• Menu
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Teaching Expertise

  • Home
  • Classroom Ideas
  • Technology
  • Teacher’s Life
  • Deals & Shopping
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Home
  • Classroom Ideas
  • Technology
  • Teacher’s Life
  • Deals & Shopping
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy

25 Fantastic Phonics Activities for Kids

phonics activities

May 18, 2021 //  by Lauren Du Plessis

Build your collection of phonics resources with these 25 fantastic phonics activities. Rather than attempting to explain confusing language rules, try devising a unique learning experience that allows students to gradually be exposed to the rules and structures that make up sounds.

Allow your future phonics lessons to be guided by our fun ideas below!

1. Phonetic Spelling Activity

tQcjnBayR16g2XWABc7F

This activity is intended on aiding learners in the area of phonics recognition and overall reading fluency. Spelling words phonetically really help your learners sound out and pronounce a word whilst forgetting about conventional spelling rules.

Learn more: Very Well Family

2. Play Dough Phonics Mats

GgbnsGISXKwJBwxpqh6x

This mess-free activity affords students an opportunity to craft 3D letters- what bright ideas! They are guided in how to form them with the help of their very own play dough mat which depicts the outlines of letters well.

Learn more: Education to the Core

3. Rainbow Hop

Rainbow-Hop-Letter-Sounds-Alphabet-Game-5.jpg

This easy-to-organize activity helps build sound and letter recognition and is a fun way to get your children warmed up and in the mood for learning.

Learn more: Fun Learning for Kids

4. Sound Cups

letter-sound-cups2.png

Label 26 cups with a different letter of the alphabet. After collecting an assortment of small objects ask your child to sort the objects by placing them into the correct cups.

Learn more: Pre-Kinders

5. Spin and Rhyme

tfFLfEHcSWyBzIzpNoTT

This spin and rhyme are wonderful for learning how to sound out phonics and combine them to form words. Challenge the learners to create a silly rhyme and come up with a similar-sounding word.

Learn more: No Time For Flash Cards

6. Four In a Row

UCY1RmacQ12YmzfeyQZe

The perfect activity for pairs! Each learner receives a different colored pen marker and takes turns coloring in a picture once they've said the word. The first to find 4 in a row that begin with the same letter or have the same sound, wins.

Related Post:  55 Amazing 6th Grade Books Pre-Teens Will Enjoy

Learn more: The Measured Mom

7. Alphabet Ball

KTdSezPDSGKhJUTCACKH

The perfect activity for pairs! Each learner receives a different colored pen marker and takes turns coloring in a picture once they've said the word. The first to find 4 in a row that begin with the same letter or have the same sound, wins.

Learn more: Hands-On As We Grow

8. Stretch It Out

TqIBQHLSWGxEm5EnleOj

In order to help learners better pronounce a word, we should encourage them to stretch it out, first sounding the letters individually before blending them together.

Learn more: Hands-On As We Grow

9. Kaboom

Letter-Sounds-KABOOM-Alphabet-Game-3.png

Kaboom is a simple activity that is useful in solidifying phonics knowledge and increase vocabulary. Ice cream sticks with letters written on one end are placed inside a cup. They are then pulled out and students are prompted to think of a word beginning with that letter.

Learn more: Fun Learning for Kids

10. Which One Doesn't Belong

6ufQ4pAaRUu5v9go6n7e

Build phonological awareness by asking your learner to look at the card and specified letter. They then need to make a decision on which picture doesn't belong and explain what letter the wrong item begins with.

Learn more: Teachers Pay Teachers

11. Phonics Hopscotch 

UXpLHLPLRt2iZB1G5Ini

Take learning out onto the playground or even into your driveway at home. Have your students correctly sound out the letters or phonics combinations in the squares they land on, before hopping onto the others.

Learn more: Reading Eggs

12. Letter Sound Race

nRRoclWLQ2a9JkSK5ZNO

This works well as an in-class competitive activity in which teams race to select the letter or phonics combination.

Learn more:  Inspiration Laboratories

13. Phonics Hunt

teaching-phonics-to-kids-58a744133df78c345bbac057.jpg

Build phonemic awareness by hosting a phonics hunt around the house. This active game is sure to make online learning more fun by getting students up and out of their seats.

Learn more: Very Well Family

14. Phonics Discovery Bottle

Phonics-I-spy-game-objects-658x1000.jpg

This I-Spy game encourages students to shake the bottle and describe the trinket or toy they see by telling their partner what letter the object starts with. The partner should then guess the object correctly before their turn begins- what a fun game!

