A word building game for early readers. Build words, watch the train chug away.
Live at: ruthmade.com/word-train
- Tap letters (or type) to fill the three train cars
- Build a real word → cars bounce, sparkles appear, signal turns green, train goes "choo!", drives off
- New empty train arrives for the next word
- Invalid word → nothing happens, use x buttons to fix it
- 300+ valid 3-letter words recognized (CVC, CVCe, digraphs, sight words, etc)
- Cars bounce and sparkles float up when you make a real word
- Railroad signal light turns from red to green
- Color-coded letters: vowels (terracotta) vs consonants (sage green)
- Click x below any car to remove that letter
- Keyboard support (type letters, backspace to undo)
- Train animations on page load and word completion
- Mobile-friendly with big tap targets
My 3-year-old is learning to build words. The train animation gives immediate, satisfying feedback when he makes a real word - more engaging than flashcards, and he can experiment freely without "wrong answer" feedback. Recognizes common 3-letter words across multiple phonics patterns so he can practice whatever he's learning.
Single HTML file. Uses Web Audio API for sound. No dependencies.
Made with care by @rubyruth