Free printable · Dolch sight words

Dolch nouns list

Alongside his 220 service words, Edward Dolch listed 95 common nouns that young children meet in books: things like apple, dog and school. Unlike the service words, the nouns are not split into grade levels.

This page has all 95 words of the Dolch noun list, in alphabetical order, as a printable list and as flashcards.

Words a to c

apple
baby
back
ball
bear
bed
bell
bird
birthday
boat
box
boy
bread
brother
cake
car
cat
chair
chicken

Words c to f

children
Christmas
coat
corn
cow
day
dog
doll
door
duck
egg
eye
farm
farmer
father
feet
fire
fish
floor

Words f to m

flower
game
garden
girl
goodbye
grass
ground
hand
head
hill
home
horse
house
kitty
leg
letter
man
men
milk

Words m to s

money
morning
mother
name
nest
night
paper
party
picture
pig
rabbit
rain
ring
robin
Santa Claus
school
seed
sheep
shoe

Words s to w

sister
snow
song
squirrel
stick
street
sun
table
thing
time
top
toy
tree
watch
water
way
wind
window
wood

How to use this list

Nouns are easy to act out or point to. After your child reads a card, ask them to find the thing in a picture book or around the house.
Sound out any part of the word that follows the usual rules (most do), and point out only the tricky part.
Keep a small pile of words your child knows and a small pile they are learning, and move cards over as they get them.
Read the words in real books too. A word on a card is learned for good when your child reads it in a story without stopping.

Frequently asked questions

Are Dolch words the same as sight words?

Dolch words are one well-known list of high-frequency words. Many schools call them sight words, but most of them can be sounded out, and children learn them best with phonics plus practice, not by memorising shapes.

Why are Christmas and Santa Claus on the list?

The noun list was built from the books children read at the time, and those words were common in them. They are part of the original list, so they are kept here unchanged.

Is it all right to print and share this list?

Yes. The Dolch lists are old enough to be in the public domain, and this page is free to print for home or classroom use.

Free: the 10-minute daily phonics routine

Four short steps you can do with your child every day: sounds, blending, reading and a quick chat about the story. One printable page.

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