sight word activities and teaching resources for you!  

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Pyramid Reading Cards - Dolch Primer Sight Words

Practice and review the Dolch Primer List of high-frequency words with 52 short phrase cards for emergent readers.

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Roll It! Read It! Write It! - Dolch Primer Sight Words

Practice reading and writing high-frequency Dolch Primer sight words with this board game for up to 6 players.

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Sight Word Hunt - Dolch Primer

Practice reading high-frequency words by sight with a set of 8 Dolch Primer Sight Words game boards.