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Have the children match the first letter of the word you say.

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Say: "Richie is looking for things to put in his toy box. Can we help him?"
(Nonsense is fine--and fun!)

Take turns naming things to go into the toy box.

Richie put a rabbit in his toy box.

Richie put a rainbow in his toy box.

Richie put a wrinkle . . .

Richie put a refrigerator . . .

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Say: "Richie is looking for things to put in his toy box. Can we help him?"(Nonsense is fine--and fun!) Take turns naming things to go into the toy box. Richie put a rabbit in his toy box. Richie put a rainbow in his toy box. Richie put a wrinkle .

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I found this in our text "Words Their Way" on page 53. The children can sort words by "rhyme, initial sounds, consonant blends or digraphs, rhyming word families, or vowel sounds" (Bear).

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This video not only has a helpful way to teach rhyming, but also goes over separating the onset and rimes of words.

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The first half of this video shows a fun way to have the whole class or small groups work on what the last letter of the word is and then changing it.

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Fun and interactive game that can be played with the whole class, small group or individually. The children try to find words out of the letters on the Tic-Tac-Toe board.

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Use our ideas to add some fun to your primary phonics lessons! These activities are easy to implement and will give your students the practice that they need.

Primary Phonics Activities

Tic-Tac-Toe Words

Here's a peek at the printable page. The full text also appears below.

By this age, students already know that "three-in-a-row" wins in tic-tac-toe. So why not use this fun format for the teaching of phonics? Place a different letter in each space of a game board. Choose combinations of letters that spell common three-letter words. Short-vowel words work especially well.

Here's an example:

There are many ways to use this simple format, including:

Whole-Class Idea: Draw a game like this one on the board. Ask students to raise their hands when they spot a three-letter word. Call on students to read the words they see, or to come to the board and write the words as well as say the words. Remind them to look in all directions. (Words: put, nap, pan, top, pop, not, ton)

Partner Idea:
Each partner draws their own game board and places letters in it to form at least three words. Students exchange game boards and try to find all the words that are possible.

Individual Idea: Instruct students to write the three letter words they see on their own piece of paper.
You'll probably find more fun variations of your own!
What's Right?

Here's a peek at the printable pages for both games. The full text for this game also appears below.

This simple primary phonics activity requires students to sound out words and then reinforces the correct spelling of real words. This is particularly helpful for students who may tend to replace the correct letter of a word with a letter that looks similar.

Simply write a row of three or four "words," only one of which is an actual word. Ask students to identify the correct word and then write it at least twice.

Here's an example:

varn yarn yarm varm _________ _________

swa sav saw wsa _________ _________

Again, there are several ways to use this type of exercise.

Divide the class into teams. Assign each team a different sec tion of the board. Write a different row of words like the ones above on each section. On your signal, the first person from each team races to the board to circle the correct word and write it correctly three times. The first team to finishes earns 1 point. Repeat until one team has 5 points.

Partner Idea: Each partner makes five rows of words like the ones above. Students exchange papers to complete.

Individual Idea: Make worksheets with many rows of words for students to complete on their own.

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Use our ideas to add some fun to your primary phonics lessons! These activities are easy to implement and will give your students the practice that they need. Here's a peek at the printable page. The full text also appears below. By this age, students already know that "three-in-a-row" wins in tic-tac-toe.

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Alphabet Phonics Booklet that the children will complete as they learn each letter and the sounds it makes.

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Kids will love to learn as they complete our alphabet phonics booklet! This easy-to-assemble A to Z phonics activity can be customized by each child.

This is a great activity to complete at home or at school. Follow our step-by-step instructions for a great finished project!

Make an Alphabet Phonics Booklet

Here are two sample pages from the booklet. You may view all of the pages by opening the printable file. See the directions below.

Directions:

1) Print a cover on construction paper for each student. Ask each child to complete the cover by adding his name and date. You may also want to ask students to write all the letters of the alphabet around the outside border of the cover.

