Free Printable Reading Games, Online Spelling and Reading Games

Parents, does it worry you how much your kids play phone or online games? Do you worry that their reading skills will stagnate if they play too many online games? Well, here's a workaround--turn them on to online word games for kids and Internet reading games. Here are free online games for kids, including word games, reading games and spelling games. These reading games can be played on computers or cellphones. Teachers, use these online games for kids to boost not only reading skills, but spelling, grammar, syntax, vocabulary and writing skills. Playing online word games helps visual tracking, perceptual acuity and typing skills, too.

No matter how educational free online games for kids are, parents should still limit time spent gaming. 15-20 minutes of play between tasks is fine. Two hours sitting at the computer or playing on their phones is too much. Gaming should also be done in proportion to outside time and physical activity. For every hour spent on the computer, at play or work, there should be an equal amount of active time. So, here are the best educational free online games for kids to improve reading skills.

ABCya offers Super Word Toss, one of several free online games for kids to teach reading skills. These word games help children work with synonyms and antonyms to learn word meanings. Check out the other word games, reading games and spelling games on this site.

Arcademics has loads of educational free online games for kids. Visit the homepage to find reading games, spelling games, word games, math games and more.

Gamequarium is another educational site with thousands of free online games, There are over 1,500 reading games and nearly 1,000 ELA (English Language Arts) games, including reading games, word games, vocabulary games and spelling games.

From Addicting Games (another free online games site) comes Whizz Words and Whizz Words Deluxe. Kids will learn reading skills playing these crazy fun word games. These spelling games teach kids lightning-fast reflexes, quick thinking and super spelling skills. Whizz Words games combine the concepts of Boggle and Yahtzee. Players have limited time make words from a set of letters but they can only earn points in one category-- 3-letter, 4-letter, 5-letter and so on. The trick with these spelling games is to figure out which letter combinations offer the most of any given word length and then make only words of that length.

Free Printable Kevin Henkes Lesson Plans

Kevin Henkes has given the world of children's literature some wonderfully endearing stories. Most Kevin Henkes kids' books feature anthropomorphic mice facing typical issues that children face. Beloved Kevin Henkes characters include Sheila Rae the Brave, Chrysanthemum, Julius, Owen, Lilly, Chester, Wemberly and Wendell. His kids' book "Kitten's First Full Moon," won the coveted and prestigious Caldecott book medal for best illustrations in children's literature.

If you like this lovable children's literature author, you will want to visit his website and explore thefree printable Kevin Henkes book activities he's made based on some of his beloved characters. The website has free printable word games, puzzles and coloring pages. These are useful for summer enrichment activities, day care fun, children's literature lesson plans and homeschooling activities. Or parents might want to print them just for fun at home.

Kevin Henkes' publisher, Harper Collins has put some of the free printable activities on their website. You might like the free printable activity book for "Lilly's Big Day" Lilly eagerly awaits the best day of her life, being a flower girl in a wedding. She encounters the usual fears and drama. This activity book would be great follow-up or preparation for any event that your child is anticipating. Bibliotherapy, or problem-solving using literature is especially therapeutic for young or special needs children who struggle to find their own voice. Seeing a funny little mouse experience similar events and feelings is tremendously reassuring.

Lilly is the same mouse who so charmed with her purple plastic purse in the book of the same name. Scroll down the page here for all the Lilly and Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse printables Teaching Heart has free printable "Wemberly Worried" and "Chrysanthemum" activities. There are lesson plans from the Kevin Henkes book "Owen" too. Read these books your kids, parents, and you'll see why everyone loves them so.

Free Printable File Folder Games

March is National Reading Month. Here's a great lesson plan to teach reading with file folder games. Students can learn just about any subject using file folder games to reinforce content and practice skills. Here are free printable file folders games online. Besides reading, teach math, reading, spelling, grammar, phonics, science, social studies and more. Print games for all ages and ability levels: preschool, kindergarten, elementary, special needs, middle school. Use for homeschool, too.

File Folder Fun has over 100 free printable file folder games in content areas across the curriculum. Search by age, grade level, theme and subject. File folder themes include animals, foods, flowers, weather, ocean life, circus. Themes teach math, reading, science, social studies, phonics, spelling, math, ELA (English Language Arts) history, music and other preschool and elementary school subjects. Click the games you want. The click "download." And voila, a screen appears with game background, pieces, cards, all materials you need, free.

