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Phonological and Phonemic Awareness: Activities for Your Pre-K Child

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Phonological awareness is a set of critical pre-reading skills: the ability to hear, identify, and play with the sounds in spoken language — including rhymes, syllables, and phonemes. Children with strong phonological awareness skills are ready to become readers.

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Phonemic awareness games may help your child read fluently. Research has shown that the quicker a child differentiates the sounds in a word, the faster they understand. According to the National Reading Panel report on Teaching Children to Read, teaching kids phonemic awareness significantly improved their reading in various age groups and grades.

What is Phonemic Awareness?

Although phonemic awareness affects the reading ability of a child, it isn't taught with the written word. It's about listening to the spoken word and being able to identify and manipulate the sounds in a word. Phonemic awareness breaks a single word into sounds. The child recognizes the beginning sound of the word and the individual sounds in the word. The child can then also manipulate the sounds to form a word by blending the sounds.

If written words are used together with a phonemic awareness activity, it may confuse the child. For example, the word off has two phonemes but is spelled with three letters.

Phonics, however, focuses on the sounds of written words and the spelling thereof. Phonemic awareness is one aspect of phonological awareness. Where phonemic awareness focuses on the sound of word segments, phonological awareness concentrates on the complete words. Words are strung together to create sentences.

Below is a list of phonemic awareness games for pre-k, kindergarten/1 st graders that focus on the three main aspects of phonemic awareness: listening, rhyming, and segmentation. We've added some games that include physical activity for the restless ones.

Listening Phonemic Awareness Games

Although listening is an essential part of phonemic awareness, often young kids don't know how. Teachers and parents shouldn't assume the child knows how to listen; they need to be taught how to listen carefully to the sounds of a word.

1. Who Can Spot The Sound?

Equipment Needed: Nothing!

Game Rules and Descriptions:

A relaxing game for after lunch or when the class needs some quiet time.

All the kids lie on the floor without making a sound. They listen to the sounds around them and try to identify what they are hearing. Is it a door closing, a teacher's voice, or a kid yawning?

They aren't allowed to use their eyes, only their ears. Talk about the sounds they hear. Be dramatic and overemphasize to add a fun element to the activity.

2. Beginning Sounds Mail Sort and Song

Equipment Needed:

Mailbag for each child (create one from a paper bag)

Copy of the song

A set of 10 Beginning Sound Mail Envelopes for each child (cards that look like envelopes with pictures on each mail piece)

Game Rules and Description:

The object of the game is to find all the mail that has an image of an item that begins with the same sound the kids heard at the end of the song.

Give each child a mailbag and spread out the envelopes in front of each child.

Sing the song on the tune of "I'm a little Teapot" and insert the letter sound.

Mail Delivery Song Lyrics (Lyric from Growing Book by Book)

I deliver mail Rain or shine. If you put a stamp on, it will get there in time. Can you help me sort my mail today? Collect the ones that start with ____ (insert letter sound)

3. I'm Thinking of a Word

Equipment Needed: No extra equipment is needed

Game Rules and Description:

The teacher sings a song with spelling out the sound syllables of each word. For example, "I'm thinking of a word named /c/ /a/ /t/, /c/ /a/ /t/. What is my word?"

The kids respond by sing back, "Is that word that you're thinking called cat?

4. 'Moo-Moo,' Where Are You?

Equipment Needed: No equipment is needed

Game Rules and Description:

The game teaches children to listen for a sound, to listen for the sounds in words, and to where it is coming from.

The object of the game is to identify the animal's sound and the direction it came from. The kids sit in a circle with the child who is 'it' lying with closed eyes in the middle of the circle. Another child moves to a place in the room and pretends to be a cow. 'It' needs to identify the animal's sound and where it is coming from. They point in the direction they hear the mooing coming from.

If 'it' identifies the sound and points in the right direction, they go next in making a different animal sound from somewhere in the room.

5. Block Challenge

Equipment Needed: 3-4 One-inch cubes of each color. Four or five different colored cubes.

Game Rules and Descriptions:

The object is to identify the different sounds by using colored blocks. The child chooses a block for each sound they hear. If the noise is repeated, they pick two blocks of the same color. For two different sounds, they will select two blocks one each of a different color. Increase the difficulty level for more advanced play.

Rhyming Phonemic Awareness Games

Rhyming teaches children that sounds form patterns and have meanings. Most kids understand the concept of rhyme or learn very quickly how to rhyme.

6. Rhyming Books, Poems, and Songs

Equipment Needed: rhyming book, poem, or songs

Game Rules and Description

The goal is to familiarize kids with the rhyming concept. The more rhyme books, poems, and songs you read to the kids, the better their understanding of rhyming.

Be silly. Have fun. Rhyming, books, poems, and songs are fun ways to introduce rhyming to young kids. Exaggerate the rhymes to make them aware of the verse. The more fun you have, the more fun they will have, and the quicker they will grasp the rhyme concept.

7. Rhyming Bingo

Equipment Needed:

A bingo board for each child. (Download free printable sheets here or create your own. The set contains 8 different Bingo boards.)

Counters - Use buttons, candy, counting cubes, or crackers.

Game Rules and Description:

Each kid receives a Bingo board and a handful of counters. Start with each child placing a piece on the free spot in the middle of the bingo board.

The game rules are the same as those of Bingo; you need five in a row or column to win.

When you call out a word, the child searches for a picture on their board that rhymes with the word called. If they find one, they place a counter on it. For example, if you called 'mat' and there is a 'cat' picture on their board, they must identify it and place a counter on the cat picture.

Obviously, winners can eat their counters on the bingo row or column.

8. In My Box

Equipment Needed:

A small box

Cards with pictures of familiar rhyming words, e.g., cat/mat, box/socks, bear/chair.

Have enough pictures so that everyone has a turn.

Game Rules and Description:

The game is for kids who are familiar with the concept of rhyme. The object of the game is for children to take turns in coming up with rhyming words.

The kids sit in a circle. For an easy start, choose a child that is good at rhyming. Choose a card. If the card contains a picture of a bear, for example, say, "In my box, there is a bear."

The kid you chose needs to come up with a word that rhymes with bear-like chair or pear and say, "In my box, there is a chair," for example. If the kid came up with a rhyming word, pass the box to them to choose the next card.

9. Making A Rhyme

Equipment Needed: None required.

Game Rules and Description:

The object of this phonemic awareness activity is to rhyme sounds. The focus is not on the words but on creating sounds that rhyme. Therefore, making up silly sounds that aren't actual words, is allowed; it's part of the fun.

Create new rhymes that the kids can fill in. Then give them a turn to make up their rhymes. For example,

A hat on a...mat (or cat, bat, zat)

A tree with a ...key (or sea, knee, bee, me)

A bug in a ...mug (or hug or slug)

A picture of a...fixture (or mixture, nicture)

A variation to the game is to sing the rhymes a familiar song like Farmer in the Dell.

10. Rhyme Memory Game

Equipment Needed: rhyming memory cards (Create your own or download printable memory cards here)

Game Rules and Description:

Rhyme Memory is a variation of the classic Memory Game. Before you start the game, go through all the cards with the kids. Make sure they know what word fits with each card. For example, a bee is a bee, not a bug.

Place the cards face down in a grid. Start with a few cards for younger children and make the grid more complex for older children. The child turns over two cards and names the pictures they see. They must tell you if the two words rhyme or not. If the two words rhyme, they remove the two cards; if not, they turn over the cards, and it is the next child's turn.

Segmentation Phonemic Awareness Games

Segmentation activities teach children that words are made up of smaller parts according to their sounds. It also shows them how to group sounds to form words. Where listening teaches children to hear and identify words, segmentation teaches them to understand the individual sounds the words consist of.

11. Bippity Boppity Bumble Bee

Equipment Needed: Stuffed or printable bumble bee for kids to hold.

Game Rules and Description:

The game teaches segmentation by using the names of the children. To familiarize the children with the individual sound syllables, they clap out the names focusing on each syllable in the name.

The teacher walks around the circle and points to a child with the Bumble Bee toy or gives the Bumblebee for the child to hold, saying, "Bippity, Boppity, Bumble Bee, will you say your name for me?"

The child responds with their name. Then the class says her name out loud while clapping once for each syllable in the name. Next, the teacher tells them to whisper and soft-clap the syllables in the name.

Lastly, the teacher thanks the child, "Bippity, boppity, bumble bee, thank you for saying your name for me." Repeat the process with each of the kids sitting in the circle.

Variation to the game is having the kids take on the role of the bumblebee instead of the teacher.

12. Old MacDonald

Equipment Needed: Kids should be familiar with the Old MacDonald song.

Game Rules and Description:

The game teaches children to merge segmentations to form a word mentally.

Tell the kids they are going to learn a different version of the Old MacDonald song. Warn them it is a silly version.

Start singing, "Old MacDonald had a farm, e-i-e-i-o. And on the farm, he had a /_/_/." Here the teacher introduces a different animal singing the word segments, e.g.,/ti/and /ger/. The kids immediately pick up the silly version and the introduction of a different animal. Without realizing it, they merge the segments and form the word of the animal-tiger.

Next, show them a picture of the animal, confirming that they figured out the correct animal.

