Make a path consisting of squares on an 11-by-17-inch sheet of paper. Start roughly at one end of the paper and make the path follow a winding course to the other side of the paper. Each square should be large enough to fit a picture representing a vowel digraph word, such as a picture of a bar of soap. Add several different pictures in the squares. You can also add instruction in the squares, such as "go back two spaces" or "lose a turn." Make sure to label one square as the starting point and one square as the end of the path. Tape or glue the 11-by-17 paper into a file folder and laminate it.
Students choose game pieces small enough to fit on the squares and roll one or more dice to see how many spaces they will move from the start. When a student lands on a square, he must say and spell the word that the picture describes. For instance, if he lands on the picture of the soap, he must say "soap, s-o-a-p." If a student says or spells a word incorrectly, he goes back to his previous location. Students must also follow any instructions in squares they land in. The winner is the student who reaches the end first.
Create the game board on an 11-by-17-inch sheet of paper that you will attach to the file folder. The game board consists of a grid of squares over the entire paper. Insert a vowel digraph word with a corresponding picture into each square. Affix the paper to the file folder and laminate it. Also make two sets of word cards, roughly the same size as the squares on the game board. Each set of word cards should have at least one word that rhymes with each of the words on the game board. Print the words in different colors on each set of cards.
Each player takes a set of game cards. The first player covers one of the squares on the game board with a rhyming word from her game card. The next player does the same. If a player covers a square with a word card that does not rhyme, the next player can cover that player's card with her own, as long as it rhymes with the original word on the game board, The game ends when all the squares are covered. The winner is the player who has covered the most squares.
Bingo makes a great file folder game and can be adapted to almost any skill. Create a blank bingo card on an one side of the file folder. Use as many squares as is appropriate for your students. Place a large list of vowel digraph words on the other side of the folder. Use words like seam, sail, moon and seed. Laminate the folder so that students can fill their bingo cards with any combination of words from the list, using an overhead marker. Make several cards with different word lists. Call out words from the lists and have students mark the words they have used on their bingo cards until someone gets a bingo.