2) Print a set of alphabet pages for each student.

3) Give each child a half page, whole page or several pages, as you like.

4) For each letter, the child will:

Print each upper and lower case letter in the faint outline

Say the sound for each letter. (We've used short vowel sounds, and the "hard" sounds for C and G.)

Read -- or say -- the name of each object shown.

Draw another object that starts with the same letter. Say its name.

5) When the child has completed all the letters from A to Z, trim all of the half-pages to the same size. Keep the width of the pages as they are, but trim the tops and bottoms as desired.

6) Carefully punch two holes in the wide left margins of the cover and pages. Be sure your pages are aligned. String the pages together, with the cover, with a long ribbon or string. Tie the ribbon on the front of the booklet securely.

7) Encourage the child to review the booklet often, saying the names and sounds of each letter, and the names of objects on each page.

More Phonics Activities

Alphabet Phonics Poem - A great companion activity to the Alphabet Phonics booklet above. Kids will hear about some funny events while practicing letter sounds.

Tic-Tac-Toe and What's Right? - Two very easy-to-implement ways to practice primary phonics skills

Letter Lane - A phonemic awareness board game that features beginning consonant sounds for the letters b,d,f and m. No reading is necessary.

New! Alphabet Worksheets that help kids match upper and lowercase letters, for the entire alphabet! If this sounds a bit daunting for your early learners, why not begin with some of our other options shown here? For those who are up to the challenge, these free printables provide great practice!

Phonics Flash Cards - A free printable set for the entire alphabet

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Alphabet Phonics Booklet & Phonics Activities

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In this fun alphabet phonics project, students make A to Z phonics booklets. We have lots more phonics activities, too!

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Education.com has interactive games that give the children a break from the typical games and worksheets, but still help them learn.

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Long and Short Vowel Sort Game | Game | Education.com

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Time to shop! Kids must sort short and long vowel words at the toy store.

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Picture this is a game that involves dice and a game board that allows children to work on their short vowel or long vowel words.

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Early learners love to play games, so why not make them phonic games? We have several free, printable, easy-to-use and fun-to-play games on our site, starting with this one! It provides a fun way for your early learners to practice short vowel sounds and spelling, if you like.

Read the rules below, then click on the printable link and get started! If you'd rather work on long vowel sounds, we have a game for that, too!

Picture This

Grade level: K-2
Players: 3
Objective: Cover up the most squares
Supplies: Printable game board and answer key, one standard die, markers of two different colors for covering pictures

Variation 1: Short Vowel Sounds

To play:

1. Print out the game board and answer key. Laminate, if desired.

2. Players 1 and 2 choose a color. Player 3 is the checker.

3. Player 1 rolls the dice. He looks at the key at the bottom of the game board. He identifies a word with that vowel sound on the game board. For example, if he rolls a 2, she looks for a word with a short e sound ( ten, bell, eggs or bed). If he correctly identifies the word, he covers it with a marker.

4. Player 2 rolls the dice, finds a new square and proceeds as described above.

5. If a player rolls a 6, she may choose any picture that is not covered and tells its vowel sound. If she is correct, she puts her marker on it.

6. If a player rolls a letter sound for which there are no more pictures, his turn is over.

7. The game ends when all the squares are covered. The winner is the player with the most markers on the board.

Variation 2: Short Vowel Sounds and Spelling

Play the game as described above, adding that the student must also spell the word correctly after identifying its vowel sound.

More Free Phonic Games

Picture This Phonic Game - We think your early learners will enjoy this activity featuring long vowel words. Which player can cover the most pictures?

Letter Lane - A phomenic awareness board game that features beginning consonant sounds for the letters b,d,f and m. No reading is necessary.

In addition to free phonics games, you may want to use some of these resources for your early learners:

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Early learners love to play games, so why not make them phonic games? We have several free, printable, easy-to-use and fun-to-play games on our site, starting with this one! It provides a fun way for your early learners to practice short vowel sounds and spelling, if you like.