File Folder Farm has gobs of free printable file folder games for math, English, reading, writing, spelling, science, social studies and more. Games can be used with varied ages. Click the game you want. The print, cut out and and assemble. Or better still, print in black and white. Have students color, cut and paste and assemble. You get two activities--craft, lesson plan and game--all in one!

Cindy's Autistic Support has free printable math file folder games. Use to teach counting, addition, subtraction, multiplication and division file folder games. You can make individual games for each math fact (times table) family.

To make file folder games:

Print game board and glue to inside of file folder. Write instructions on outside. Laminate or cover with contact paper. Make a spinner by drawing a circle. Divide like a pie. Label segments with game advancement options. Place paperclip on paper fastener (brad). Poke fastener through center of circle. Spin paper clip.

Store game cards or pieces in zippered plastic bag or envelope stapled to folder. File folder games store upright in filing cabinet or drawer. Get extra craft mileage from free printable file folder games by assigning students make them.

Free Printable Handwriting, Cursive Penmanship Worksheets

One of the lessons that often gets lost in a teacher's busy school day is penmanship. Arguably, cursive is less important with the advent of computers. Legible handwriting is not nearly as prized as it was when students wrote more and typed less. Older people remember spending hours practicing manuscript and cursive writing. And their penmanship was neater. 

This isn't a debate over the validity of teaching cursive or handwriting skills. Teachers should at least look for neatness in schoolwork. Here are free printable handwriting worksheets, manuscript writing practice pages and cursive penmanship worksheets. Use free printable manuscript (printing letters) and cursive writing worksheets.

There are different methods and styles for teaching penmanship. Zaner-Bloser style is the older handwriting style in which printed letters are written vertically with no slant. Then D'Nnealian came into vogue in the early 1980s. D'nealian manuscript (printed letters) are written at a slant with more rounding of letters. D'nealian is more comfortable to write and works with the curves of the hand and body. D'Nealian print also transitions to cursive writing better. Here are free printable penmanship lessons for both styles of handwriting worksheets.

Writing Wizard has many free printable handwriting worksheets and writing practice pages for manuscript (print) and cursive writing practice pages. There are upper and lower case letters. You can print pages with single letters to practice. Kids Zone has really nice free printable handwriting worksheets and writing practice pages. The letters are grouped according the movements needed to write them. For example, there are the "rockin" round' letters and the "up the slide letters." This site is very kid-friendly. There are gobs more free printable writing and reading lessons on printing, tracing, alphabet, Dolce sight words, phonics, poetry and more.

Handwriting for Kids has a collection of free printable penmanship writing practice pages and handwriting worksheets. Look for cursive writing practice pages on this site. Home Education Resources has a great assortment of free printable penmanship lessons and handwriting worksheets. Each of the cursive handwriting worksheets has a coloring picture on it. Children love to color the pictures when they have finished their handwriting practice. Make the coloring page a reward. When they have shown you their five best examples of the letter, they get to color the pictures.

Handwriting may be a lost art, but it will probably always be needed to some extent. Use these free printable handwriting practice pages as lesson plans, in homeschool or tutoring. 

Free Printable Mystery Writing Prompts, Story Starter Ideas

Are you writing cracker-bland stories that readers only nibble? What defines a story that readers gulp down whole, beg for more before the first even digests? Characters, plot, climax and something else. Learn to write gulp-down-whole stories. A detective story is a branch of mystery fiction with more definitive parameters. Here's how to write stellar detective fiction.

-Begin with the basics. All stories need an introduction, characters, plot, climax, denouement and conclusion. Mystery stories are all about detail and sequence. The mystery may be solved or the reader may be left hanging. Detective stories have all this, but require a detective character.
-Write what you know. If you grew up in Michigan in the 1960's or Mozambique in the 1940's, write to that specific knowledge. If you were in a particular culture or religion, use that too.


