Rhyming Words for Kids: 100 Rhymes With Aussie Animals

Rhyming is one of the earliest signs that a child is hearing the sounds inside words, and that skill helps with reading later. This list gives you more than 100 rhyming words to use in games, songs and silly poems.

Why rhyming matters

When children notice that cat and hat end with the same sound, they are starting to break words into parts. That skill is a big step towards phonics and spelling, and it is fun at any age.

Rhyming families

• -at: cat, hat, bat, mat, sat, rat
• -og: dog, log, frog, fog, jog
• -ee: bee, tree, knee, see, flea
• -un: sun, bun, run, fun
• -ig: pig, wig, dig, big, twig
• -en: hen, pen, ten, den, wren
• -ug: bug, mug, rug, hug, jug
• -ake: snake, cake, lake, bake, shake
• -oat: boat, goat, coat, float
• -ar: star, car, jar, far
• -oon: moon, spoon, balloon, soon
• -ail: tail, snail, sail, mail, nail
• -ow: cow, now, how, bow, wow
• -ook: book, cook, look, hook
• -ay: day, play, hay, say, tray
• -ish: fish, dish, wish
• -ing: king, ring, sing, wing, swing
• -ell: bell, shell, well, tell
• -ame: game, name, same, flame
• -are: bear, chair, hair, pear

Aussie animal rhymes

• roo: zoo, blue, shoe, two
• croc: rock, sock, clock, block
• possum: blossom
• yabby: tabby, crabby
• dingo: bingo

Rhyming games

• Rhyme ping-pong: take turns saying words that rhyme until someone runs out.
• Odd one out: say cat, hat, dog. Which one doesn't rhyme?
• Finish the rhyme: read a rhyming book and stop before the last word.
• Rhyme cards: spread out cards and match each word with its partner.
• Silly poems: make up a two-line poem using a rhyming pair.

Tips

Rhyming is about sounds, not spelling. Bee and tree rhyme even though they are spelled differently. Do not worry if your child makes up nonsense words such as "dat" and "bat". That is rhyming too, and it shows they are listening.