36 words · ages 5–6
Kindergarten spelling words with definitions
What should a Kindergarten child be able to spell?
By the end of Kindergarten (ages 5–6), most children can spell words like cat, ship and nest — that is, words built on short a, short o, short u, short e and related patterns. Spelling develops at very different speeds, and a child a year either side of this is ordinary rather than behind.
- short a
- short o
- short u
- short e
- short i
- sh
- ch
- ck
- ng
- th
- double l
- mp
- nd
- st
- lk
First Feathers
Three-letter words you can sound right out.
- cat
- A small furry pet that says meow.short a
- dog
- A pet that barks and wags its tail.short o
- sun
- The bright star that lights up the day.short u
- bed
- What you sleep in at night.short e
- pig
- A pink farm animal that says oink.short i
- hat
- Something you wear on your head.short a
- run
- To move fast on your legs.short u
- top
- The highest part of something.short o
- red
- The colour of a strawberry.short e
- big
- Large in size.short i
- cup
- What you drink from.short u
- map
- A picture that shows you where things are.short a
- hen
- A mother chicken.short e
- fox
- A wild animal with a bushy tail.short o
- bug
- A tiny crawling creature.short u
- win
- To come first in a game.short i
- jam
- Sweet fruit spread for your toast.short a
- leg
- The part of your body you stand on.short e
Nest Builders
Two sounds joined up, and words that end together.
- ship
- A big boat that sails on the sea.sh
- chin
- The part of your face below your mouth.ch
- duck
- A bird that swims and says quack.ck
- sing
- To make music with your voice.ng
- thin
- Not thick or wide.th
- bell
- Something that rings when you shake it.double l
- jump
- To push yourself up off the ground.mp
- hand
- The part of your arm with fingers.nd
- fast
- Moving quickly.st
- milk
- A white drink that comes from cows.lk
- wish
- To hope for something very much.sh
- back
- The side that is behind.ck
- fish
- An animal that swims and breathes underwater.sh
- lunch
- The meal you eat in the middle of the day.ch
- sock
- What you wear on your foot inside a shoe.ck
- ring
- A circle you wear on your finger.ng
- bath
- A big tub you wash yourself in.th
- nest
- The home a bird builds for its eggs.st
Practising Kindergarten spelling words at home
Read the word aloud and have your child write it from sound rather than copy it. The Friday test asks for the harder of those two, and only one of them is practice for it.
When a word goes wrong, say what the pattern is rather than just the letters — “that’s a short a word” gives them something to reuse. Then come back to it tomorrow rather than immediately.
Count a word as learned when it has been spelled correctly on three separate days. That is the rule SpellChirp uses, and it is roughly where a word stops needing to be looked up.
Turn this list into ten minutes a night
SpellChirp reads every word aloud, checks the spelling, and writes these Kindergarten words into an adventure story your child chooses — dragons, detectives, deep sea or a dozen more. Free, with no advertising and no account required to start.