Here are 45 spelling bee words for Year 3, in three levels: a warm-up round, middle rounds and final rounds. They work for a class bee, a school bee or a practice bee at the kitchen table, and they use Australian spelling (favourite, neighbour, jewellery) throughout.
Year 3 bees are usually about confidence: a child standing up and spelling out loud, letter by letter, in front of others. Start with the warm-up words so everyone gets one right.
Year 3 spelling bee words
Warm-up · 15 words
Words most Year 3 children can spell with a little practice.
- knee
- write
- phone
- catch
- bridge
- house
- spoon
- clown
- shirt
- thirty
- circle
- giant
- pencil
- turtle
- puzzle
Middle rounds · 15 words
Words with one tricky part each.
- station
- special
- vision
- believe
- eight
- monkey
- thought
- enough
- laugh
- answer
- island
- listen
- castle
- echidna
- koala
Final rounds · 15 words
Long words, borrowed words and Australian words to sort the finalists.
- February
- library
- restaurant
- neighbour
- necessary
- dangerous
- wombat
- platypus
- kookaburra
- mosquito
- calendar
- occasion
- surprise
- recipe
- unusual
Year 3 spelling bee words · free to print from phonogramfun.com/learn
How a spelling bee works
- The caller says the word, uses it in a sentence, and says the word again.
- The speller may ask for the word to be repeated, used in another sentence, or defined.
- The speller says the word, spells it letter by letter, and says it again.
- A wrong letter is out for that round. Once a letter is said, it can't be taken back.
How to practise for a bee
Spell out loud, not on paper. A bee is spoken, and it's surprisingly different: children who write a word perfectly can lose their place saying it. Chunk long words into parts (February → february). Learn the story behind odd words: where a word comes from often explains its spelling. And finish every practice on a word they get right.
For weekly classroom lists rather than a bee, see Year 3 spelling words.
Questions parents ask
What words are in a Year 3 spelling bee?
There's no official list for most school bees in Australia; teachers choose words that suit the class. These 45 words cover the patterns Year 3 children learn, plus harder words for the final rounds.
How do you practise for a spelling bee?
Spell the words out loud rather than writing them, break long words into chunks, and spend most time on the hardest words. Finish each session on a word your child spells correctly.