Related Post:  55 Amazing 7th Grade Books

Learn more: The Imagination Tree

15. Write the Room

Iu2SwvYfS6eTlxbh7F9f

These write-the-room activities are the perfect print resource for classroom teachers! This engaging resource requires students to utter the sound a picture starts with and then proceed to mark it off on their activity sheet.

Learn more: ABCs of Literacy

16. Mystery Mitten Matching 

pull-a-letter-out-.jpg

Phonics learning is embedded in this simple matching activity. Hide a foam letter or magnetic letter under a mitten and call out 4 words that start with the letter. Students should listen and say the sound they heard repeated. Then ask the learners if they can further guess the letter.

Learn more: Growing Book By Book

17. Play in Pairs Phonics Activity 

Phonics-Partner-Games-Multi-Syllabic-Words.003-min.jpeg?original

This fun phonics activity is perfect for older learners and requires that students work together in pairs in order to decode two-syllable words.

Learn more: What I Have Learned Teaching

18. Sound Matching Popsicles

popsicle-beginning-sound-match-1.jpg

Create A-Z alphabet popsicles and laminate them so that they remain in good shape for the years to come. Scramble the letters and picture halves up on the table and encourage time students to see how long it takes them to match up the pictures to create popsicles.

Learn more: Play Dough To Potato

19. Counting Syllables 

iUXzv0lwS8iZIVHj0PkI

Build Phonics recognition with this counting syllables game that will soon become one of your child's favorite phonics activities.

Learn more: education.com

20. Fish For Phonics

p9cWKYuyQXWLZatajA7e

This is the perfect low-level activity for having fun with phonics at home. Students need to fish for specific phonics sounds and then capture them with a net.

Learn more: Well Green Primary

21. Invest In A Phonics Box Set

7194aBAF4BL.jpg

These simple activity cards work well for Peppa Pig fanatics! This basic phonics activity allows students to become acquainted with phonics in a fun way and is best suited for learners between the ages of 3 and 5.

Related Post:  The Best 5th Grade Books To Prepare Your Child For Middle School

Learn more: Amazon

22. Phonics Flower Garden Problem Solving Game

t-l-526414-the-mystery-of-the-flower-garden-phonics-problemsolving-game-english_ver_1.avif

This phonics problem-solving activity allows learners to improve their phonics skills in the areas of blending sounds and creating word clusters, and suffixes.

Learn more: Twinkl

23. Phonics Crosswords

81dtpGKOSLiUw5YL4haX

Phonics crosswords are fantastic follow-up activities to help expose students to example words that contain specific phonics sound that the student is studying.

Learn more: Monster Phonics

24. Blending Sounds 

This simple game builds word-picture association and allows students to practice consonant blends after first identifying consonant sounds.

Learn more: Youtube

25. Use Phonics Sheet Activities 

qAr3k91QRTS3kwnB8IYF

These enjoyable activities are wonderful for learning new sounds and practicing letter formation to help foster emergent writing skills.

Learn more: Jolly Learning

Alphabet and letter-sound relationships should be introduced from a young age. The activities above can all be adapted for at-home use and can be incorporated into a child's education journey as a means of enhancing their vocabulary and improving phonetic awareness. Having a collection of resources on hand makes childhood education prep a whole lot easier so be sure to revisit the activities above and note your faves!

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I implement phonics activities during hands-on lessons? 

Attempt to pair phonics learning with movement-based activities such as our alphabet ball or rainbow hop activity ideas above. Furthermore, you could engage students in art-based activities in which they get to create something with the knowledge they have absorbed from the lesson.

Related posts:

45 Christmas-Themed Writing Prompts and Activities for Middle School Students
45 5th Grade Art Projects To Bring Out Kids' Artistic Genius
18 Robotics Activities for Middle School Students

You'll also like:

No related posts.

Category: Classroom IdeasTag: Phonics Activities, Reading

Previous Post: «alphabet activities for kids 28 Awesome Alphabet Activities for Pre-schoolers
Next Post: 23 Sensational 5 Senses Activities for Kids 5 senses activities»

Primary Sidebar

Recent Posts

  • 23 Pyramid-Inspired Activity Ideas 
  • 20 Writing Activities To Bring MLK’s Legacy To Life
  • 30 Egg-citing Easter Writing Activities
  • 7 Think Win-Win Activities For Older Learners
  • 20 Cute Crankenstein Activities For Kids
  • 20 Exciting Crime Scene Investigation Math Activities