13. Falling Snowflake Segmentation Activity

Equipment Needed:

Large foam or paper snowflakes for group activity

Snowflake manipulatives for example, snowflake sequins, foam snowflakes, white pompoms, or cotton balls

Falling Snowflake Segmentation Mats (Download free printable snowflake mats here)

Game Rules and Description

Develop and strengthen their motor skills with this phonemic awareness activity.

Use large snowflakes the kids can drop to the floor to help develop gross motor skills. Demonstrate to the kids how the game works and then let them do it as a group. Say a word and drop a snowflake for each sound in the word. Start with two or three phoneme words.

When they are comfortable playing in a group, help them strengthen their fine motor skill with the second part of the phonemic awareness activity. Kids can play individually or in small groups of two to three. Give each group or kid snowflake manipulatives and a snowflake mat.

The goal is for the kids to pull the snowflakes in the sky (top of the mat) down to earth (bottom of the mat)-one snowflake for each sound in a word. They start from the left and move to the right. Not all snowflakes will be used each time. Then they move the snowflakes back into the sky for the next word.

14. Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes

Equipment Needed: None

Game Rules and Descriptions:

A fun phonemic awareness activity that practices segmentation while being physically active.

Give the kid a word that contains a maximum of four phonemes. The children must stand and touch first the head, then the shoulder, knees, and toes as they say each segment sound of the word. For example, for the word sit, they will touch their head for s, their shoulders for I and their knees for t.

15. Turtle Talk

Equipment Needed:

Game Rules and Description:

Turtle Talk is a phonemic awareness activity that teaches listening skills and segmentation. The idea of the game is to help the child merge sounds to form a word and then to break the words up into sound segments.

Tommy (or Tammy), the Turtle, takes the lead. Remind the children that turtles talk just as slow as they move. Tommy Turtle doesn't say the whole word at once but speaks one sound at a time. To understand what he is saying, the children must listen carefully and then merge the sounds to form the word.

Use the word list and say one word at a time with a pause between each phoneme.

Use the counting cards for the next part of the game. After the kids formed the words, do the opposite. They must break the words up into sound segments and count the number of segments with the counting cards.

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Fifteen Fun Phonemic Awareness Activities and Games For Kids

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Looking for some fun and easy-to-use activities to help teach phonemic awareness? These hands-on games will quickly get you going.

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Phonics is one of the five essential components of the science of reading, along with phonemic awareness, fluency, vocabulary, and reading comprehension. Phonics activities help young learners break words into their constituent sounds so they build their literacy skills, bit by bit. Here are some of our favorite ways to teach these key skills.

1. Sing a phonics song

Singing songs is such a fun and effective way to learn! Kids will love to watch and sing along, and might not even realize they're learning along the way.

Learn more: 15 Phonics Songs for Kids at We Are Teachers

2. Color in the beginning sounds

Most kids start learning phonics by mastering the beginning sounds of words. Have kids color in the words that start with the matching sound on these cute and free worksheets.

Learn more: Beginning Sounds Coloring Pages at The Measured Mom

3. Use Google Slides

Google Slides has tons of fun phonics activities kids can use in the classroom or at home.

Learn more: 18 Interactive Google Slides for Teaching Phonics and Sight Words at We Are Teachers

4. Hang phonics anchor charts

When it comes to phonics, there's a lot to learn. Post anchor charts around the room to help kids remember important rules like silent E, vowel blends, and hard and soft C and G.

Learn more: 20 Perfect Anchor Charts for Teaching Phonics and Blends at We Are Teachers

5. Build words with a chart of beginning sounds

Grab this free printable chart and print out copies for your students to use with their phonics activities. There's a version for rimes too.

Learn more: Beginning Sounds Chart at This Reading Mama

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6. Learn digraphs with clip wheels

Combine fine motor skills practice with phonics work with these free beginning digraph wheels. Tip: Add small dots on the back to mark the right answers so kids can self-correct their work.

Learn more: Digraph Wheels at Playdough to Plato

7. Slap the letter sounds

Sounding out words letter by letter is a lot more fun when you slap each letter with a flyswatter! This is a great idea for active learners.

Learn more: Letter Sound Slap at Frugal Fun for Boys and Girls

8. Walk the word

This one will also keep active learners moving and happy! Write words in sidewalk chalk, then walk (or hop or skip) along them, sounding the word out along the way. Simple but fun!

Learn more: Gross Motor Phonics Game: Walk the Word at Coffee Cups and Crayons

9. Fill in the missing letters

This active game combines a scavenger hunt with phonics! Hide sticky notes around the room with various vowels. Then, write CVC words with the vowels missing. Have kids hunt for the missing sounds and fill them in. Fun!

Learn more: Missing Sounds Reading Activity at Busy Toddler

10. Just swap one letter

As students move from box to box, they change one letter to make the new word represented by the picture. They might need to change the first, middle, or last letter, so it's a real challenge!

Learn more: Just Swap One at This Reading Mama

11. Make magic spoons

Pick up a pack of plastic spoons at the dollar store, then use them to practice building words by combining beginning sounds with word endings.

Learn more: Activities To Teach Phonics and Math at Education to the Core

12. Toss and blend with plastic cups

Grab a stack of plastic cups and some Ping-Pong balls for this fun phonics game. Label the cups with different letter blends and set them out (tape them down if they tend to fall over). Kids toss a ball into a cup, then come up with a word that uses that letter blend to earn a point.

Learn more: Toss and Blend at Education.com

13. Flip the pages

Divide the pages of a small notebook into thirds, then write letters on each page. Flip them to form new words.

Learn more: Phoneme Substitution Activities at Tickled Pink in Primary

14. Mix and match cups to make words

If you've still got some cups left over, label them with more letters or letter blends, then use them to mix and match words. This is an especially fun way to work on CVC and sight words.

Learn more: CVC Cups at Inspired Elementary

15. Hack pool noodles into phonics tools

This has got to be one of our favorite phonics activities. Cut a pool noodle into pieces and label it with letters. Then stack and spin for learning fun!

Learn more: Pool Noodle Phonics at We Are Teachers

16. Spin and rhyme

Here's a different spin (pun intended!) on Pool Noodle Phonics. All you need is a cardboard tube, a wire pants hanger, scissors, and a marker to make this fun DIY rhyming activity.

Learn more: Spin and Rhyme at No Time for Flash Cards

17. Make some phonics cubes

Slide the free printable inserts into a set of photo cubes, then roll until you get the correct combination of letter and word ending.

Learn more: Phonics Cubes at This Reading Mama

18. Use paint stirrers to make word pull-outs

These clever phonics tools are easy to make using paint stirrer sticks and paper towel tubes. Simply slide the stick in and out to make new words!

Learn more: Word Family Pull-Out Activity at I Can Teach My Child

19. Play a flip-top phonics game

If you go through packages of wipes like most parents do, you'll appreciate this idea. Save the flip tops and use them for DIY phonics activities.

Learn more: Flip Top Phonics Games for Kids at No Time for Flash Cards

20. Use a pocket chart for phonics activities

Here's another reason teachers love pocket charts: They're great for phonics centers. Sort and match cards to practice beginning sounds, blends, short and long vowels, and so much more.

Learn more: Short A Activities and Resources at Miss Giraffe's Class

21. Compete at Blends and Digraphs Bingo

Every kid loves a good game of bingo! Snag these free printable bingo cards and use them to practice blends and digraphs.

Learn more: Blends and Digraph Bingo at The Measured Mom

22. Toss some phonics water balloons

This one almost seems too fun to count as learning! Tape up beginning sounds, then toss water balloons to complete the words.

Learn more: Water Balloon Phonics at Mess for Less

23. Race to the Top with blends and digraphs

Play this free printable game to practice consonant blends. Toss a chip onto the board and say that word out loud. Then move the counter for the correct blend up one space. First to the top wins!

Learn more: Blends and Digraphs Games at This Reading Mama

24. Try locks and keys to learn phonics

This self-correcting phonics activity is also a good way to practice fine motor skills ... and a lot of fun to boot! Label keys with beginning sounds and locks with word endings, then match them up and try the key to see if you're right.

Learn more: Unlock and Learn Game at We Are Teachers

25. Play Phonogram Connect 4

Draw a word card and find an open phonogram slot on the board. Your goal is to get four in a row!

Learn more: Phonogram Connect Four at Mrs. T's First Grade Class

26. Teach them the Soft C & G Chant

Simple little chants like this will help kids remember some of those confusing language rules. Pair it with other favorites like " I before E, except after C."

Learn more: Soft C and G at This Reading Mama

27. Mix, color, and spell

We can't get enough of games that reinforce CVC words with short vowels-it's such an important early literacy skill! Practice identifying and distinguishing between vowels by coloring in the middle sound from pictures of CVC words.

Learn more: Teaching CVC Words at Susan Jones Teaching

28. Write the Room: Digraphs

Use this fun little letter scavenger hunt to move around the room to search for pictures with digraphs. First, mark the ones you find with a dot marker and then use another sheet to write the digraphs.

Learn more: Beginning Digraphs Write the Room at ABC's of Literacy

29. Use disappearing ink for letter formation

One of the first keys to early reading success is letter identification and formation. Keep it fresh by using "disappearing ink" (aka water) so students have to trace letters multiple times to prevent them from disappearing too fast. With so few materials and such high engagement, what's not to love?

