Two Easy Games To Develop Phonemic Awareness

It is up to us to help families understand the importance of pre-reading skills. Blending and segmenting the individual SOUNDS of language (called phonemes) are essential precursors to reading.  It is important to note that neither of these skills involves looking at letters or words. It’s all about playing with sound. And the research is clear: If children can play with sounds, they will likely become better readers.  So, how can we do this?  “Games” like the following can help.

To blend, tell children that you are going to play a game called “Guess My Word.”  Slowly say each sound in a word, like  d  ŏ  g.   Children should be able to blend these sounds together and say, “dog.”  Remember to say the correct sound of the vowel.

Blending -

You say  s   ē. The child says see. 

You say c   ă   p. The child says cap.

You say m  ī   n. The child says mine.

You say   ch  ŏ  p.  The child says chop.  (The ch is said as one sound.)

You say  f   ĭ   sh.  The child says fish. (The sh is said as one sound.)

Segmenting –

Turn this game around and tell the child that he or she is going to be the teacher! You say a word and ask the child to carefully say all the individual sounds in the word. For example, you say pot. The child should say  p    ŏ    t.  Other words include:

You say nap. The child says  n    ă    p.

You say sun.  The child says  s  ŭ  n.

You say me.  The child says  m   ē.

You say rock.  The child says  r   ŏ   k.

You say ship.  The child says  sh   ĭ   p.

Please feel free to share this post with families so they can play sound games with their children! 

For a more comprehensive assessment for Phonological/Phonemic Awareness, see our Assessment here. Please send us any feedback as it is still in development. Thanks! 

Standards Alignment:

NAEYC – 2.E.06

Head Start – VII.B.