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Give the Dog a Bone Game

Word-reading game where children read the three- or four-letter word on each bone and, if they read it correctly, feed it through the mouth of a cardboard dog.
Give the Dog a Bone Game preview
Give the Dog a Bone Game preview

Look Inside · 10 pages

Give a Dog a Bone cover: a Dalmatian beside three-letter word bones (pig, fun, sun, hot, hat) and the read-and-feed rule
Introduce the word-reading game to the group
Game setup and rules: mount the dog on a shoebox, then players read word bones and feed correct ones through its mouth
Teacher prep notes and rules to explain before play
Dalmatian head cut-out piece: stick on cardboard, then cut out the head and the inside of the mouth for the bone slot
Print on cardstock; the mouth becomes the bone slot
Dalmatian body cut-out piece showing the spotted chest and front legs, to stick on cardboard and glue below the head
Assembly piece that attaches to the front of the box
Dalmatian tail cut-out piece to stick on cardboard and attach to the far end of the box so it shows above the head
Final assembly piece for the dog box
Word bone cards to cut out: 24 short words for decoding practice, including cat, dog, fox, big, red, egg, mud, bed and run
First set of word cards to deal out to players
Second sheet of 24 word bones with CVC words and names such as hot, sun, jam, Tom, Meg, mug, picnic, lemon and tab
Adds names and a few two-syllable words to the pile
Word bones mixing CVC words with short words: tablet, kit, bag, vet, Dad, Mum, do, so, and, you, be, by, up, yes
Mix into the deck for a blend of decodable and tricky words
Sight word bones to read aloud: 24 high-frequency words such as it, is, a, the, can, I, go, she, that, they and this
Use alone for a sight-word round of the game
CVC word bones for blending: tag, cod, fog, fan, nan, pat, cap, pod, pot, jet, jog, log, rod, map, dam and met
Extra decodable cards to extend or differentiate play
Grades
Preschool–1, Elementary
File type
PDF
Preparation
Print ready

Updated Oct 02, 2026

Subject
ELA, Language Development, Phonics
Topic
3 letter words, initial sounds
Resource types
Activities, Games
Preparation
Print ready

About this resource

What's inside this resource

Read the word on the bone. If you get it right feed it to the dog. Woof! Woof! A fun game to reinforce reading.

Introducing you to our brand new ‘Mission Spelling Zero’ scheme. Help your child/ren to take their first steps in reading, writing and spelling, with this exciting structured scheme.

How to prepare

Cut out the dog‘s head, body and tail. Glue the head and body together and attach to a box (shoebox). Stick the tail to the other end of the box, so it can be seen just above the box.

How to play:

Muddle up and divide the bones equally between the number of children playing. Each child takes a turn to read a word from their pile. If they read the word correctly, everyone shouts “WOOF! WOOF! WOOF!” and the child slots it through the dogs mouth. However, if they read the word incorrectly, everyone shouts “Grrrr....” and the word bone has to go to the bottom of the child’s pile. The first child to feed all their bones to the dog is the winner.

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Initial Sounds & Three Letter Words: Dan’s Dog At The Vet Initial Sounds & Three Letter Words: Dan’s Dog At The VetPlay A Matching Game To Learn 26 Initial Consonant Sounds Play A Matching Game To Learn 26 Initial Consonant SoundsLearn The Initial Phonic Sounds 's, i, k, h, b' Learn The Initial Phonic Sounds 's, i, k, h, b'Play A Sound Game ‘Zap’ To Reinforce Three Letter Words Play A Sound Game ‘Zap’ To Reinforce Three Letter Words

In the classroom

Teaching tips & learning objectives

Learning objectives

  • Decode three- and four-letter short-vowel words
  • Read common sight words such as the, she and they

Teaching tips

  • Building the dog takes thick cardboard, glue and a box such as a shoebox, with the head at one end and the tail at the other, so assemble it before the first game.

Skills covered

  • Decoding CVC words — each player reads the word on a bone aloud before feeding it to the dog

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Resource details

Concepts & topics

Core concepts

  • CVC words
  • Short vowels
  • Sight words
  • Decoding

Topics

3 letter words initial sounds phonics reading game give the dog a bone game give the dog a bone games give a dog a bone games

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Categories this resource belongs to

ELA Activities Phonics Activitites ELA Games Phonics Games Pre-K Activities 1st Grade Activities

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