Read to skate. Read to shoot.
- Just like real hockey, you get in close before you shoot. Read a word to skate in, then play a shot card and read again to shoot.
- A missed word goes on the Rebound tab for practice after the game.
PondHouse LeagueRepPro
Print-at-home reading games for kids 5 to 11
Every goal. Every hit. One word read out loud.
Reading practice at home can turn into a fight. But kids will play sports and board games all day. So we built games where the only way to score is to read.
- 5–11Ages
- ~12Minutes a game
- PrintAt home, low ink
- 0Screens
The game
Kids won’t sit for flashcards. They’ll play to win.
So we hid the reading inside the game. Each one plays like the real sport, mixed with board game moves your family already knows: draw a card, play an Action Card, move your piece, pass the turn. Each child reads from their own deck, at their own level, so siblings can play together.
Every hit is a word read.
- Just like real baseball, a bigger swing goes farther. Read the card to get the hit. A short word is a single. Harder words hit farther.
- A missed word goes on the TRY AGAIN pile for practice after the game.
T-BallRookieMinorsMajors
Why it works
Reading isn’t a break from the game. It’s the move.
- No read, no score.
Every goal, hit and big play starts with a word read out loud. Reading is the move.
- A grown-up is the Ref or Umpire.
You hold up the word, check the answer on the back and call the play. The hard rules stay with you.
- Missing is OK.
Missed words go on the Rebound tab or the TRY AGAIN pile. You read them together for two minutes after the game.
- A deck for every reader.
Four decks per game, from first short-vowel words to big words. Pick by how your child reads, not by age.
- Siblings play together.
Each child reads from their own deck, at their own level, in the same game.
Why it matters
Lots of kids are behind in reading.
26%
of Ontario Grade 3 students aren’t meeting the provincial reading standard.
EQAO, 2024–2540%
of US Grade 4 students read below the basic level, the most since 2002.
Nation’s Report Card, 20241 hour
more screen time a day before age 8 was linked to a 9–10% lower chance of top reading and math scores later.
SickKids and EQAO, 2025It doesn’t have to be this way. With sound-it-out teaching and early help, only about 1 in 20 kids would fall behind, Ontario’s Right to Read inquiry found. CBC News, 2022
For teachers, and curious parents
Fun on top. Real phonics underneath.
Sound it out, no guessing
The front of each card shows only the word, so kids sound it out instead of guessing from a picture. The back shows the picture and the sound boxes, so the grown-up can check the answer and point to each sound.
Decks follow phonics order
Each game has four decks, from first short-vowel words to big words with prefixes and suffixes. Pick the deck by how your child reads, not by age or grade.
Lined up with school in Canada and the US
The decks are matched to Ontario’s Language Foundations Continuum (2026) and the Common Core reading standards. Each game’s site shows the deck-by-deck details.
Made for classrooms too
Every deck has blank cards for this week’s class words, and each kit includes a note families can send to their child’s teacher.
Home Team Smarts isn’t reviewed or endorsed by any ministry, school board or standards group.
Shop
Opening soonThe Home Team Smarts Shop
Each game is a set of print files you download and print at home on letter paper. Both are free during the playtest. When the shop opens, you’ll buy them right here.
Hockey reading game · ages 5–11
- The rink and two team benches
- Action Cards
- 4 word decks: Pond, House League, Rep and Pro
- Ref card for the grown-up
- Bonus: teacher note, Box Score and a fold-up die
Baseball reading game · ages 5–11
- The field and two dugouts
- Action Cards
- 4 word decks: T-Ball, Rookie, Minors and Majors
- Rules with the umpire card
- Bonus: teacher note
Your turn
Play free. Tell us what worked.
Families are playing both games now. Join a playtest to get the print-at-home game free. In return, I’d ask for your honest notes: what your kid loved and where they got stuck.
Why I made these games
I spent nearly 10 years working in post-secondary education. Then I watched my own son struggle with the usual ways kids are taught to read. He loves sports and board games, so I put the two together.
Sven, a dad and the founder of Home Team Smarts