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95 wordsPre-K to grade 2, alongside the levelsFree to print

Dolch Noun Sight Words (95 Words) — Free Printable List & Flash Cards

There are 95 Dolch nouns. Dolch kept nouns on a separate list from his 220 service words because nouns are easier to picture and change more with the books a child reads. They are not split by grade.

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Flash cards open in the maker with all 95 words loaded — the word on the front and again, printed light, on the back for whoever holds the card up. The word search takes the first 30 words of three letters or more, and bingo gets the whole list to shuffle.

All 95 Dolch nouns

In alphabetical order, as Dolch listed them.

  1. 1apple
  2. 2baby
  3. 3back
  4. 4ball
  5. 5bear
  6. 6bed
  7. 7bell
  8. 8bird
  9. 9birthday
  10. 10boat
  11. 11box
  12. 12boy
  13. 13bread
  14. 14brother
  15. 15cake
  16. 16car
  17. 17cat
  18. 18chair
  19. 19chicken
  20. 20children
  21. 21Christmas
  22. 22coat
  23. 23corn
  24. 24cow
  25. 25day
  26. 26dog
  27. 27doll
  28. 28door
  29. 29duck
  30. 30egg
  31. 31eye
  32. 32farm
  33. 33farmer
  34. 34father
  35. 35feet
  36. 36fire
  37. 37fish
  38. 38floor
  39. 39flower
  40. 40game
  41. 41garden
  42. 42girl
  43. 43good-bye
  44. 44grass
  45. 45ground
  46. 46hand
  47. 47head
  48. 48hill
  49. 49home
  50. 50horse
  51. 51house
  52. 52kitty
  53. 53leg
  54. 54letter
  55. 55man
  56. 56men
  57. 57milk
  58. 58money
  59. 59morning
  60. 60mother
  61. 61name
  62. 62nest
  63. 63night
  64. 64paper
  65. 65party
  66. 66picture
  67. 67pig
  68. 68rabbit
  69. 69rain
  70. 70ring
  71. 71robin
  72. 72Santa Claus
  73. 73school
  74. 74seed
  75. 75sheep
  76. 76shoe
  77. 77sister
  78. 78snow
  79. 79song
  80. 80squirrel
  81. 81stick
  82. 82street
  83. 83sun
  84. 84table
  85. 85thing
  86. 86time
  87. 87top
  88. 88toy
  89. 89tree
  90. 90watch
  91. 91water
  92. 92way
  93. 93wind
  94. 94window
  95. 95wood

Flash cards per page

Pick the size in the flash card maker. Sheet counts are for the 95 words on this page, fronts only — printing the backs doubles them.

Cards per pageSheets for 95 wordsWord sizeBest for
2 per page — extra large4860 ptWhole-class flashing from the front of the room.
4 per page — large2444 ptSmall group work and pocket charts.
6 per page — standard1634 ptThe usual choice. Fits a rubber band.
8 per page — compact1228 ptFact decks and word rings.
9 per page — small1124 ptBig decks where paper matters.

How to teach these words

Five short activities that work in a classroom and at the kitchen table. A few minutes a day beats one long session a week.

  1. 1.Three-pile sort

    Flash each card. Words read instantly go in a Know pile, slow ones in Almost, missed ones in Not Yet. Five minutes a day on the Almost and Not Yet piles is enough.

  2. 2.A word ring

    Punch a hole in each card and put three to five words on a binder ring. Add a new word when one is read on sight for three days running.

  3. 3.Sound out what you can

    Most sight words are partly regular. Sound out the regular part together and point out the tricky bit — the ai in said, the o in of — so the word is learned, not guessed.

  4. 4.Sight word hunt

    Pick three words and hunt for them in a picture book, a cereal box or a street sign. Keep a tally and see which word turns up most.

  5. 5.Games with the same words

    Use the list for bingo, a word search or a game of slap: lay out a few cards, call a word, and the first hand on it keeps the card.

29 of these 95 words are also in Fry's first 300 Instant Words, so a child working through either list is practising most of the other.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many Dolch nouns are there?

There are 95. Dolch published 220 service words in five levels — 40 pre-primer, 52 primer, 41 first grade, 46 second grade and 41 third grade — plus a separate list of 95 nouns, so 315 words in all.

What are the Dolch nouns?

apple, baby, back, ball, bear, bed, bell, bird, birthday, boat, box, boy, bread, brother, cake, car, cat, chair, chicken, children, and 75 more. The full list of 95 is on this page.

What grade are the Dolch nouns for?

They are commonly taught in pre-K to grade 2, alongside the levels. Neither the Dolch nor the Fry list was assigned to grades by any official body, so schools differ — follow your school's list if it has one.

How many pages of flash cards do the 95 words make?

At 6 cards per page, the standard size, the 95 words print on 16 sheets. At 9 per page it is 11 sheets, and at 4 large cards per page it is 24. Printing the backs as well doubles the sheet count.

Are the Dolch Nouns words also Fry words?

29 of the 95 also appear in Fry's first 300 Instant Words. The two lists were built differently — Dolch from children's books of the 1930s, Fry by how often words appear in print — but they agree on most everyday words.

How many new sight words should a child learn at a time?

Many teachers add three to five new words at a time, mixed in with words the child already knows, and only move on when the new ones are read on sight for a few days running.

Is this sight word list free to print?

Yes. The Print this list button prints the words as a neat sheet from your browser, and the flash card maker prints the cards free, with a small PuzzlePage credit in the footer.

Why are Santa Claus and kitty on the Dolch noun list?

Dolch built his lists in the 1930s and 1940s from the children's books of that time, so the nouns reflect those books. Many teachers swap a few for words their class reads today.

Last updated .

More sight word lists

Complete Dolch Sight Word List220 words · Pre-K to grade 3See the listDolch Pre-Primer Sight Words40 words · Pre-K and kindergartenSee the listKindergarten Sight Words92 words · KindergartenSee the listFirst Grade Sight Words123 words · First gradeSee the list
Every sight word list, by grade