Phonics is the relationship between the letters of the alphabet and the sounds they make. As kids understand phonics, they are able to sound out words and begin to read and write. It's a critical skill for your early reader and takes time to build upon.
According to Scholastic, preschool reading instruction focuses on recognizing letters and learning the sounds they make. This is the foundation for learning phonics skills. Typically, in kindergarten, or depending on your child's readiness, reading instruction moves on to blending 2-3 letter words. With practice, this process of sounding out words becomes more natural.
10 Tips To Helps Kids With Language & Phonics
Supporting your child's phonics skills at home will help them to practice sounding out words and build their confidence in reading. Reading practice can be fun too! Here are 10 phonics games to play with your beginning reader.
10 Beginning Sound Scavenger Hunt
Give your child a letter flashcard. Review the sound that the letter makes. Challenge your child to find as many things as they can in the home that begins with that letter. If you have more than one early reader at home it can be a fun competition to see who finds the most items.
9 Fishing For Phonics
This DIY fishing game requires a few supplies, but you can use it in different ways as your child's reading skills progress. Per Mas and Pas you'll need:
- Wooden stick or pencil
- String
- Small magnet
- Metal paperclips
- Color
- Scissors
- Pens
Use a wooden stick or pencil, string, and magnet to create a "fishing rod". Cut the paper into the shape of a fish, write a letter, and then attach a paper clip. Now your child can go fishing for letters while practicing letter sounds.
8 Play-Doh Letters
Kids love to practice skills through play. Depending on your child's reading level you can use Play-Doh for different phonics games. For your early reader working on letter recognition, use picture cards or small objects to have your child form the first letter they hear in the word. (Example: Given a toy car, children will form a letter C with the Play-Doh.) When they are ready to sound out consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) words, they can spell them out with Play-Doh.
7 Letter Hopscotch
For this fun phonics game, grab some sidewalk chalk and head outside. First, draw the classic hopscotch court of 10 squares. Then, write one letter per hopscotch square. You will call out a letter sound, and your child will hop to the corresponding letter. Challenge them to think of a word that begins with that letter. Per Net Mums, you can ask older children to land on the letters in alphabetical order.
6 Invisible Letters Watercolor Resist
You can set up an exciting phonics activity with a white crayon, paper, and watercolor paints. Depending on your child's reading level, write letters or CVC words on construction paper with the white crayon. Your child will then use the watercolor paints to uncover secret letters or words!
5 I Spy
The game of I Spy can make any car ride, errand, or appointment a little more fun. To practice phonics skills you will say, "I spy with my little eye something that begins with the sound..." Once your child guesses the item you would ask, "Which letter makes that sound?"
4 Memory Match Pictures & Words
For this phonics game, you will create a classic memory match game. Create the playing cards by printing images or cutting pictures from magazines and gluing them to index cards. Write the first letter of the word on a separate index card. To play memory match, face all cards down. Take turns flipping over two cards at a time to find a beginning sound and letter match.
3 Grocery List
Cut a few pictures from the sales ad from your local grocery store, then glue them to a piece of paper. Your child can help with this part too! Then encourage your child to sound out the words or add the beginning sound next to the picture to create a grocery list. Support any efforts they make. The focus when teaching phonics is on the letter sounds, not necessarily the correct spelling. Make it even more fun by bringing the list to the store with you and having your child assist in the grocery shopping.
2 Letter Sound Slap
This game requires only a few minutes to prepare and uses things you likely already have at home. Steps to play:
- Write letters on index cards (or use alphabet flashcards)
- Review the sounds each letter makes
- Spread them out across the floor in front of your child
- Call out a letter sound
- Use a fly swatter or spatula to "slap" the correct letter
If you have two players you can see who gets to the letter fastest!
1 Build Words With Blocks
To play this game you will need wooden blocks, Legos, or alphabet blocks. If using wooden blocks or Legos, you will want to use letter stickers to add one letter per block. Customize this activity based on your child's reading level. You can make cards with simple 3-letter words (dog, pig, fan, rat, etc.) for your child to build with the blocks. If your child is ready to sound out words on their own, then use picture cards to build the words independently.
Sources: Scholastic, Net Mums, Mas and Pas