A Rhyme at a Time
Hearing which words end the same way
How it plays
A grid of words, each with a partner that rhymes with it. Your child taps one, then hunts for the one that sounds the same at the end. Best played out loud.
What it's for
Hearing which words end the same way. It adapts as your child plays: after a few rounds that go well it steps up a little, and after a couple of hard ones it quietly steps back. The level number only ever goes up.
There is no score to lose and no way to fail. A wrong move is met with a gentle nudge, and a level ends when it's won.
Away from the screen: Rhyme ping-pong
About two minutes, with things most homes have.
- Say a word: bat.
- Your child says a word that rhymes: hat, mat, sat. Made-up words count too.
- Keep going back and forth until you run out, then pick a new word.
Three questions to ask while they play
- Say them both out loud. Do they sound the same at the end?
- Can you think of another word that rhymes?
- Which part of the words sounds the same?
Play together
Things to say or ask
- Say them both out loud. Do they sound the same at the end?
- Bat, hat… what else rhymes with that?
- Rhymes can be silly. Make one up!
Taking turns on one device: Take turns. Before you match a pair, the other player makes up a third rhyme for it.
Talk-about cards: a question a day for a week, for the car or the dinner table. Print them, or read them from your phone.
If they find it hard
Say the two words out loud together before choosing.
A sheet to print
Print the A Rhyme at a Time sheet
One A4 page, in black and white or colour.
What it practises
- Hearing rhymes. Knowing which words rhyme: bat and hat.
AC9EFLY09 (English, Foundation) - New words. Meeting and using everyday words.
AC9EFLA08 (English, Foundation); EYLF 5.1 (Early Years Learning Framework V2.0)
The codes are from the Early Years Learning Framework V2.0 (for children from birth to five) and the Australian Curriculum v9 (Foundation to Year 2). Each links to the official wording. Every skill, and the games for it.
What it costs, and what we collect
Nothing, and nothing. There is no account, no advertising and no tracking of any kind. Which games have been played is remembered on your own device and is never sent anywhere. The full version is here, and it's short.
Where it lives
A Rhyme at a Time lives in The Quiet Deep — words and spelling. It works on a phone, a tablet or a classroom screen, and once it's been opened it keeps working with no signal at all.
Updated