Sunrise Readers Book Two – Work and Play – Word and Sentence Dice Games

“Play is our brain’s favourite way of learning.” Diane Ackerman. We, the Sunrise Readers authors, know from over thirty years of teaching experience that this is true. PLUS – we love learning through play ourselves! We want our young learners to enjoy learning and practising their recognition of words and letter-sounds. Here is another game to reinforce and consolidate the words and sounds our learners have encountered in Sunrise Readers Books 1 and 2, focusing on Book 2 – We Work and Play.

The resources required for these games are available – see the links to the free downloadable PDFs below.

Using the Dice and Word Cards:

This game may be played by individuals, in pairs or in groups of up to six.

Each word dice is accompanied by two relevant word cards:  SEE THE INSTRUCTION VIDEO that is available on this link:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4W_IxhgG5_k&t=322s

1         Orange dice – picture/word/sentence cards on pages 1, 2 and 3.

2       Yellow dice –  word/sentence cards on pages 4 and 5.   

3          Blue dice      –  word/ sentence cards on page 6 and 7.

4          Green dice  –   word/ sentence cards on pages 8 and 9.

5          Pink dice     –   word/ sentence cards on pages 10 and 11.

6          Pink dotty dice – word/ sentence cards on pages 12 and 13.

Game 1: Simple word matching:

Download, print and use the Book 2 word dice and word/sentence cards – if you use light card and laminate the word/sentence cards, they can be used over and over again for years. For Game 1, you only use the dice and the word cards.

Give each group a word dice and the relevant matching word card (see above photo). Each player throws the dice. He/she makes sure the word is the correct way up, and reads it aloud twice. She then places the dice on the matching word  on the relevant word card. If she is correct, all the players clap and cheer.

Game 2: Using the relevant short sentence cards:

Give each group a dice and the relevant matching sentence cards (see dice and pages above). Each player throws the dice and reads the word aloud. He/ she then has to find the short sentence that contains that word. He reads the short sentence aloud and places the dice on that square. If he is correct, all the players clap and cheer. The group may then read the short sentence together before the next player picks up the dice and throws it for a new word. See the photographs below.

Game 3: Using only the word dice.

Each player throws the dice and reads the word aloud. He or she then makes a sentence out of that word. e.g. crocodile. “A crocodile can swim.” Any sentence with the word crocodile in it is correct. If the player cannot make the sentence, someone else in the group may help him or her.

Game 4: : Using the word dice, the relevant sentence word card and wordlist small flashcards from Book 2:

In advance: Print and cut out the small flashcards. You could laminate them to make them last a long time. Put the flashcards relevant to each Dice Game Word Card into an envelope to accompany the dice and the word card.

1. The players set out the small flashcards, reading each word out loud as they set it out.
2. A player throws the dice. Reads the word aloud.
3. The player finds that word on the relevant Dice Game sentence word card.
4. He/ she reads that sentence aloud.
5. He/she then builds that sentence using the small flashcards in the envelope.

Resources for these games are available here: