Free Printable Sight Word Flash Cards by Grade (PDF)

These free printable sight word flash cards come as four grade decks, pre-K to 2nd grade, each in the order your child can sound the words out. You’ll find all 220 Dolch words here too, by level up to 3rd grade.

One idea sits on every card. Green cards sound out. Pink cards are heart words, with a heart over the tricky part only. In said (ai), that’s just the ai.

Most flashcards get drilled until a word turns into a shape. The grade decks are big-print word flash cards, eight to a page, for two minutes of review a day.

Download the free sight word flash cards, every grade deck in one PDF (pre-K to 2nd grade, 179 cards), or pick one grade below. No signup, no email.

Will sounds out. Where has a heart over the ere.

Every free sight word flash card deck on one page

Each deck below is a sight words flash cards printable PDF, free to download with no signup. The Dolch pack has printable sight word cards, 25 to a page.

Deck	Grade	Cards	Sound out / heart	PDF
Pre-K and preschool	Pre-K	40	27 / 13	Free PDF
Kindergarten	K	92	65 / 27	Free PDF
First grade	1st	41	25 / 16	Free PDF
Second grade	2nd	46	29 / 17	Free PDF
Dolch, all five levels (A to Z within each level)	Pre-K to 3rd	220	152 / 68	Free PDF
3rd grade (in the Dolch pack)	3rd	41	33 / 8	Free PDF
Fry sight word flash cards	K to 1st	100	60 / 40	Free PDF
Vowel picture cards, from short a words to long u words	K to 1st	20 per pack, 10 packs	Pictures, no hearts	On each vowel post
All five short vowel picture sets in one file, on the CVC words post	K	100 (the same cards as the five short vowel packs)	Pictures, no hearts	Free PDF

The four grade decks follow teaching order. The kindergarten deck already includes the 40 pre-K words, so a kindergartner needs only that one file. The Dolch pack is alphabetical within each level.

If you’re not sure which deck, start with your child’s grade. When page 1 of the 1st or 2nd grade deck is tough going, drop back one grade. When page 1 of the pre-K or kindergarten deck is tough, blending isn’t in yet. Practice CVC words first.

How to read the cards: green sounds out, a heart marks the tricky part

On each card in the four grade decks you’ll see the grade and stage, plus Sounds out or Heart word. Dolch cards name their level instead.

Once that stage’s phonics is taught, green cards sound out. Can, jump and went never needed memorizing.

Pink cards are heart words. Only the part that breaks the rules is tinted, and a heart sits over it. In was (a, s), the w sounds out, and the a and the s each get a heart.

Once a child knows which part to trust, they can read the word. A child who only memorized the shape is guessing.

Pre-K and preschool sight word flash cards (40 cards)

The pre-K deck is the 40 Dolch pre-primer words, the same 40 on our preschool sight words list. 27 of them sound out, nine as soon as your child can blend a word like cat. Only 13 are heart words.

Wait until letter sounds are in, then start. At four, skip running the whole deck. Cut out five cards from page 2: I, the, to, you and is. Hunt for them in a picture book at bedtime. Leave the rest in an envelope until your child is blending.

Download the free pre-K sight word flash cards: 40 cards.

Kindergarten sight word flash cards (92 cards)

The kindergarten deck is all 92 words on our kindergarten sight words list: the 40 pre-primer words plus the 52 primer words, in the same stage order.

65 sound out and 27 are heart words. Your child can read 17 of the 65 as soon as they can blend.

Most of the hearts come early. Stage 1 has 15 of the 27, like I, the, said, was and you. Stage 2 adds wh and th, so that and with sound out while where and they get hearts. Stage 3 is eight quick wins, like go, me and she, where a vowel at the end says its name. Stage 4 is the long one: 29 green words like look, play and like, and only four hearts.

Each week add three to five new cards, starting at the first stage your child can’t read yet.

Download the free kindergarten sight word flash cards: all 92 cards in one free printable PDF.

First grade sight word flash cards (41 cards)

The first grade deck is Dolch’s 41 first grade words, in the order of our first grade sight words list. 25 sound out and 16 are heart words, across five stages.

It opens with an, had, him and let. Then come the first hearts: as, has and his, where the s says /z/, as in is.

If a card stalls, look at its stage to see why. Think waits for -nk. Her waits for bossy r. Take waits for magic e, and gets no heart.

Download the free first grade sight word flash cards: 41 cards.

Second grade sight word flash cards (46 cards)

The second grade deck is Dolch’s 46 second grade words, sorted into six stages like our second grade sight words list. 29 sound out and 17 are heart words.