Learn more: 3 Simple Play-Based Phonics Activities at Research and Play

30. Do word sorts

Word sorts are great for comparing word patterns that make the same sound, like vowel teams. They can also help reinforce so many different phonics skills, making them the perfect activity that can be easy differentiated for learners of all stages.

Learn more: Using Word Sorts for Phonics Instruction at Mrs. Winter's Bliss

31. Roll and Read

Roll a die and read the word from the corresponding column. Play with a partner or do it solo by coloring in the words as you read them.

Learn more: Lesson 79 Roll and Read at UFLI. While you're there, check out the UFLI free lesson resources, which include decodable passages and games for almost every phonics skill!

32. Roll letter dice

A perfect DIY idea for old blocks! Use three blocks and write consonants on two of them and vowels on the other. Have some fun rolling and blending CVC words.

Learn more: DIY Phonics Games at Early Impact Learning

33. Sort syllable types

If you are teaching the different syllable types, this word sort helps students practice their knowledge of the six types and shows you what they know.

Learn more: Six-Way Syllable Sort at Florida Center for Reading Research. Also, check out the many other phonics resources available by grade level: Kindergarten and First Grade or Second and Third Grades.

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33 Fun Phonics Activities and Games for Early Readers

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Help kids learn to read with phonics activities that break words into their basic sounds, like phonemes, digraphs, diphthongs, and more.

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I Spy a Sound Phonics Activities - Creative Kindergarten

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I Spy a Sound are fun and engaging phonics activities that you can use to work on letter sounds with your kindergarten students.

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A child with strong decoding skills uses this knowledge of sound-letter correspondence to read familiar and unfamiliar words, and begin to read with ease. Decoding relies on the rules of phonics, so first graders need to memorize words that don't follow those rules.

In first grade, your child becomes a more skillful decoder and can do these things:

Blend or break apart the individual sounds (phonemes) of most one-syllable words, like sip and bat

Read words with long vowel sounds (see, say, so)

Begin to sound out more complex words, including words with silent "e" at the end.

Decoding takes a lot of practice! You can help your child build phonics skills with some of the activities described here - and by offering lots of encouragement as your child gains confidence with this big step into becoming a reader.

Here are some basic tips on how to help your child build phonics skills:

Help your child learn the names of the letters and the sounds the letters make. Turn it into a game! "I'm thinking of a letter and it makes the sound mmmmmm."

That means to follow the words with your finger from left to right as you read them. Your beginning reader will do the same thing for awhile.

Beginning readers may read slowly. Give your child time to decode the words, and avoid jumping in too quickly.

If your child is stuck on a word, prompt them to look at the first letter of the word and make the letter's sound. Of course, only do this for words that can be sounded out! If the word can't be sounded out, just supply the word for them.

Try these phonics activities at home

Fridge fun

Magnetic letters can provide lots of easy phonics practice right in your kitchen. For an alphabet refresher, ask your child to arrange the letters in alphabetical order. Next, ask her to pick out a letter, think of a simple three- or four-letter word that starts with that letter, and spell it out on the refrigerator. Can your child think of more words to spell with that first letter? Finally, see if she can change one letter in the word to make a new word.

Scrambled words

Draw three boxes side by side on a piece of paper. Using magnetic letters or letters written on paper, scramble the letters of a simple three-letter word (big, bug, top, ran) under the boxes. Have your child unscramble the letters and place them into the correct box.

Extra, extra!

Ask your child to find and cut out all the words in a newspaper or magazine that she can read. Glue or tape them onto a piece of paper and practice reading them together.

The "H Brothers"

Explain to your child that sometimes two letters will stand together to create one new sound. The "H Brothers" join with other letters to make the sounds: sh, ch, th, wh and ph. Write down some example words and use multisensory props and gestures to help your child remember the new letter combination. Here's a fun idea for telling the story of the H Brothers to reinforce the concept.

Spelling lightning round

Talk or play games about letter sounds for a few minutes each day. While driving or cooking dinner, give your child a simple two-letter word and a three-letter word to spell. Choose words that are spelled like they sound (at, hot, pet, sip). Give a rousing cheer or high-five for words spelled correctly

Cereal box read aloud

Your breakfast table can offer some easy practice in sounding out words. Together look at the words on your child's cereal box, choose a simple word, and see if your child can sound out the letters as you point to each. Practice blending the sounds to make the word.

Grocery store literacy

Lots of grocery items come in different flavors. Ask your child to help you find a particular flavor by reading the labels. For example, can she find the low fat milk? The tuna fish packed in water? She'll be using her reading skills to find the right item. Put your child in charge of the grocery list. As you put items into the cart, say the word and ask your child to cross it off the list.

Blend it!

First graders will learn how to sound out the letter blends, such as tr, sw, st, sm, sl, pl, gr, fl, dr, cr, cl, br, and bl. This quick game gives your child a chance to practice those blends. Write out a single letter blend on index cards or the backs of used envelopes. Have your child say the sound of the blend and then ask her to name a common object that starts with that sound (you might have to help with this part). Repeat with a few more blends - it's a good idea to keep games like these short and fun. You can also turn this game into a scavenger hunt by asking your child to find the object in the house or outside.

Words in the wild

Words are everywhere! When you're out for a walk or shopping together, point out some simple signage, such as a STOP sign or a store sign that says "Pet Shop." Ask your child if they can sound out the words. Start with easy consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) words like pet and then try words with letter blends, like stop and shop.

Listen, listen

Decoding is hard work! Try setting aside time each day to listen to your child read to you, and let him know how much you enjoy hearing him read and how proud you are. If your first grader has a preschool sibling, encourage him to read to his sister or brother (guaranteed to make you smile!).

Dig into decodable books

Through read alouds, kindergarteners should be exposed to a wide range of books that introduce them to rich vocabulary and story structure. But there is also a role for decodable books to help your child practice beginning phonics skills. Decodable books contain a high percentage of words with predictable letter-sound relationships. You'll find a comprehensive list of K-2 books here: Decodable Text Sources.

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Phonics and Decoding: Activities for Your First Grader

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The goal of phonics instruction is to help children learn the alphabetic principle - the idea that letters represent the sounds of spoken language - and that there is an organized, logical, and predictable relationship between written letters and spoken sounds.

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A child with strong decoding skills uses this knowledge of sound-letter correspondence to read familiar and unfamiliar words, and begin to read with ease. Decoding relies on the rules of phonics, so first graders need to memorize words that don't follow those rules.

In second grade, your child is building more sophisticated decoding skills and can do these things:

Identify an increasing number of words by sight.

Use letter-sound knowledge to sound out unknown words.

Accurately decode multisyllable words that sound like they are spelled ("orthographically regular") such as capital or Kalamazoo. Can also sound out orthographically regular nonsense words.

Accurately read many irregularly spelled words.

Decoding takes a lot of practice! You can help your child build phonics skills with some of the activities described here - and by offering lots of encouragement as your child gains confidence with this big step into becoming a reader. Beginning readers may read slowly. Give your child time to decode the words, and avoid jumping in too quickly.

Try these phonics activities at home

Extra, extra!

Ask your child to find and cut out all the words in a newspaper or magazine that she can read. Glue or tape them onto a piece of paper and practice reading them together.

The "H Brothers"

Explain to your child that sometimes two letters will stand together to create one new sound. The "H Brothers" join with other letters to make the sounds: sh, ch, th, wh and ph. Write down some example words and use multisensory props and gestures to help your child remember the new letter combination. He's a fun idea for telling the story of the H Brothers to reinforce the concept.

Build-a-word

Prefixes are sets of letters that are added to the beginning of a word, and suffixes are added to the end. Give your child a simple action word, such as heat. Ask your child to think of variations of the word by adding a prefix or suffix. For example: reheat, heated, heater, heating.

Word ladders

On a sheet of paper, draw a ladder with two long sides and up to 10 rungs. Write a word at the bottom of the ladder. Challenge your child to come up with new words by just changing one letter at the beginning, middle, or end of the word. For example, if the bottom word is line, your word ladder could look like this:

Cereal box read aloud

Your breakfast table can offer some easy practice in sounding out words. Together look at the words on your child's cereal box, choose a variety of words from easy to "stretch" words, and see if your child can sound out the letters as you point to each. For longer unfamiliar words, you can break up the word into easier parts by covering up letters with your finger, and then encouraging your child to blend the parts into a whole word.

Grocery store literacy

Lots of grocery items come in different flavors. Ask your child to help you find a particular flavor by reading the labels. For example, can she find the low fat milk? The tuna fish packed in water? She'll be using her reading skills to find the right item. Put your child in charge of the grocery list. As you put items into the cart, say the word and ask your child to cross it off the list.

Words in the wild

Words are everywhere! When you're out for a walk or shopping together, look at signage and point out some simple words for your child to sound out. Then try more challenging words like "Hardware Store" or some of the words on a movie poster or a menu in a restaurant window. look at a movie poster together. Ask your child if they can sound out the words. Keep it fun and brisk as you walk together.

Listen, listen

Decoding is hard work! Try setting aside time each day to listen to your child read to you, and let him know how much you enjoy hearing him read and how proud you are. If your first grader has a preschool sibling, encourage him to read to his sister or brother (guaranteed to make you smile!).

When your child is stuck: should you tell them the word?

