Sight words are the short words that show up on almost every page a child reads — the, and, see, look, said. Many of them do not sound out neatly, so children learn to recognize them at a glance. The faster a child spots them, the more attention is left for the new words in a sentence.

Every box on these worksheets shows one word in a frame and the same word in dots to trace. Below are eight words: the sight word hides two or three times among words that look like it — the next to they, there and three; see next to she, saw and say — so the child has to look at every letter, not just the first one, before circling it.

The words come from the Dolch lists, compiled by Edward William Dolch from children's books and published in 1936 and in his book "Problems in Reading" in 1948: set Words to "Pre-K words" for the pre-primer list, "Kindergarten words" for the primer list, or mix both. Click any box to pick another word, lock the boxes you like, and press New sheet for the rest. The answer key prints on a second page only when you ask for it. Nothing to sign up for.

12 ready-to-print sheets

• Sight word hunt · Pre-K words · 4 questions
• Sight word hunt · Pre-K words · 6 questions
• Sight word hunt · Pre-K words · 4 questions · set 2
• Sight word hunt · Pre-K words · 6 questions · set 2
• Sight word hunt · Kindergarten words · 4 questions
• Sight word hunt · Kindergarten words · 6 questions
• Sight word hunt · Kindergarten words · 4 questions · set 2
• Sight word hunt · Kindergarten words · 6 questions · set 2
• Sight word hunt · Both lists · 4 questions
• Sight word hunt · Both lists · 6 questions
• Sight word hunt · Both lists · 4 questions · set 2
• Sight word hunt · Both lists · 6 questions · set 2