Sight words are words that come up frequently in texts, such as "and," "the," "it," etc. Write these words into the squares on bingo cards, and also write each word on cards that you keep. Give the children small pieces of paper to use as markers, and call out the words until one child wins. If the children don't know the words by the sounds, hold up your card to show them. Once the children know the site words you're using, update the game with a new, more difficult set of words.
Tape cards onto objects around your living room to label those objects. For example, write "desk" on a card to go on your desk. Let the children look at the cards for a while, then take them off and see how quickly they can put them back into the right place. If the children are just starting to read, start by writing the names of the colors on the cards, using a crayon the color of the word, and have them label any item of that color. Then make it harder by writing the words in black; then switch to other words.
Write down a common ending to words, such as "at," and see how many words the children can come up with that end with that sound. You can also do this activity using the beginning sounds of words and having the children come up with the endings. Start by showing pictures that match the sounds so the children learn to connect certain letters with the pictures. Then remove the pictures so the children are suggesting words from memory and by sounding them out. For older children, write down a long word, such as Valentine, and see how many words the children can write down using letters from that word.
Fold a few sheets of paper in half and staple the pages together in the center. Decide on a simple story with your child. It could be about her pet, the time of year, a holiday or anything she wants. If your child doesn't write very much yet, write the words for her, or encourage her to do it with your help. She can draw pictures to accompany the words afterward. She will love reading the book and will remember many of the words because she wrote the story herself.