This video is from Home Reading Helper, a resource for parents to elevate children's reading at home provided by Read Charlotte . Find more video, parent activities, printables, and other resources at Home Reading Helper .

Dig into decodable books

Children at this age should be exposed to a wide range of books that introduce them to rich vocabulary and story structure. But there is also a role for decodable books to help your child strengthen phonics skills. Decodable books contain a high percentage of words with predictable letter-sound relationships. You'll find a comprehensive list of these books here: Decodable Text Sources.

Change my word

Try this activity from the Florida Center for Reading Research (FCRR). The FCRR "At Home" series was developed especially for families! Watch the video and then download the activity: Change My Word . See all FCRR phonics activities here .

Short and long

Try this activity from the Florida Center for Reading Research (FCRR). The FCRR "At Home" series was developed especially for families! Watch the video and then download the activity: Short and Long . See all FCRR phonics activities here .

How do I explain the "ea" vowel combination?

Reading expert Linda Farrell explains that you begin with the most common pronunciation, and then teach the exceptions. (From our video series Reading SOS: Expert Answers to Family Questions About Reading.)

Sight words

Sight words are common words kids have to recognize instantly without sounding them out. Many sight words are tricky to read - they aren't spelled the way they sound so they are difficult to decode. Children need to memorize them. Here's a list of common sight words for second grade .

Sight word spy

Tell your child that sight words are "hiding in plain sight" everywhere around us. Your child's "mission" is to spot the sight words out in the world (in the grocery store, on a sign, cereal box, or movie poster) and announce "aha, I found you! This silly game can get your child excited about recognizing words - as well as a boost of confidence from knowing how to read them.

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Phonics and Decoding: Activities for Your Second Grader

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The goal of phonics instruction is to help children learn the alphabetic principle - the idea that letters represent the sounds of spoken language - and that there is an organized, logical, and predictable relationship between written letters and spoken sounds.

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That's a complicated sounding term, but it's meaning is simple: the ability to hear, recognize, and play with the sounds in spoken language. Phonological awareness is really a group of skills that include a child's ability to:

Identify words that rhyme

Count the number of syllables in a name

Recognize alliteration (words with the same beginning sound)

Segment (break) a sentence into words

Identify the syllables in a word

The most sophisticated phonological awareness skill (and the last to develop) is called phonemic awareness - the ability to hear, recognize, and play with the individual sounds (phonemes) in spoken words. When playing with the sounds in word, children learn to:

Blend individual sounds to make a word

Stretch out a word into its individual sounds

Swap in a different sound to the beginning, middle, or end of a word to make a new word

Strong phonemic awareness is one of the strongest predictors of later reading success. Children who struggle with reading, including kids with dyslexia, often have trouble with phonemic awareness, but with the right kind of instruction they can be successful. Learn some of the warning signs for dyslexia in this article, Clues to Dyslexia in Early Childhood.

Parents can make a big difference in helping their children become readers by practicing these pre-reading oral skills at home. Try some of the simple rhyming and word sound games described here.

Try these speech sound activities at home

Rhyme time

"I am thinking of an animal that rhymes with big. What's the animal?" Answer: pig. What else rhymes with big? ( dig, fig, wig)

Road trip rhymes

While you're out driving in the car, spot something out the window and ask your child, "what rhymes with tree or car or shop?" Then switch roles and have your child spot something and ask you for a rhyme. This can turn into a game of nonsense rhymes ("What rhymes with tree stump?") but that's great for practicing sounds, too!

Word families

Word families are sets of words that rhyme. Start to build your family by giving your child the first word, for example, cat. Then ask your child to name all the "kids" in the cat family, such as: bat, fat, sat, rat, pat, mat, hat, flat. This will help your child hear patterns in words.

Silly tongue twisters

Sing songs and say silly tongue twisters. These help your child become sensitive to the sounds in words.

Tongue ticklers

Alliteration or "tongue ticklers" - where the sound you're focusing on is repeated over and over again - can be a fun way to provide practice with a speech sound. Try these:

For M: Miss Mouse makes marvelous meatballs!

For S: Silly Sally sings songs about snakes and snails.

For F: Freddy finds fireflies with a flashlight.

Syllable shopping

While at the grocery store, have your child tell you the syllables in different food names. Have them hold up a finger for each word part. Eggplant = egg-plant, two syllables. Pineapple = pine-ap-ple, three syllables. Show your child the sign for each and ask her to say the word.

"I spy" first sounds

Practice beginning sounds with this simple "I spy" game at home, on a walk, or at the grocery store. Choose words with distinctive, easy-to-hear beginning sounds. For example, if you're in the bathroom you can say, "I spy something red that starts with the "s" ssss sound ( soap)."

Sound scavenger hunt

Choose a letter sound, then have your child find things around your house that start with the same sound. "Can you find something in our house that starts with the letter "p" pppppp sound? Picture, pencil, pear "

Which letter sounds do I teach first?

Reading expert Linda Farrell recommends that you begin with teaching the letter names, and then focus on the letter sounds that are closest to their letter names (such as /v/). And here's a great tip for teaching the trickier letter name-letter sound combinations - use arm motions. In this video, Linda demonstrates motions for /x/ and /y/. (From our video series Reading SOS: Expert Answers to Family Questions About Reading.)

Sound games

Practice blending sounds into words. Ask "Can you guess what this word is? m - o - p." Hold each sound longer than normal.

First sounds

When you're reading together with your child, pick a word from the book and say it with emphasis on the first sound. Pick another word and compare them. "Zzz-zookeeper and rrr-rhinoceros. Can you hear what sound zzz-zookeeper starts with? Is it the same as rrr-rhinoceros?

Jump, skip, hop!

Create simple picture cards that you draw or cut out of magazines. Have your child, identify what's in the picture, and then break that word into its individual sounds. For example dog is d-o-g, three sounds (phonemes). Three sounds? You and your child do three jumping jacks, skips, or hops (followed by a high-five). You can also do this game outdoors without the cards, just call out simple words for your child.

Snail talk

Tell your child you're going to communicate in "snail talk" and they need to figure out what you're saying. Take a simple word and stretch it out very slowly (e.g., /fffffllllaaaag/), then ask your child to tell you the word. Switch roles and have your child stretch out a word for you.

"I spy" blending

Here's an easy phoneme blending game you can play while talking a walk. For blending, you can say, "I see a sign that says s-t-o-p" Then your child has to blend the sounds to guess your word - stop. (Remember to say only the sounds in the word - not the letters.) Keep the words short, moving from two to three to four sounds depending on your child's skill level.

Sound counting

Using LEGO bricks, beads, or pennies, say a word and have your child show you how many sounds the word makes. For example, top = t-o-p = three sounds, so your child would place three objects in a row. Then have them tap each object as they say the sound. Remember, your child is just showing you the sounds they hear. So the word bike would be = b-i-k (silent e) = only three sounds.

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Phonological and Phonemic Awareness: Activities for Your Kindergartener

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Phonological and phonemic awareness are important pre-reading skills, related to the ability to hear, identify, and play with the sounds in spoken language - including rhymes, syllables, and the smallest units of sound (phonemes). Children with strong phonological awareness skills are ready to become readers.

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Phonemic awareness games may help your child read fluently. Research has shown that the quicker a child differentiates the sounds in a word, the faster they understand. According to the National Reading Panel report on Teaching Children to Read, teaching kids phonemic awareness significantly improved their reading in various age groups and grades.

What is Phonemic Awareness?

Although phonemic awareness affects the reading ability of a child, it isn't taught with the written word. It's about listening to the spoken word and being able to identify and manipulate the sounds in a word. Phonemic awareness breaks a single word into sounds. The child recognizes the beginning sound of the word and the individual sounds in the word. The child can then also manipulate the sounds to form a word by blending the sounds.

If written words are used together with a phonemic awareness activity, it may confuse the child. For example, the word off has two phonemes but is spelled with three letters.

Phonics, however, focuses on the sounds of written words and the spelling thereof. Phonemic awareness is one aspect of phonological awareness. Where phonemic awareness focuses on the sound of word segments, phonological awareness concentrates on the complete words. Words are strung together to create sentences.

Below is a list of phonemic awareness games for pre-k, kindergarten/1 st graders that focus on the three main aspects of phonemic awareness: listening, rhyming, and segmentation. We've added some games that include physical activity for the restless ones.

Listening Phonemic Awareness Games

Although listening is an essential part of phonemic awareness, often young kids don't know how. Teachers and parents shouldn't assume the child knows how to listen; they need to be taught how to listen carefully to the sounds of a word.

1. Who Can Spot The Sound?

Equipment Needed: Nothing!

Game Rules and Descriptions:

A relaxing game for after lunch or when the class needs some quiet time.

All the kids lie on the floor without making a sound. They listen to the sounds around them and try to identify what they are hearing. Is it a door closing, a teacher's voice, or a kid yawning?

They aren't allowed to use their eyes, only their ears. Talk about the sounds they hear. Be dramatic and overemphasize to add a fun element to the activity.

2. Beginning Sounds Mail Sort and Song

Equipment Needed:

Mailbag for each child (create one from a paper bag)

Copy of the song

A set of 10 Beginning Sound Mail Envelopes for each child (cards that look like envelopes with pictures on each mail piece)

Game Rules and Description:

The object of the game is to find all the mail that has an image of an item that begins with the same sound the kids heard at the end of the song.

