Ghost Themed Rhyming Words

Eleven ghost picture cards, six that rhyme with ghost and five that don't, are sorted onto two haunted house mats in an Early Years and Foundation phonics word sort.
Year levels
Foundation, Pre-school (Early Years)
Pages
3
File type
PDF
Preparation
Print ready

Updated Oct 27, 2025

Subject
Phonics, Language Development, English
Topic
Preschool Literacy Centre, Foundation Literacy
Resource types
Activities
Preparation
Print ready

From the author

About this resource

This rhyming sort is a great hands on activity for recognising words that end with "ost." This is an easy and fun activity to give students who need practice with identifying rhyming words. Students will sort pictures that rhyme with the word ghost using this ghost themed rhyming activity.

How to Use:

To complete this sorting activity, students will look at a picture on a ghost to determine if the picture rhymes with ghost or does not rhyme with ghost, and then the students will place the ghost on the correct haunted house mat.

This sorting activity includes 3 pages that contains

  • One haunted house mat for pictures that rhyme with ghost

  • One haunted house mat for pictures that do not rhyme with ghost

  • Ghost pictures that rhyme with ghost

  • Ghost pictures that do not rhyme with ghost


This rhyming sort can be used in the following ways

  • Literacy centres

  • Fine motor centres

  • File folder activity

  • Add magnets to the picture cards for a baking tray activity

  • Small group activities

  • Morning work

  • Relief plans

If making a file folder game, the teacher will place the mats on either side of the folder and use hook and loop fasteners to sort the ghost pictures. File folders create a portable activity students can complete anywhere in the classroom.


Skills assessed with these rhyming sorting mats

  • Students will identify words that rhyme with ghost

  • Students will show the ability to sort the picture cards on to the correct mat

This rhyming words sorting activity is a low prep activity. All a teacher needs to do is to print the three pages, cut out the picture cards and laminate the pages and cards if desired. The activity is easy to set up and to put away and store.

This download includes a PDF with 3 usable pages.

In the classroom

Teaching tips & learning objectives

Learning objectives

  • Recognise which of eleven given words share the -ost rhyme sound with ghost.

  • Sort word cards into rhyming and non-rhyming categories based on sound rather than spelling alone.

  • Distinguish true rhymes, such as coast and toast, from words unrelated in sound, such as key, band, and pan.

Teaching tips

  • Cut apart the card page (page 3) into individual cards before the lesson, since the cards are printed together on one page rather than pre-cut.

  • Read each word aloud with students rather than relying on sight alone — this is a phonological-awareness rhyme sort, not a spelling-pattern match, so a word like coast still rhymes even though it is spelt -oast rather than ghost's -ost.

  • Lay the two sorting mats (Rhymes with Ghost / Does Not Rhyme with Ghost) side by side so students have a clear physical space to place each sorted card.

Skills covered

  • Rhyme recognition — students identify which of eleven words share the -ost sound with ghost, such as coast, boast, and toast.

  • Auditory discrimination — students distinguish true rhymes from words that merely look similar or are unrelated in sound, such as key, ring, and pan.

  • Word sorting — students physically categorise cut-apart picture cards on two labelled sorting mats.

Good to know

Questions teachers ask about this resource

Which included words don't obviously look like they'd rhyme with ghost?

Coast, boast, roast and toast — they share the sound of ghost but are spelt -oast, while most and post match its -ost spelling exactly, so students need to rely on sound rather than spelling.

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Resource details

Concepts & topics

Core concepts

  • Rhyming words

  • Phonological awareness

  • Word sorting

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