-OP Word Family Worksheet

The -OP word family is full of action words that children love. Hop, mop, pop, stop, shop, drop, and chop are words kids can act out, draw, and connect to daily life. This free printable worksheet uses those energetic words to build phonics skills through word building, reading practice, and creative activities.

Words in the -OP Family

The -OP family features the short o vowel sound and offers a good mix of simple and blend-initial words:

• Three-letter words: hop, mop, pop, top, cop, bop, lop
• Four-letter words: stop, shop, drop, chop, crop, flop, plop, prop

Notice how many of these words describe physical actions. That built-in movement connection makes them especially memorable for kinesthetic learners who benefit from acting out vocabulary.

Word Building Activities

Word building is the heart of word family practice. On this worksheet, your child starts with the rime -op and adds different beginning sounds to create new words. This activity teaches a fundamental reading principle: changing one letter changes the entire word. When a child writes h + op = hop, then m + op = mop, they are internalizing the alphabetic principle in a hands-on way.

From CVC Words to Blends

The -OP family is excellent for introducing consonant blends naturally. After your child masters hop and pop, they can try stop, shop, drop, and chop. Each of these words adds a consonant blend or digraph at the beginning while keeping the familiar -OP ending intact. This scaffolded approach lets children stretch their skills without losing the safety net of a known pattern.

Making -OP Words Come Alive

Because so many -OP words are verbs, this family is perfect for active learning. Try these ideas alongside the worksheet:

• Action charades: Write each -OP word on a card. Your child draws a card and acts it out while you guess. Can they hop? Pretend to mop? Mime a chop?
• Story building: Together, create a silly story using as many -OP words as possible. "I hop to the shop to buy a mop, but I drop it — plop!"
• Word sort: Have your child sort -OP words into categories — actions versus things (hop vs. mop), or three-letter words versus four-letter words.

Reading Practice with -OP Words

This worksheet includes short sentences that use -OP family words in context. Reading words in sentences is a critical step between isolated word recognition and fluent reading. When your child reads "I hop to the top," they are practicing not just the -OP pattern but also sentence structure, capitalization, and punctuation. If they can read these sentences smoothly, they are ready to encounter -OP words in any book.

Connecting to Other Word Families

Once your child is confident with -OP, compare it to families they already know. How is hop different from hat? Both are CVC words, but they use different vowel sounds. This kind of comparison deepens phonemic awareness and helps children avoid confusing similar-looking words as they read.

More Word Families

• -AT Word Family Worksheet
• -AN Word Family Worksheet
• -IG Word Family Worksheet
• Browse All Word Family Worksheets

For a complete guide to teaching reading fundamentals, visit our article on how to teach phonics at home.