Give each child a mailbag and spread out the envelopes in front of each child.

Sing the song on the tune of "I'm a little Teapot" and insert the letter sound.

Mail Delivery Song Lyrics (Lyric from Growing Book by Book)

I deliver mail Rain or shine. If you put a stamp on, it will get there in time. Can you help me sort my mail today? Collect the ones that start with ____ (insert letter sound)

3. I'm Thinking of a Word

Equipment Needed: No extra equipment is needed

Game Rules and Description:

The teacher sings a song with spelling out the sound syllables of each word. For example, "I'm thinking of a word named /c/ /a/ /t/, /c/ /a/ /t/. What is my word?"

The kids respond by sing back, "Is that word that you're thinking called cat?

4. 'Moo-Moo,' Where Are You?

Equipment Needed: No equipment is needed

Game Rules and Description:

The game teaches children to listen for a sound, to listen for the sounds in words, and to where it is coming from.

The object of the game is to identify the animal's sound and the direction it came from. The kids sit in a circle with the child who is 'it' lying with closed eyes in the middle of the circle. Another child moves to a place in the room and pretends to be a cow. 'It' needs to identify the animal's sound and where it is coming from. They point in the direction they hear the mooing coming from.

If 'it' identifies the sound and points in the right direction, they go next in making a different animal sound from somewhere in the room.

5. Block Challenge

Equipment Needed: 3-4 One-inch cubes of each color. Four or five different colored cubes.

Game Rules and Descriptions:

The object is to identify the different sounds by using colored blocks. The child chooses a block for each sound they hear. If the noise is repeated, they pick two blocks of the same color. For two different sounds, they will select two blocks one each of a different color. Increase the difficulty level for more advanced play.

Rhyming Phonemic Awareness Games

Rhyming teaches children that sounds form patterns and have meanings. Most kids understand the concept of rhyme or learn very quickly how to rhyme.

6. Rhyming Books, Poems, and Songs

Equipment Needed: rhyming book, poem, or songs

Game Rules and Description

The goal is to familiarize kids with the rhyming concept. The more rhyme books, poems, and songs you read to the kids, the better their understanding of rhyming.

Be silly. Have fun. Rhyming, books, poems, and songs are fun ways to introduce rhyming to young kids. Exaggerate the rhymes to make them aware of the verse. The more fun you have, the more fun they will have, and the quicker they will grasp the rhyme concept.

7. Rhyming Bingo

Equipment Needed:

A bingo board for each child. (Download free printable sheets here or create your own. The set contains 8 different Bingo boards.)

Counters - Use buttons, candy, counting cubes, or crackers.

Game Rules and Description:

Each kid receives a Bingo board and a handful of counters. Start with each child placing a piece on the free spot in the middle of the bingo board.

The game rules are the same as those of Bingo; you need five in a row or column to win.

When you call out a word, the child searches for a picture on their board that rhymes with the word called. If they find one, they place a counter on it. For example, if you called 'mat' and there is a 'cat' picture on their board, they must identify it and place a counter on the cat picture.

Obviously, winners can eat their counters on the bingo row or column.

8. In My Box

Equipment Needed:

A small box

Cards with pictures of familiar rhyming words, e.g., cat/mat, box/socks, bear/chair.

Have enough pictures so that everyone has a turn.

Game Rules and Description:

The game is for kids who are familiar with the concept of rhyme. The object of the game is for children to take turns in coming up with rhyming words.

The kids sit in a circle. For an easy start, choose a child that is good at rhyming. Choose a card. If the card contains a picture of a bear, for example, say, "In my box, there is a bear."

The kid you chose needs to come up with a word that rhymes with bear-like chair or pear and say, "In my box, there is a chair," for example. If the kid came up with a rhyming word, pass the box to them to choose the next card.

9. Making A Rhyme

Equipment Needed: None required.

Game Rules and Description:

The object of this phonemic awareness activity is to rhyme sounds. The focus is not on the words but on creating sounds that rhyme. Therefore, making up silly sounds that aren't actual words, is allowed; it's part of the fun.

Create new rhymes that the kids can fill in. Then give them a turn to make up their rhymes. For example,

A hat on a...mat (or cat, bat, zat)

A tree with a ...key (or sea, knee, bee, me)

A bug in a ...mug (or hug or slug)

A picture of a...fixture (or mixture, nicture)

A variation to the game is to sing the rhymes a familiar song like Farmer in the Dell.

10. Rhyme Memory Game

Equipment Needed: rhyming memory cards (Create your own or download printable memory cards here)

Game Rules and Description:

Rhyme Memory is a variation of the classic Memory Game. Before you start the game, go through all the cards with the kids. Make sure they know what word fits with each card. For example, a bee is a bee, not a bug.

Place the cards face down in a grid. Start with a few cards for younger children and make the grid more complex for older children. The child turns over two cards and names the pictures they see. They must tell you if the two words rhyme or not. If the two words rhyme, they remove the two cards; if not, they turn over the cards, and it is the next child's turn.

Segmentation Phonemic Awareness Games

Segmentation activities teach children that words are made up of smaller parts according to their sounds. It also shows them how to group sounds to form words. Where listening teaches children to hear and identify words, segmentation teaches them to understand the individual sounds the words consist of.

11. Bippity Boppity Bumble Bee

Equipment Needed: Stuffed or printable bumble bee for kids to hold.

Game Rules and Description:

The game teaches segmentation by using the names of the children. To familiarize the children with the individual sound syllables, they clap out the names focusing on each syllable in the name.

The teacher walks around the circle and points to a child with the Bumble Bee toy or gives the Bumblebee for the child to hold, saying, "Bippity, Boppity, Bumble Bee, will you say your name for me?"

The child responds with their name. Then the class says her name out loud while clapping once for each syllable in the name. Next, the teacher tells them to whisper and soft-clap the syllables in the name.

Lastly, the teacher thanks the child, "Bippity, boppity, bumble bee, thank you for saying your name for me." Repeat the process with each of the kids sitting in the circle.

Variation to the game is having the kids take on the role of the bumblebee instead of the teacher.

12. Old MacDonald

Equipment Needed: Kids should be familiar with the Old MacDonald song.

Game Rules and Description:

The game teaches children to merge segmentations to form a word mentally.

Tell the kids they are going to learn a different version of the Old MacDonald song. Warn them it is a silly version.

Start singing, "Old MacDonald had a farm, e-i-e-i-o. And on the farm, he had a /_/_/." Here the teacher introduces a different animal singing the word segments, e.g.,/ti/and /ger/. The kids immediately pick up the silly version and the introduction of a different animal. Without realizing it, they merge the segments and form the word of the animal-tiger.

Next, show them a picture of the animal, confirming that they figured out the correct animal.

13. Falling Snowflake Segmentation Activity

Equipment Needed:

Large foam or paper snowflakes for group activity

Snowflake manipulatives for example, snowflake sequins, foam snowflakes, white pompoms, or cotton balls

Falling Snowflake Segmentation Mats (Download free printable snowflake mats here)

Game Rules and Description

Develop and strengthen their motor skills with this phonemic awareness activity.

Use large snowflakes the kids can drop to the floor to help develop gross motor skills. Demonstrate to the kids how the game works and then let them do it as a group. Say a word and drop a snowflake for each sound in the word. Start with two or three phoneme words.

When they are comfortable playing in a group, help them strengthen their fine motor skill with the second part of the phonemic awareness activity. Kids can play individually or in small groups of two to three. Give each group or kid snowflake manipulatives and a snowflake mat.

The goal is for the kids to pull the snowflakes in the sky (top of the mat) down to earth (bottom of the mat)-one snowflake for each sound in a word. They start from the left and move to the right. Not all snowflakes will be used each time. Then they move the snowflakes back into the sky for the next word.

14. Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes

Equipment Needed: None

Game Rules and Descriptions:

A fun phonemic awareness activity that practices segmentation while being physically active.

Give the kid a word that contains a maximum of four phonemes. The children must stand and touch first the head, then the shoulder, knees, and toes as they say each segment sound of the word. For example, for the word sit, they will touch their head for s, their shoulders for I and their knees for t.

15. Turtle Talk

Equipment Needed:

Game Rules and Description:

Turtle Talk is a phonemic awareness activity that teaches listening skills and segmentation. The idea of the game is to help the child merge sounds to form a word and then to break the words up into sound segments.

Tommy (or Tammy), the Turtle, takes the lead. Remind the children that turtles talk just as slow as they move. Tommy Turtle doesn't say the whole word at once but speaks one sound at a time. To understand what he is saying, the children must listen carefully and then merge the sounds to form the word.

Use the word list and say one word at a time with a pause between each phoneme.

Use the counting cards for the next part of the game. After the kids formed the words, do the opposite. They must break the words up into sound segments and count the number of segments with the counting cards.

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Fifteen Fun Phonemic Awareness Activities and Games For Kids

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Looking for some fun and easy-to-use activities to help teach phonemic awareness? These hands-on games will quickly get you going.

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Teaching phonics is one of the most effective ways to help children learn how to read. A key component of the Science of Reading, phonics instruction teaches children how to correlate sounds with letters or groups of letters, empowering them to decode and encode words. Phonics instruction is essential to helping students learn how to read and write; without this foundational reading skill, students will struggle to read with fluency and comprehension.

