Phonemic Awareness Activities

Family Information:

Phonemic awareness is the ability to hear and manipulate sounds in words. This is the foundation for students to be able to blend sounds together to read whole words AND to hear the separate sounds in words in order to spell. Check out Reading 101 for Parents to learn more about phonemic awareness. Phonemic activities such as the ones below are done without printed letters, so they can easily be incorporated into daily activities like driving or bedtime.

4K and Kindergarten:

• Point out rhymes children hear in songs or books. “Did you hear that? ‘Boat’ and ‘float’ rhyme!”
• Clap the syllables or beats of words: Say a word together and clap once for each syllable or beat of the word, such as ba-na-na or sun-flow-er.

Kindergarten and Above:

• I Spy with Sounds: Play the I Spy game with sounds instead of colors. Example: “I spy with my little eye something that starts with /m/.” (Make the sound, not the letter name for this activity.) Have your child look around and guess objects they can see that start with that sound, such as marble, milk, magnet, mitten. Have your child take a turn giving the clue once they are comfortable with this activity.
• First Sound Match: Gather several toys or pictures and have your child match those that start with the same sound (Example: ball, bat, baby).
• Secret Word: Have your child guess a word you say in a silly way by stretching out each sound. “Can you guess my word: s … n … ow?” This is a great activity to do while driving. Or at home, have your child figure out the secret word and go on a scavenger hunt to find that object: “Can you find a s … o … ck?”
• Counting Sounds: Give your child 3-5 blocks, beads, or coins. Say a short word and have them repeat the word slowly, moving an object for each sound in the word. (Example: c-l-o-ck = 4 sounds and moving 4 objects.) To adapt this activity while out and about, have students hold up one finger for each sound.

Final Tips for Phonemic Awareness Learning:

Phonemic awareness activities should be fun and low-stress! Try to incorporate these activities into daily routines and make them playful. When your child tires of an activity, wrap it up and try again another day. Children learn best when they are engaged and enjoy the process.

Reading Aloud to Your Child:

While your child is learning phonemic awareness, they learn about reading from listening to adults read to them, and this is the most important way you can support your child at home in becoming a reader! Fifteen minutes of reading–for example, each night at bedtime–can make a huge difference in your child’s readiness for learning to read.

• Choose books that are appropriate for your child’s age and interests. For young learners, books with just a line or two of text on each page and engaging pictures are often favorites.
• Allow your child to choose which books they want to hear.
• Repeating books over and over may get boring for us as adults, but young children learn from the repetition and familiarity. If they want to read the same book again, then do!
• Talk about the pictures as you read.
• Build vocabulary by explaining new words while you read. (Example: “gigantic” is another word for really big.)
• Ask questions about the story. “What do you think that character is feeling on this page?” “What do you think will happen next?”

See more tips on reading aloud to your child.