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ABCmouse is a website that allows children to learn and have fun doing it. They have interactive games that children will enjoy playing without realizing they are learning.

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Available on
Step-by-Step Learning Path

"Love the progressive activities! I don't have to take the time to search for activities for my 3-year-old, and my 5-year-old just follows along when she's playing by herself... So I know everyone's doing the right things for their ages!" -Crystal, mother of 3- and 5-year-old girls
computers, tablets, and smartphones!

The Reading Curriculum Includes:

Uppercase and lowercase letter recognition

Phonics

Rhyming words and word families

More than 450 books and beginning readers

Sentence structure

Parts of speech

ABCmouse.com's reading curriculum spans the entire range of early reading, from learning the names of each letter and the sounds they represent to being able to read books, starting with a few words on a page and gradually advancing to paragraphs.

The curriculum for first grade also includes writing and language skills, such as sentence structure and punctuation, parts of speech, and practice with writing genres.

ABCmouse.com's reading curriculum spans the entire range of early reading, from learning the names of each letter and the sounds they represent to being able to read books, starting with a few words on a page and gradually advancing to paragraphs.

The curriculum for first grade also includes writing and language skills, such as sentence structure and punctuation, parts of speech, and practice with writing genres.

The Math Curriculum Includes:

Recognizing and counting numbers 1-120

The base ten system

Place value

Addition and subtraction

Names and attributes of 2D and 3D shapes

Length, time, and money measurement

The Math Curriculum Includes:

Recognizing and counting numbers 1-120

The base ten system

Place value

Addition and subtraction

Names and attributes of 2D and 3D shapes

Length, time, and money measurement

ABCmouse.com teaches numbers, addition and subtraction, shapes, patterns, measurements, and more! Our games and creative activities make math fun while giving young learners the practice they need to build a strong foundation for success.

The Science and Social Studies Curriculum Includes:

The body and health

Plants and animals

Weather, climate, and the seasons

Earth's environments

Maps

Regions of the United States

The Solar System

Matter and its properties

Science and Social Studies

ABCmouse.com's science and social studies curriculum helps children understand the world they live in and inspires curiosity.

Science and Social Studies

ABCmouse.com's science and social studies curriculum helps children understand the world they live in and inspires curiosity.

The Art & Colors Curriculum Includes:

Primary and secondary colors

Shades of colors

Paint-by-number activities

Number and letter dot-to-dots

The Art & Colors Curriculum Includes:

Primary and secondary colors

Shades of colors

Paint-by-number activities

Number and letter dot-to-dots

ABCmouse.com's unique drawing and painting program gives children of all ages the opportunity to use lines, shapes, and colors to create original works of art. Games, books, paint-by-number activities, and puzzles teach children to name and use a variety of colors.

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Available on Step-by-Step Learning Path "Love the progressive activities! I don't have to take the time to search for activities for my 3-year-old, and my 5-year-old just follows along when she's playing by herself... So I know everyone's doing the right things for their ages!"

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This video shows a great fun and interactive way for the children to learn to rhyme.

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The Hungry Hungry Rhyming Monster: Foundations for Phonemic Awareness

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I found this in our text "Phonics They Use: Words for Reading and Writing" on page 37. You start with using the children's names to see how many syllables they have and then move forward from there.

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VitalSource Bookshelf is the world's leading platform for distributing, accessing, consuming, and engaging with digital textbooks and course materials.

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I found this in our text "Phonics They Use:Words for Reading and Writing" on page 36. I found this to be a fun way for the children to work on phonemic awareness.

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VitalSource Bookshelf is the world's leading platform for distributing, accessing, consuming, and engaging with digital textbooks and course materials.

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This video shows a great way to teach children how to rhyme.

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Phonics Teaching Strategy #2 Rhyming, Phonological Awareness