Unfortunately, phonics instruction also has a reputation for being boring, repetitive, and dull.

The good news is that it doesn't have to be! There are a wide variety of activities that can make phonics practice fun and engaging for all learners. We've collected 50 of our favorite phonics activities for you to try in your classroom.

Whether you need phonics activities for kindergarteners that build letter recognition, phonics activities for first graders that teach decoding and encoding vowels and consonants, or phonics activities for second graders that focus on syllable and spelling patterns, you're sure to find a fun activity to integrate into your lesson planning.

Complete the short form on this page to access your free copy of 50 Fun Phonics Activities for the full list, or keep reading to see 15 sample activities from the guide.

1. Letter Labels

Post images of different animals, foods, and other objects around the room. Give students sticky notes with letters on them. Have students attach the letter sticky notes to the images whose names start with that letter (so the sticky note with the letter C would be attached to the image of a carrot).

Tip: Repeat this activity, but using final sounds (now the sticky note with the letter T is attached to the image of the carrot).

2. Go Fish!

Create a set of flash cards with the uppercase and lowercase for 8 letters (16 cards total per set). Separate students into groups of two or three, with each child receiving three cards, with the remaining cards going into the pile. Have children play Go Fish. Each child should ask another member of their group for a letter to try to make a match. If there is no match, they draw a new card from the pile to add to their hand.

3. Letter Says

Try this phonics-friendly version of Simon Says: Give each child a card with an uppercase or lowercase letter (limit to no more than 6 total, such as C, c, S, s, O, o). Give instructions based on letters: "Simon Says, if you're holding an uppercase C, touch your nose!"

Tip: For an easier version, use only uppercase (or only lowercase) letters.

4. Letter Swap

Write a word on your board, such as POT. One by one, let kids erase one of the existing letters and replace it with a new letter to form a new word. For example, POT could become COT, PIT, or POD. COT could become CAT, PIT could become SIT, or POD could become NOD. Continue until kids are unable to form new words.

Tip: Add complexity by allowing students to add or delete letters (POT could become SPOT or POST).

5. Letter Line Up

Many letters are formed with straight lines, such as A, M, and T. Create a set of uppercase letters, and challenge students to sort them according to how they're formed: only straight lines (like X and W), only curvy lines (like S and C), and a mix of straight and curvy (like B and P).

Tip: Repeat this activity with lowercase letter cards. Have kids discuss which letters only use straight lines in uppercase, but use curvy lines (or a mix of straight and curvy) in lowercase (like A / a and E / e).

6. Spelling Challenge

Get a little friendly competition going on in the classroom! Put students in small groups. Give each group the same set of letter cards (for example, a, d, g, h, i, l, r, u). Set a timer and have each group come up with as many words as they can with the provided letters. At the end, have each group read and spell their words aloud. The group with the largest number of correctly spelled words wins!

7. Vowels Up, Thumbs Up!

To help children differentiate between vowels, pick a vowel and then instruct children to put their thumbs up when they hear the vowel. For example, for short vowel o / o/, use words like pat, pot, pod, pad, sad, sod, tap, top, lot, lit. After the game, have students help you write the words on the board to reinforce spelling.

8. Silent Simon

This is a version of Simon Says that's completely silent! Create large cards with decodable action words (such as stand, sit, wave, spin) and body parts (such as hand, face, nose, chest, leg). One by one, silently display the cards. If it's an action word, students should perform the action. If it's a body part, students should point to the corresponding body part.

9. Eyes on OO!

The vowel digraph oo can be challenging for some children. Slowly read aloud a list of words, and have children form the two o's with their hands and hold them up to their eyes like binoculars when they hear the sound. For example, your list may contain ruff, roof, room, rope, hop, hoop, bat, and boot. Go through the list a second time, asking children to help you spell each word.

10. Reading Hopscotch

Use masking tape to create squares on the floor. Next to each square, place a card with a decodable word. Have children line up and play hopscotch one by one, jumping forward one square for each word they read correctly.

Tip: This is a helpful activity to strengthen students' proficiency with tricky spelling patterns, such as - le (as seen in candle, sample, table, tickle, etc.).

11. Human Syllable Bee

Have a small group of students come up to the front, and give each one a letter card. First challenge the group to spell a word with their letters. Then have one more student come to the front and give them a card with a slash on it. Have the remaining children determine where the syllable break is and direct the "slash" to stand in that position. Swap out the letter cards and repeat with a new word.

Every few words, have children change positions (between holding cards and sitting at their desks).

12. Syllable Boxes

To help students strengthen their understanding of closed syllables, give them a worksheet with a list of words with a closed syllable, such as lemon, visit, model, and topic. Have students draw a box around the closed syllable.

Tip: Include words that do not have closed syllables, such as hero and baby. Have students try pronouncing these words with closed syllables (such as her/o and bab/y) to see how silly they sound!

13. Word Bingo

Create a 4 x 4 grid. Have students write high-frequency words (such as he, be, we, go, so, no, me) in the spaces; encourage students to put the words in a random order. Then read the words aloud one by one, having students marking off a word when they hear it. When a student has a straight line marked, they have BINGO!

14. Flash Card Race

Write or print high-frequency words on a set of flash cards. Distribute one set to each student. Say a high-frequency word and challenge children to hold up the corresponding flash card as fast as they can.

15. Mystery Sentences

At the beginning of the week, display a "Mystery Sentence" in your classroom. This should be a sentence that is missing the phonics components that you will be teaching that week. For example, for the week that you are teaching diphthong ou and the vowel sound that appears in ball (spellings: aw, au, al, ough), the Mystery Sentence could be: "I s__ a sm___ m__se, and it made no s__nd. It might h__l away my lunch or put its p___s on my desk. What ___t I do?"

As the week goes on and skills are learned, fill in the missing blanks. For example, this sentence would be revealed: "I saw a small mouse, and it made no sound. It might haul away my lunch or put its paws on my desk. What ought I do?"

Ready for more phonics activities, games, and fun?
Be sure to complete the form at the top of this page to get your free copy of 50 Fun Phonics Activities!
You can find even more activities-plus interactive digital practice, educational games, articulation videos, and so much more-in Savvas Essentials™: Foundational Reading, the new supplemental K-2 curriculum. Take a quick interactive tour today to see all that Foundational Reading offers!

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Access your free copy of 50 Fun Phonics Activities for kindergarten, first grade, and second grade.

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Overview

Phonological awareness

Phonological awareness is the ability to hear, recognize, and play with the sounds in spoken language. By second grade, most children have mastered the more basic skills, including rhyming, syllables, alliteration, and beaking a sentence into words.

Phonemic awareness

The most sophisticated phonological awareness skill (and the last to develop) is called phonemic awareness - the ability to hear, recognize, and play with the individual sounds (phonemes) in spoken words. When playing with the sounds in word, children learn to:

Blend individual sounds to make a word

Stretch out a word into its individual sounds

Swap in a different sound to the beginning, middle, or end of a word to make a new word

Strong phonemic awareness is one of the strongest predictors of later reading success. Children who struggle with reading, including kids with dyslexia, often have trouble with phonemic awareness, but with the right kind of instruction they can be successful. Learn some of the warning signs for dyslexia in this article, Clues to Dyslexia from Second Grade On.

Some second graders need extra help to master phonemic awareness skills. If you are concerned, check with your child's teacher or the reading specialist at school.

Parents can make a difference by helping their children practice the more advanced word sound skills at home. Try some of the simple word sound games described here.

Why phonemic awareness is the key to learning how to read

This video is from Home Reading Helper, a resource for parents to elevate children's reading at home provided by Read Charlotte . Find more video, parent activities, printables, and other resources at Home Reading Helper .

Try these speech sound activities at home

Syllable shopping

While at the grocery store, have your child tell you the syllables in different food names. Have them hold up a finger for each word part. For your second grader, look for three- and four-syllable words, such as pineapple = pine-ap-ple, three syllables, or watermelon =wa-ter-mel-on, four syllables.

Word families

Word families are sets of words that rhyme. Start to build your family by giving your child the first word, for example, king. Then ask your child to name all the "kids" in the king family, such as: ring, sing, ding, wing. Challenge your child to also name words with blends at the beginning, such as hing, bring, sting, string. This will help your child hear patterns in words.

Jump, skip, hop!

Create simple picture cards that you draw or cut out of magazines. Have your child, identify what's in the picture, and then break that word into its individual sounds. For example ship sh-i-p, three sounds (phonemes). Three sounds? You and your child do three jumping jacks, skips, or hops (followed by a high-five). You can also do this game outdoors without the cards, just call out simple words for your child.

My sound is missing!

Take some words and ask your child what happens when some of the sounds go missing. For example, what happens to boat when I take away the /b/ sound ( oat)? What happens to sweep when I take away the /s/ sound ( weep)? What happens to teach when I take away the /ch/ sound ( tea)? What happens to laughing when I take away the /ing/ sound ( laugh)? Start with easy ones and see how challenging you can make them.

Lightning round

Try this fast-paced game at night. Grab a flashlight and with the lights out shine it on an object in the room. Ask your child to tell you how may syllables in that word has and to find a rhyming word (it can be a nonsense word!). With some words, you can extend the game and try sound swaps. Ask your child to tell you the new word if you change a sound from the beginning, middle, or end of the word. For example, what happens to chair if you change /ch/ to /b/ ( bear).