Second graders spell these words too. Once a card reads easily, turn it face down and say the word. Your child taps the sounds, writes it, hearts the tricky part, then flips the card to check. Spelling goes wrong on the pink cards: their (eir), does (o, e, s), because (se).

Download the free second grade sight word flash cards: 46 cards.

Dolch sight word flash cards: all 220 by level (plus 3rd grade)

The Dolch pack has all 220 Dolch words as cut-out cards, 25 to a page: pre-primer 40, primer 52, 1st grade 41, 2nd grade 46 and 3rd grade 41. Each level starts on a fresh page and ends with blank cards to write your own. 152 cards are green and 68 are pink.

The 95 Dolch nouns are a list on the last page, not cards.

Reach for this pack to match a Dolch sheet from school, or for 3rd grade, which has no deck of its own. Its 3rd grade cards are on pages 10 and 11, and 33 of the 41 are green. Every word is on our Dolch sight words list.

Download all 220 Dolch flash cards. Free, no signup.

How to use sight word flash cards (two minutes, not drills)

A card is for review. Teach a new word first. Tap its sounds and build it with letter tiles. The next day, that card joins the pile.

Then, two minutes a day:

Look and say. If the word comes right away, great.
If not, run a finger under it, one sound at a time: /w/ /e/ /n/ /t/, went.
Find the heart. On a pink card, your child points to the tricky part and says what it says: “ai says /e/ in said.”
Say it in a sentence. “She said no.”
Sort it into an “I know it” pile or a “not yet” pile.

Only use cards from stages your child has been taught. A word whose phonics isn’t in yet won’t stick. If a card sits in “not yet” for two weeks, park it.

Stop at two minutes, even mid-pile. Don’t flash the cards fast. The full routine is in how to teach sight words. Our reading games read stories aloud and highlight each word.

“Excellent learning app for kindergarten kids! I like how the words are highlighted as they are read aloud.”

zoeisabel, App Store review (US)

Five games to play with the cards

Memory. Print one page of a grade deck twice and lay the 8 pairs face down. A match counts only if it’s read.
Heart hunt. Hide the pink cards around the room. Your child reads each one found and points to the heart.
Green or heart? Write five of this week’s words on index cards. Your child guesses which need a heart, then checks the printed cards.
Build it. Build the word with our free letter tiles, heart cards included.
Two-card sentence. Draw two cards and make up a sentence with both. You write it, your child reads it.

For a change of pace, try the sight word board game or color by sight word.

How to print them so they last

Print one page tonight, not the whole deck. In a grade deck, page 1 is stage 1, plenty for this week (at four, just the five cards on page 2 of the pre-K deck).
Use cardstock if you have it.
Laminate the cards handled every day, or cover them with packing tape.
Punch a hole in one corner and slide the cards onto a sight word ring. Keep one ring for “not yet” and one for “I know it”.
No printer? Use index cards and a thick marker. Need more? Most decks end with blank cards to write your own.

More free sheets are on our printables page.

Questions parents ask

Should I use flash cards for sight words? Yes. Use them for a two-minute review after your child has sounded the word out and built it. They are not for memorizing its shape.

How do you teach sight words with flash cards? Tap and build the word first, then read it in a sentence the same day. The next day, its card joins the two-minute review pile. Steps above.

How do I make my own sight word flash cards? Write one word per index card in thick marker. Color the bottom edge green if it sounds out. If not, heart the part that breaks the rules, like the ai in said, and color the edge pink. The grade decks (all but pre-K) and the Dolch pack end with blank cards too.

What are sight word cards? One common word per card, for quick review. Ours are colored by whether the word sounds out. High frequency word flash cards are mostly the same thing, since Dolch and Fry are both high frequency lists.

Do your sight word flash cards have pictures? No, on purpose. A picture pulls your child’s eyes off the letters, and a word like said has nothing to draw. For picture cards, each vowel pack has 20, starting with short a words, and our CVC words post puts all five short vowel sets (100 picture cards) in one PDF.

How many sight word flash cards should a child practice a day? Keep the daily pile small, about 10 to 15 cards, enough for two minutes. Add three to five new words a week. More on pacing in how many per week.

Should I print Dolch or Fry flash cards? Print the list your child’s school sends home. The two overlap heavily: 86 of Fry’s first 100 are on the Dolch 220. Our Fry or Dolch? section and Dolch sight words list cover the differences.

What is the best flash card app for learning sight words? Look for one that says each word out loud, shows it inside a sentence, and has no ads. Our app, Luvinci, isn’t a flash card app. Its reading games read stories aloud and highlight each word. No ads, and it works offline. Get Luvinci.