Spelling Game

Spelling Game is a friendly spelling practice tool for kids from kindergarten to 5th grade. Pick a word list, then hear a word and spell it, fill in missing letters, unscramble letters or pop the right sight word. Parents and teachers can paste in this week’s spelling list and share it with a link. It is one of the free spelling games and sight words games you can play online, with no download or sign-up, on a computer, tablet or phone.

Word lists

• Grades K to 5: our own picks of common words for each grade, from words you can sound out (cat, web) through blends and vowel teams (ship, cloud) to tricky spellings such as knife, believe and rhythm. Schools use different lists, so treat these as practice, not an official curriculum.
• Dolch sight words: the Pre-primer, Primer, 1st grade, 2nd grade, 3rd grade and Nouns lists, word for word as the Wikipedia article on the Dolch word list gives them. Edward W. Dolch published these high-frequency words in 1936 and 1948.
• Themes: Animals, Dinosaurs, Food, Colors and Numbers.
• My lists: your own custom list, plus any list someone has shared with you.

Every built-in word has its own short example sentence, written for young readers.

How to play

• Listen & Spell: the game reads the word, a sentence that uses it and the word again. Tap the letter keys or type, then press Check. Word, Sentence and Slow buttons replay it. If your device cannot read aloud, or Voice is off, you get the sentence with a blank and the word’s letters to arrange.
• Missing Letters: the word appears with one, two or three gaps, depending on its length. Tap the letter tiles to fill them in, using the sentence clue.
• Unscramble: the letters are mixed up. Tap them in order to spell the word. Tap a filled box to take a letter back.
• Sight Word Pop: the game says a word and six bubbles float on screen. Pop the one that shows it, or tap Show me to see the word first. A wrong bubble tells you which word it was.

Each round is 10 words (or fewer for short lists). Words you have not mastered yet come up more often.

Kind feedback and hints

A miss never ends the round. The letters you got right turn green and stay in place, so you only fix the orange boxes. Hint fills in the next letter. After two tries the game shows the spelling letter by letter, then you copy it to carry on.

Stars and mastery

Every round earns 1 to 3 stars, based on how many words you spelled on the first try (a word finished after a hint or a second try counts half). Your best stars for each game and list show on the home screen. A word is mastered after three first-try spellings. See words colors every word on the list from Not tried through Learning and Almost to Mastered. Practice tricky words replays the words you missed.

Make and share a custom list

Tap Custom List, give the list a name and paste up to 60 words, one per line or separated by commas. To add a sentence for Listen & Spell, put a colon after the word, for example “shell: I found a shell on the beach.” Words can use letters, apostrophes and hyphens (up to 15 letters), and the game fills in apostrophes and hyphens for you. Share link makes a web address with the list inside it. Anyone who opens it gets the list on their device and can save it to My list.

Tips

• New readers: start with Sight Word Pop, then try Missing Letters and Unscramble.
• Say the letters out loud as you type them.
• Use the sentence to tell apart words that sound alike, such as their and there.
• Practice a little every day. Short rounds beat one long session.

FAQ

Is Spelling Game free?

Yes, with no account and no install.

What ages is it for?

Kids from about age 5 up to 5th grade. Pick an easier or harder list to match the child.

Does it read words out loud?

Yes, on most devices it uses your browser’s built-in voice. If there is no voice, Listen & Spell switches to a sentence clue with the letters.

Can I use my child’s school spelling list?

Yes. Paste it into Custom List and use Share link to send it to another device or to a class.

Is progress saved?

Yes, stars, mastery and your custom list are saved in your browser on this device. Clearing your browser data starts fresh.

Ready for more word play? Guess the hidden word letter by letter in Hangman, or race the clock to unjumble words in Word Scramble.