Swap it

Tell your child you're going to play "sound swap" with the word swap and create new words by changing out the beginning, middle, and ending sounds in words. Ask your child what happens if you change the last sound from /p/ to /n/ - what's the new word (swan)? What if you swap the /w/ sound to /t/ or /h/ - what's the new word (stop, shop)? And what if you change the /a/ sound to /ee/ - what's the new word (sweet)? You can do play sound swap with lots of other words, for example: sheep > sweep, sweep > sweet, sheep > shop.

Medial phoneme dominoes

Try this activity from the Florida Center for Reading Research (FCRR). The FCRR "At Home" series was developed especially for families! Watch the video and then download the activity: Medial Phoneme Dominoes . See all FCRR phonemic awareness activities here .

Phoneme counting sort

Try this activity from the Florida Center for Reading Research (FCRR). The FCRR "At Home" series was developed especially for families! Watch the video and then download the activity: Phoneme Counting Sort . See all FCRR phonemic awareness activities here .

Phoneme challenge

Try this activity from the Florida Center for Reading Research (FCRR). The FCRR "At Home" series was developed especially for families! Watch the video and then download the activity: Phoneme Challenge . See all FCRR phonemic awareness activities here .

More phonological and phonemic awareness resources

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Phonological and Phonemic Awareness: Activities for Your Second Grader

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Phonological and phonemic awareness are important pre-reading skills, related to the ability to hear, identify, and play with the sounds in spoken language - including rhymes, syllables, and the smallest units of sound (phonemes). Strong phonological awareness skills continue to support reading development in second grade and beyond.

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What is Phonics?

Phonics refers to the ability to learn the individual sounds in spoken language and map those sounds to specific written letters in the English language. Students who have strong phonics skills are able to connect individual sounds with letters and use those sounds to read words. ( Definition from University of Oregon)

In 2nd grade, readers can distinguish long and short vowels when reading, read regularly spelled words with long vowels, read words with common prefixes and suffixes, and recognize and read grade-appropriate irregularly spelled words.

What Does it Look Like?

What is phonics and why is it important?

Practice Activities

Building Multisyllabic Words: Write multiple one-syllable words. Have the child put two of the words together to create a new, multisyllabic word. Watch Building Multisyllabic Words.

Prefixes and Suffixes: While reading with the child, pause when you come to a word that has a prefix and/or suffix. Take time to discuss the word by breaking down the word's meaning based on the prefix and/or suffix. Prefixes and Suffixes (optional)

Syllable Types: Encourage the child to recall syllable types when reading and spelling. Syllable types (optional)

Rainbow Word: Write a word for the child. Have the child write the same word using different colored utensils (e.g., marker, colored pencil, crayon) and using the key below to mark spelling patterns. Rainbow Words example

Red- Consonant

Blue- Vowel

Orange- Digraph: two letters that make one sound (e.g., sh, ch, th, wh, ph, ck, ng)

Green- Bossy or Silent e: an e at the end of a word that is silent and makes the vowel say its name (e.g., kite, cake, broke)

Purple- Vowel Teams (e.g., ee, ei, ie, ea, ie, ou, oi, oy, ai, ay, oa, ow, ue)

Brown- R Controlled Vowels (e.g., ir, ur, er, or, ar)

Practice Activities (with Printables)
If you don't have a printer, your child's school will print these for you.
Short and Long Vowel Sound Sort: Practice long and short vowel sounds by sorting. Short and Long Vowel Sound Sort

Spell and Sort with Vowel Digraphs: Use this sorting activity to identify vowel digraphs (au, aw, ew, oo). Spell and Sort with Vowel Digraphs

Vowel Digraphs: Play this baseball themed game to practice reading words with vowel digraphs (ea, oa, ai, ay, and oo). Vowel Digraphs

Spin and Read: This activity allows children to practice reading words with the follow spelling patterns: ew, ue. Spin and Read

Blend Syllables in Words: Play this game by pulling two cards, each having a one syllable word. If the syllables combine to make a new word, write the new word. Blend Syllables in Words

Syllable Share: Play this game to make multiple words with the same syllable. Syllable Share

Create New Words: Combine base words, prefixes, and suffixes to create new words. Create New Words

Affix Sort: Engage with the child by sorting words according to whether they have a prefix, a suffix, both, or neither. Affix Sort

Affix Hunt: Use this activity to support the child's recognition of affixes (prefixes and suffixes). Affix Hunt

Crazy Card Game: Practice high frequency words (irregular and regular spellings) with this game. Watch Crazy Card Game. Crazy Card Game

Online Activities

Letter Tile Phonics: Practice phonics by using the free online Letter Tile Free Play Board. Access optional lists of words organized by the number of phonemes (or sounds) or by word families.

Short and Long Vowels: This game allows children to sort words into long and short vowel categories. Play this similar game for more words to sort.

Move the Letters: This game allows children to manipulate letters and correctly spell a word when given a picture of an item with a vowel team.

Vowel Team Sentence Sort: This activity allows children to sort sentences by the vowel teams included in the sentences.

Multisyllabic Words: This game allows children to match open and closed syllables to build a new word with game cards. This similar game allows children to match open and closed syllables as well. Syllable Types (optional)

Prefixes and Suffixes: This game allows children to whack a mole based on prefix or suffix.

Prefix and Suffix Sort: This game has children sort word by determining whether each word has a prefix, a suffix, or both.

Letter Sounds Make Words: This Classroom Connection lesson focuses on identifying the sounds letters make in words, blending words together, and breaking sounds in words apart. Extension activity (optional)

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Phonics refers to the ability to learn the individual sounds in spoken language and map those sounds to specific written letters in the English language. Students who have strong phonics skills are able to connect individual sounds with letters and use those sounds to read words.

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Engaging Phonemic Awareness Activities for Early Readers

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Discover top phonemic awareness activities for early readers. Boost reading skills with fun, engaging games and effective strategies.

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Retelling a Story Activities and Crafts in 2025 | Kindergarten comprehension activities, Kindergarten comprehension, Kindergarten skills

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Feb 20, 2025 - This Pin was discovered by Nathaly Venegas. Discover (and save!) your own Pins on Pinterest

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Just 15 minutes each day makes a big difference! Reading aloud is a great way to help your kindergartener absorb new words and see how stories are structured. It's also one of the best ways to help children learn about the world and make connections between their own lives and what's in the book - that helps children see the world with empathy. And last but not least, it's a wonderful time to snuggle up with your child and share the experience of reading and discovery together.

Remember that reading together should spark curiosity, joy, and a desire to explore and learn. Conversations about books should be enjoyable, and not a set of quizzes and questions. As you try some of the activities listed below, remember to keep it light and lively for your child.

There are so many great nonfiction and informational books for very young kids (such as the popular DK Eyewitness series and National Geographic series). Try to include some of these during your next trip to the public library. Children love learning about the real world and are proud to share what they know!

Even a walk around the neighborhood or a trip to the grocery store can be a rich learning experience for young children. A child may see an urban bunny for the first time on a walk, and then be able to connect it to stories about rabbits. These personal connections help children connect what they read with what they know - a powerful way to build comprehension skills!

Try these comprehension activities at home

"I predict ..."

When you sit down for a read aloud, look at the book's cover together. Ask, "What do you think this book might be about? Why? Can you make some predictions?" Guide your child through the pages, discuss the pictures, and brainstorm what might happen in the story. Talk about any personal experiences your child may have that relate to the story.

Five-finger retell

After reading a story together, have your child tell you five things about the story, using her fingers to talk about each one:

1. Characters: who was in the story?

2. Setting: where did the story take place?

3. Events: what happened in the story?

4. End: how did the story end?

5. Favorite character or part of the story

Active reading

Model active reading when you read with your child. Talk about what's happening as you're reading. Stop and discuss any interesting or tricky vocabulary words. Help your child make pictures of the story in his mind. Ask your child, "What just happened here? How do you think that character feels? Have you ever felt like that? What do you think will happen next?" Not only will this develop your child's comprehension, but critical thinking skills as well.

Mind movies

When you come to a descriptive passage in a book, have your child close her eyes and create a mental movie of the scene. Encourage her to use all five senses. Read the passage over together, looking for details that bring the scene to life. Ask questions like, "How do you know it was a hot day? Which words help you understand that the child was lonely?"

Tell me about it

After a read aloud, one of the best and easiest ways to check for understanding is to ask your child to summarize what the book was about in their own words. You can ask a question or two to help your child clarify her thinking or to add more detail.

Think alouds

Connect the book to your child's own life experience. For example, A River Dream: "This book reminds me of the time my father took me fishing. Do you remember the time we went fishing?"

Connect the book to other books they have read. For example, Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters: "This story reminds me of Cinderella. Both stories are about sisters. Do you know any other stories about nice and mean sisters? Let's keep reading to find out other ways the stories are similar."

Connect the book to big ideas/lessons. For example, Stellaluna: "This story helps me understand that we are all the same in many ways, but it's our differences that make us special."