-Choose a time period and locale: You can set your story in any time period or place, as long as you know enough about it to make your writing credible.
-Choose a primary setting. Where did the whodunit take place? An abandoned mental hospital, a disused school, onboard a ship, in an old lady's ancestral home: tie it to your locale and envision the details. Be precise, especially as the setting affects the mystery.
-Create a detective: Depending on your setting, match an appropriate person. Your detective can be of any age, strata of society, occupation or nationality.
-Determine how your detective will interact with official authorities. Is he a policeman? Does she solve mysteries as a hobby, but assist with investigations? Maybe he hasn't always been on the side of justice. Father Brown's friend Flambeau was once the greatest jewel thief in Europe. Perhaps your detective operates separately from public investigators or is too young to work professionally. Your detective may have a different occupation altogether: librarian, pharmacist, garbage man (I'll bet a trash collector sees lots of dirty secrets).
-Frame the crime: It may involve a celebrated murder, art theft or a simple local incident that affects only certain people. Maybe it's just an odd occurrence that unravels a larger problem. Outline and sequence the problem. Create a timetable for personal reference and draw a map if necessary. These become the plot.
-People the story. Who are the dramatis personae? Fill in characters, witnesses, suspects, accessories and assistants. Perhaps it's a airplane crew, or members of a club or a family in which the crime occurs.
-Scatter some clues. Toss in details that a witness may notice but not understand. General clues are fine, but try to spice them up (tire marks from certain vehicle, unique food). At the same time, don't make them so complicated that only an expert would understand them.
-Identify the MMO: Every crime is based motive, method and opportunity. The motive is the reason a character might have for committing a crime (money, jealousy). The method is how the crime committed (in the old garage with a tire iron). The opportunity means who was available to have committed the crime.
-Identify the alibis (or lack thereof) for characters: According to the timetable, decide who was where and when at the time the problem occurred or crime was committed.
-Write a climax: Generally, something happens which brings all the events together. It's usually an event of some drama with some element of surprise. You might include some danger or disaster. It is this event that ultimately explains the mystery.
-Write your denouement: This is the resolution of the mystery. This is when secrets come out and loose ends are wrapped up. Some details will reveal themselves and your detective can articulate the rest: the what, who, when, where, how and why.
-Summarize with a short conclusion. Here is the final outcome where we part company with the detective. You might even give a few hints about her next adventures,
Be sure to read a few detective stories for inspiration.

Free Printable Diary of a Wimpy Kid Lesson Plans

Jeff Kinney was named one of Time Magazine's top 100 most influential people a few years ago. And I'm going to guess that unless you're in middle school, you've never heard of him. What has Kinney done to merit such a nomination?

Besides sharing a last (maiden) name with me, Kinney is the author of the wildly popular Diary of a Wimpy Kid kids book series. The Wimpy Kid in question is Greg Heffley and the "diary" is his personal journal of life in middle school. What makes these books resonate so with kids? They're graphic novels (educationally correct name for cartoons).

Pictures poke fun at everyone in Heffley's young life, including himself. We empathize with Greg's intimidation by tuned-out teen brother Roderick and annoyance at lisping, ever-innocent younger brother Manny.

Series includes Diary of a Wimpy Kid, The Last Straw, Roderick Rules, Dog Days, The Ugly Truth, Cabin Fever, Third Wheel, Hard Luck, Greg Heffley's Journal and a Do-it-Yourself Book. The Long Haul came out in November. Here are free printable Diary of a Wimpy Kids activities for Children's Book Week 2015, May 4-10.

Fun Brain has an online Diary of a Wimpy Kid book to read. Parent site Poptropica has free Diary of a Wimpy Kid printables. ESL Printables has free Diary of a Wimpy Kid worksheets. Here's a Diary of a Wimpy Kid quiz to print from Quiz Moz. Ed Helper has a make your own Diary of a Wimpy Kid word wall.

Teacher Vision has a free printable Diary of a Wimpy Kid unit with writing activities, reading extensions, text to text questions, text-to-life connections and text to self connections based upon the book series. These sites have free printable Diary of a Wimpy Kid coloring pages. Here's the other list of Diary of a Wimpy Kid pages to print.

Free Printable Leveled Readers, Phonics Workbooks

Your new reader has just mastered her phonics lessons; she's reading with some fluency. But summer vacation is here. She won't have access to classroom readers. Do you buy a set of classroom readers to keep up her momentum? You can but you don't need to; there are free printable reading books, phonics books, spelling, vocabulary and grade leveled readers right here on the Internet. Or maybe you need some summer enrichment writing activities for your reluctant reader. He's not too crazy about reading to start with, and you are concerned about how the long summer will affect his phonics and reading skills. Certainly you need some reading and writing activities that your children will enjoy. You will also want free printable reading books, phonics books, spelling and writing activities that are easy to manage.

The sole reason many people hire a tutor for their children is that they feel inadequately prepared to teach them. It's important that if you elect to tutor your child at home, you feel confident and prepared. As a teacher, parent and former homeschooler myself, I can assure you that you can tutor your children at home. With the multitude of free printable reading books, spelling, writing activities and phonics lessons available, all you really need to do is assemble some materials for your child, spend a few moments each day on the writing activities, monitor his progress, and most importantly, relax and have fun.

