Free Printable Back to School Word Strips

by Marissa Labuz | May 24, 2023

The start of the school year is almost here and I wanted to offer my readers an awesome free printable for your young students. These back to school word strips are great for hanging in the classroom or using for copying and handwriting practice.

Download Free Back to School Wordstrips

These word strips are perfect for little ones because they are easy to read and most importantly, they have an image to go along with the word.

Having the image is very helpful for these back to school sight word strips because the student should be able to read them better on their own. They can look at the image and know the beginning sound which helps them start to sound out the word as well.

At the bottom of this article you’ll be able to give your email address to get the word strips sent right to your email.

Benefits of Word Strips

These word strips are great for having your preschooler, pre-k student, or kindergartener practice recognizing and writing letters and understanding letter sounds.

Free Back To School Wordstrips

Of course you may think that a preschooler can’t read the word backpack, but you’d be surprised at how their mind is able to recognize sight words from lots of repetition.

Sight words are words that young children may not be able to pronounce phonetically, but can recognize them just by seeing them. These are words that don’t follow typical rules of the English language or just words that they see often. For example, their name or small words like and and the.

Many of these back to school words will be sight words for these young children as they can not sound them out.

Related Post: Free Printable Alphabet Chart

Practice Letter Writing

Once you print and cut these word strips, your students can use them to copy each letter on their own sheet. Give your student 1″ lined paper and have them place the word strip directly above it.

Have them use a marker, crayon, pencil or any writing utensil that is most comfortable for them. Tell them to copy each letter from the word on the lines directly below it.

There are some strips that I added lines underneath. These will be much easier for your child to write and copy below the word.

It may be helpful to tape the word strip down on their desk or table so it doesn’t move around. This could cause them to lose track of what letter they were writing.

Recognize Sight Words

Hanging up these word strips in your classroom, playroom, or wherever they typically spend time, will help them tremendously to memorize as a sight word.

The more they see words and letters, the more they will learn how to recognize these frequently used words and letters.

Recognize Sight Words

Hanging up these word strips in your classroom, playroom, or wherever they typically spend time, will help them tremendously to memorize as a sight word.

The more they see words and letters, the more they will learn how to recognize these frequently used words and letters.

Other Ways to Use These Back-to-School Wordstrips

Looking for even more things to use these word strips for? Try some of these!

Word Scavenger Hunt

Engage your child in an exciting word hunt around the room or outdoors. Encourage them to search for the word strips, read the words aloud, and discuss their meanings. This activity promotes active learning and word recognition skills.

How to Complete:

Print and cut out two sets of word strips.
Lay all the word strips facedown in a grid pattern.
Take turns flipping over two cards at a time.
If the cards match (i.e., they have the same word), the player keeps them and gets another turn.
If the cards don’t match, they are flipped face down again, and it’s the next player’s turn.
The game continues until all the matches have been found.
The player with the most matched pairs at the end wins the game.

Word Puzzles

Transform the word strips into engaging puzzles. Cut the strips into letters and challenge your child to reconstruct the words by arranging the letters in the correct order. This activity promotes letter recognition, spelling, and problem-solving skills.

How to Complete:

Cut each word strip into individual letters.
Mix up the letters and place them in a pile facedown.
Choose a word strip and turn it face up.
Encourage your child to pick one letter at a time from the pile and try to build the word strip by placing the letters in the correct order.
Once the word strip is complete, have your child read the word aloud and discuss its meaning.
Repeat the process with different word strips, increasing the difficulty as your child progresses.

Word Memory Game

Play a classic memory game with the word strips. Flip the cards and try to match pairs of word strips. This fun game enhances memory, concentration, and word recognition abilities in an interactive way.

How to Complete:

Print and cut out two sets of word strips.
Lay all the word strips facedown in a grid pattern.
Take turns flipping over two cards at a time.
If the cards match (i.e., they have the same word), the player keeps them and gets another turn.
If the cards don’t match, they are flipped face down again, and it’s the next player’s turn.
The game continues until all the matches have been found.
The player with the most matched pairs at the end wins the game.

Word Building Relay

Create a thrilling relay race where teams compete to find and bring back the correct word strips. This activity encourages teamwork, speed, and word recognition. It’s a fantastic way to combine physical activity with learning.

How to Complete:

Divide the word strips into several sets.
Create two or more teams with an equal number of players.
Set up a starting line and a designated area for each team.
When you say a word aloud, one player from each team races to find the corresponding word strip and bring it back to their team’s designated area.
The next player in line continues the relay by finding the next word strip called out.
The team that completes the relay first wins the game.

Word Storytime

Unleash your child’s storytelling skills by using the word strips to create sentences or short stories. Read the sentence/story aloud, prompting your child to point to the corresponding word strips. This activity sparks imagination, language development, and story comprehension. Enjoy the endless possibilities of storytelling with word strips.

How to Complete:

Select a few word strips and arrange them in a sequence to create a simple sentence or short story.
Sit down with your child and read the sentence/story aloud, emphasizing each word as you go.
Encourage your child to point to the corresponding word strip as you read it.
After reading, ask your child to retell the sentence/story using the word strips as visual aids.
Have fun creating different sentences/stories using various combinations of word strips.