Wordless

Wordless picture books provide your child with practice using clues to create meaning. There are no wrong stories with wordless picture books, only variations based on what the "reader" sees and puts together. Rosie's Walk, Good Dog, Carl, and Beaver Is Lost are all interesting and fun wordless picture books to explore. Find more wordless books on BookFinder.

Family stories

This is a wonderful activity for a family picnic or for a rainy day when you're snuggled together on the couch. Share a favorite story about your childhood or a family story that's been passed down from generation to generation. Use vivid language and details about people, places, and things. Funny or scary will really get your child's attention! Your child will probably have lots of questions, which keeps the storytelling alive. You could also ask your child if she has a favorite family story of her own.

Map this book!

Draw a map of the book's setting, and be sure to include the places where the main action happens!

Beginning-middle-end

This is a great way to see if your child understands the main parts of a story. After reading a book together, give your child three sheets of paper, with "beginning" on one sheet, "middle" on the second sheet, and "end" on the third sheet. Ask your child to think about the three parts of the story, and then draw what happened on each on the sheets. Arrange the sheets in order, left to right. What happens if you re-arrange the sheets? Does the story still make sense?

Words, words, words

Be sure to include books with rich vocabulary in your read alouds and call attention to interesting words and phrases from the story. This may include repeated phrases or idioms (such as "get cold feet" or "I'm all ears"). Offer a kid-friendly definition and connect the new word or phrase to something your child already knows.Talk about how the author used language or words to make the text interesting, informative, funny, or sad.

Picture walk

Talk about the book before you read it. Show the cover illustration and ask your child to predict what the book is about. Flip through the book, look closely at the pictures together, and talk about what's on the jacket flaps.

Remember when ...?

Connect what your child reads with what happens in life. If reading a book about birds, relate it to birds you've seen on walks in your neighborhood.

Story detectives

As you read with your child, stop and ask questions such as: What's happening in the picture? Why do you think the puppy is sad? Have you felt that way yourself? Why do you think the spider wanted to help the pig? What do you think is going to happen next? How do you think the story will end? Take turns and let your child to "be the detective" and ask you questions about the book. Not only will this develop your child's comprehension, but critical thinking skills as well.

Picture the character (Part 1)

Try this activity from the Florida Center for Reading Research (FCRR). The FCRR "At Home" series was developed especially for families! Watch the video and then download the activity: Picture the Character . See all FCRR comprehension activities here .

Picture the character (Part 2)

Try this activity from the Florida Center for Reading Research (FCRR). The FCRR "At Home" series was developed especially for families! Watch the video and then download the activity: Picture the Character . See all FCRR comprehension activities here .

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Kindergartners are just beginning their journey as readers, yet they are actively absorbing language and experiences to make sense of the world around them. Encourage your child to think and talk about shared oral stories and books that are read aloud.

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Bears Reading Comprehension | Game | Education.com

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This link has a few different activities for comprehension separated by grade levels.

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9 Reading comprehension games and activities for students

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Dive in to our 9 creative comprehension games and activities that will make practicing reading skills a blast for your students.

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Second graders are becoming independent, active readers who ask questions and think about what they're reading! Here are some of the things your second grader can do:

Notice when a text doesn't make sense, and begins to use strategies such as rereading, predicting, and questioning to understand it.

Interpret information from diagrams, charts, and graphs.

Recall facts and details of texts.

Pose possible answers to how, why, and what-if questions.

Discuss similarities in characters and events across stories.

Read and comprehend both fiction and nonfiction.

Read independently for entertainment and to learn something new.

Act out a story.

Here are some basic things you can do to boost your child's comprehension skills:
Although your second grader may be reading independently, it's still a good idea to build in some read aloud time. You will continue to introduce your child to more sophisticated vocabulary and stories, including chapter books. Reading aloud is one of the best ways to help children learn about the world and make connections between their own lives and what's in the book - and that helps children see the world with empathy. And last but not least, it's a chance to spend one-on-one time with your child and share the experience of reading and discovery together.

Remember that reading together should spark curiosity, joy, and a desire to explore and learn. Conversations about books should be enjoyable, and not a set of quizzes and questions. As you try some of the activities listed below, remember to keep it light and lively for your child.

Sharing family stories out loud and listening to audiobooks are wonderful ways to expose your child to language, how stories are built, and knowledge about the world.

There are so many great nonfiction and informational books for young kids (such as the popular DK Eyewitness series and National Geographic series). Try to include some of these during your next trip to the public library. Children love learning about the real world and are proud to share what they know!

Even a walk around the neighborhood or a trip to the grocery store can be a rich learning experience for young children. On a walk, your child may watch what's going on at a construction site, and then be able to connect it to stories about what it takes to design and construct a building and the impressive machines that make it happen. These personal connections help children connect what they read with what they know - a powerful way to build comprehension skills!

Try these comprehension activities at home

Active reading

Model active reading when you read with your child. Talk about what's happening as you're reading. Stop and discuss any interesting or tricky vocabulary words. Help your child make pictures of the story in his mind. Ask your child, "What just happened here? How do you think that character feels? Have you ever felt like that? What do you think will happen next?" Not only will this develop your child's comprehension, but critical thinking skills as well.

"I predict ..."

When you sit down for a read aloud, look at the book's cover together. Ask, "What do you think this book might be about? Why? Can you make some predictions?" Guide your child through the pages, discuss the pictures, and brainstorm what might happen in the story. Talk about any personal experiences your child may have that relate to the story.

Mind movies

When you come to a descriptive passage in a book, have your child close her eyes and create a mental movie of the scene. Encourage her to use all five senses. Read the passage over together, looking for details that bring the scene to life. Ask questions like, "How do you know it was a hot day? Which words help you understand that the child was lonely?"

Map this book!

Draw a map of the book's setting, and be sure to include the places where the main action happens!

Beginning-middle-end

This is a great way to see if your child understands the main parts of a story. After reading a book together, give your child three sheets of paper, with "beginning" on one sheet, "middle" on the second sheet, and "end" on the third sheet. Ask your child to think about the three parts of the story, and then draw what happened on each on the sheets. Arrange the sheets in order, left to right. What happens if you re-arrange the sheets? Does the story still make sense?

Tell me about it

After a read aloud, one of the best and easiest ways to check for understanding is to ask your child to summarize what the book was about in their own words. You can ask a question or two to help your child clarify her thinking or to add more detail.

Think alouds

Connect the book to your child's own life experience. For example, A River Dream: "This book reminds me of the time my father took me fishing. Do you remember the time we went fishing?"

Connect the book to other books they have read. For example, Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters: "This story reminds me of Cinderella. Both stories are about sisters. Do you know any other stories about nice and mean sisters? Let's keep reading to find out other ways the stories are similar."

Connect the book to big ideas/lessons. For example, Stellaluna: "This story helps me understand that we are all the same in many ways, but it's our differences that make us special."

Words, words, words

Be sure to include books with rich vocabulary in your read alouds and call attention to interesting words and phrases from the story. This may include repeated phrases or idioms (such as "get cold feet" or "I'm all ears"). Offer a kid-friendly definition and connect the new word or phrase to something your child already knows.Talk about how the author used language or words to make the text interesting, informative, funny, or sad.

Illustrated timelines

After reading a story, have your child create an illustrated timeline of events from the story. Tape together five sheets of paper along the 8-1/2-inch side to create one very wide sheet that is 55 inches X 8-1/2 inches. To help plan the timeline, your child can add numbers that mark important points of the story. Then it's time to fill in the sequence of events with words and pictures. Once the timeline is complete, ask your child to re-tell the story - acting it out is okay, too! Variation: Create the timeline using Post-Its on a wall or outside using sidewalk chalk.

Comic creator

Lots of kids love comics and graphic novels. Help your child make a comic based on a favorite book - stories with action work especially well. Talk about what happened in the story, and help your child choose which event from the story that she wants to draw. Ask your child to think about the beginning, middle, and end of the event. Using a ruler and marker, divide a paper into squares (or print out this comic strip template from Scholastic). Using colored pencils or fine markers, your child can begin the comic strip, drawing one scene per square. Don't forget to include captions beneath each drawing or in graphic novel-style speech bubbles! When the strip is done, ask your child to share her story.

Talk show

Set up a talk show set with two chairs facing each other. If you like, make two microphones out of paper tubes or other craft supplies. You are the host and your child is a character from the book. Ask questions about the character, such as who you are, why you are important to the story, what happened to you in the story, what is the craziest interaction you had with another character, etc. Then switch roles!

Book trailer

Using a cell phone camera or other recording device, make a short video of your child talking about about why he recommends this book. Encourage your child to show the book cover and some of the inside pages when talking about a certain character or action sequence. Share the book trailer with family and friends!

Show what you know

Does your child love reading nonfiction books (and yes, The Magic School Bus is nonfiction, in a way)? Kids this age enjoy learning facts about things and trying to understand how the world works. If you've been poring over some nonfiction books at home, take 10 minutes to ask your child specific "fact" questions, listen to her answer, and then ask her to show you where to find that in the book.

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Comprehension: Activities for Your Second Grader

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Second graders are learning to think actively as they read. They use their experiences and knowledge of the world, vocabulary, a growing understanding how language works, and reading strategies to make sense of what they're reading.

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KidsRead2Kids: Online Literacy Resources for Kids

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Empower young minds with KidsRead2Kids: Explore engaging online literacy resources for children. Ignite a love for reading today.…