This link offers over 30 free printable reading books and leveled readers to cut, color and assemble. Making booklets will be fun for you and your child to enjoy together. Print these booklets free of charge by simply submitting a valid email address. There are no fees. Naturally, Reading A-Z hopes that you may purchase more of their fine materials. That is your choice. Meanwhile you may enjoy the free booklets. These books are written according to grade level. There are stories that introduce science, social studies and other school content, while practicing phonics, syllables and spelling patterns. Enchanted Learning has more free printable reading books and leveled readersand booklets. DL-TK has many free printable reading books and leveled readers for preschool, emergent reader and early readers.

Free Printable Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs Activities

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is a wonderfully whimsical children's story written by Judi and Ron Barrett in 1982. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is a modern tall tale. Here are free printable Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs activities and lesson plans. There are reading lessons, writing activities, literature extensions, lessons in hyperbole, genre study and even a weather unit based on the book.

Ed Helper has several free printable Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs lesson plans. Check here for more free printable lesson plans based on Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. This site has free printable Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs weather science activities.

Click here for free printable vocabulary and reading lesson plans from Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. Here's a site with free printable vocabulary lessons based on Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs. And last but not least, for a little fun from all that study, free printable Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs movie coloring pages!

Free Printable Series of Unfortunate Events Activities

A Series of Unfortunate Events, is an endearingly popular children's literature series. It's penned by the mysterious and elusive author Lemony Snicket. Despite the gloomy author's grim predictions that no one will like these kids books, millions of children and adults continue follow the Baudelaire children, Klaus, Violet and Sunny. Why not read this wonderful children's literature series with your students or homeschool kids? Here are free printable Series of Unfortunate Events worksheets and activities to supplement.

Lemony Snicket has over twenty different free printable Series of Unfortunate Events games, activities, coloring pages, word games, trivia, ciphers, crossword puzzles, fill-in-the-blanks, anagrams and activities based on works of children's literature. You'll love the activities using Sunny Baudelaire's baby talk to translate messages. Harper Collins, publisher of Lemony Snicket Series of Unfortunate Events free printable 20 page literature guide and activity book based on the Series of Unfortunate Events kids books. The illustrations come from the book and can be used as coloring pages. They lesson plans are called Lamentable Lesson Plans.

This site has free printable Lemony Snicket activities and games based on ASoUE kids books. Notably, there is a link for a free download of the complete Series of Unfortunate Events game for PC. There are also complete free printable Series of Unfortunate Events reading guides for the 13 kids books (of course he had to stop at unlucky number 13!) Lemony Snicket (Daniel Handler) is one intelligent dude. This link to Quiddich show that despite being children's literature, there are many adult allusions to history, literature and world events in the Series of Unfortunate Events kids books. These volumes of children's literature make excellent classroom literature for read-aloud and reader's workshop and teen novel study. The vocabulary is challenging, plots are complicated, characters are engaging and the concept riveting. Explore them in your school, library summer reading club, homeschool or book discussion group. The movies have been quite popular too.

Free Printable Shel Silverstein Printable Activities

Shel Silverstein is a beloved poet, children's author, musician and artist. He's given the world of children's literature dozens of books, poems and funny illustrations to enjoy. Shel passed away in 1999, but children's literature will never forget his charming, silly poems and books. A Light in the Attic, Where the Sidewalk Ends, Runny Babbit, The Giving Tree, Don't Bump the Glump, Lafdacio, the Lion Who Shot Back, A Giraffe and a Half, The Missing Piece, Falling Up are just a few of his delightful works of wit and whimsy. InSilverstein's poems, animals talk, grown-ups are silly and children rule the world from cardboard pirate ships. If you would like to play in his wonderful world, here are free printable Shel Silverstein activities, coloring pages and lesson plans.

There are free printable Shel Silverstein lesson plans, games and poetry writing prompts and activities for National Poetry Month in April. There are online Shel Silverstein games you can play.They each feature the funny characters from favorite Shel Silverstein poems. He's made free printable poetry writing prompts and activities booklets as well. These poetry writing prompts are perfect for classroom lesson plans, homeschool and library reading clubs But you don't need to be a teacher, librarian or even an adult to enjoy free printable lesson plans. His website is devoted to his favorite people: kids!

For young artists, cartoonists and poets, Silverstein designed a free printable poetry writing prompts and activities for children to illustrate. Kids will love creating their own poetry prompts and activities book about "Kate's Scissors" and all the funny things Kate cuts with her scissors. There's another poetry writing prompts activities booklet called "Eight Balloons" for children to make. There are Shel Silverstein themed crafts too. Here are free printable Giving Tree lesson plans. This Sweet Life is a blog with a free printable Shel Silverstein activities packet. Print crossword puzzles, word search, coloring pages and more. Teacher Vision has free printable Shel Silverstein activities, too.

Free Printable Calendars, Lesson Planners, Grade Book

Print Free has gobs and gobs of free printable calendars in tons of different views and configurations. There are monthly calendar printouts, weekly date planners, year-at-a-glance, two-month calendars and online organizers. Choose from different patterns and themes. Select vertical or horizontal style personal planners. Opt for major holidays to be included. There's nothing to download. Just choose the style you want, point and shoot (or click and print, in this case).

Print 2016 Calendars has a vast array of free printable calendars in month styles. Fonts differ by bold, large-print and outline design. Print your online organizers as in grid, bookmark, year-at-a-glance and other styles. These calendar printouts open in PDF or Microsoft Word format (you have to have those software tools installed and enabled to open and print).

Here are tools for online organizers and personal planners to create free printable calendarsfrom Calendar Labs. Add in religious holidays from your specific faith--dates for those are included. Perhaps your religion follows a different calendar, like Hebrew, Islam or Indian. This tool will help you generate and customize a (western year) calendar.

Here's yet another link for free printable calendars to customize. Win Calendar has a really nice, easy-to-use layouts for online organizers. Design personal planners and calendar printouts in the style that works best for you.

Free Printable Inkheart Activities, Lessons

March is National Reading Month, and what better time to explore best loved children's literature classics? The movie Inkheart was based on a trilogy of books by Cornelia Funke, including Inkheart, Inkspell and Inkdeath. This wonderful set of medieval type fantasy literature continues to thrill readers as the film did in 2009. Destined to become a children's literature classic, here are free printableInkheart lesson plans, fantasy coloring pages and activities based on the Cornelia Funke collection. Check EdHelper for free printable Inkheart book activities. Scholastic has a free printable Inkheart literature guide for Cornelia Funke books Inkspell and Inkdeath and companion movies.

The movie website at Warner Bros. has downloads including a free printable Inkheart activity booklet. Keep the Inkheart magic alive with beautifully illustrated word puzzles, word games, crossword, mad-libs, maze, hidden messages, design a fantasy butterfly and more. Each activity page can be enjoyed as a coloring page as well. The drawings are intricate and whimsical and will help readers respond to Inkspell and Inkdeath as they read them.

Beyond that, there aren't too many Cornelia Funke Inkheart, Inkspell or Inkdeath coloring pages available online, so here are general fantasy and medieval coloring pages. Here's a page of free printable Inkheart activities and lesson plans as well. Here are a few Inkheart lesson plans that cover Inkspell and Inkdeath, too. Cornelia Funke has written a literary classic which became a much-loved movie with Brendan Frasier, Andy Serkis Helen Mirren, Jim Broadbent and Paul Bettany. Lovers of fantasy books will love joining Mo, Meggie, Dustfinger, Farid, Resa and all the fantastical characters of Inkheart. And maybe filmmakers will make Inkspell into a sequel?

Free Printable Reading Lesson Plans, Writing, Literature, ELA Activities

Here are free printable reading worksheets, online reading activities, phonics lessons, English Language Arts or ELA activities and online reading games

RHL School offers free printable reading activities, 

Educator Adrian Bruce has a website loaded with free printable reading activities, phonics lessons, ELA activities and online reading games to 

The Teacher's Corner provides free printable reading worksheets on spelling, decoding, phonics lessons, comprehension, vocabulary, ELA activities

School Express offers 11,000+ free printable worksheets, 

Busy Teacher's Cafe provides innovative free printable reading worksheets 

Ed Helper is literally jammed with thousands of free printable reading worksheets, phonics lessons, spelling and ELA activities and online reading activities. 

Free Websites for English, Essay, Report, Composition, Writing Help

Top 10 Websites for Free Printable English Lesson Plans Review of websites that offer free English or writing homework help. Great sources for assistance with report writing, creative writing, essays, personal narrative, poetry, composition and technical writing. read on