Sparking a love for learning takes time—and a great activity to kickstart the process! If you’ve been searching for 3rd grade reading games and activities that are truly engaging for kids, you’re in luck. We have plenty to share!
Our team of former educators has created these effective and engaging resources you can use to help your students master key standards. All of the games listed below are tailored to state standards, and can be found within eSpark’s differentiated reading curriculum. Try out these games with your students for free, or sign up today to start assigning Small Group Skills and monitoring student progress!
1. Dumpster Adventure
Jay, a big-city rat, lives in the subway. Jay’s grown tired of the bland foods left in the trash—that is, until Guiseppe shows up! Read about their mission to get a taste of the city.
- Skill: Ask and answer questions in fiction text
- Assign the Small Group Skill
2. Jungle Racers: Idiom Edition
Complete the sentences with the right expressions to beat your friends in a race through the jungle.
- Skill: Literal vs. non-literal language
- Assign the Small Group Skill
3. Underwater Adventure
Dr. Z is exploring the ocean in her submarine. Read passages and answer questions to help her collect underwater objects to study in her lab!
- Skill: Ask and answer questions in non-fiction text
- Assign the Small Group Skill
4. Panda Breakout: Words with Suffixes
The pandas are locked up and need your help getting the keys to freedom from the guard robots! Answer the questions to outsmart the robots and get the keys to free the pandas.
- Skill: Common prefixes and suffixes
- Assign the Small Group Skill
5. Cloud Surfing: Sight Words
Soar through the sky by selecting the sight words that you hear. Gain a power boost by answering correctly on the first try!
- Skill: Sight word recognition
- Assign the Small Group Skill
Engagement you can feel, results you can see
The 3rd grade reading games and activities in this article were sampled from eSpark’s growing curriculum library, spanning a wide range of math and reading standards in grades K-5 (with additional grade-level coverage to differentiate up and down). eSpark content is always fresh, never boring, and includes activities like these to go along with a wide variety of instructional videos, songs, and checks for understanding. The program uses a unique combination of play-based learning and evidence-based direct instruction designed to spark a love of learning in every student.
If you’re already an eSparker, stay tuned for more fun content curations. If not, what are you waiting for? Click the sign up button at the top of this page to get started for free.