By now, you know that I am pretty passionate about ditching printables and pairing learning with real-life, hands-on experiences. This beginning sound activity for kindergarten has the excitement we need to explore letter-sound relationships. Grab a box. This beginning sound activity for kindergarten is hands-on learning fun.
What is phonemic awareness?
On a much larger scale, activities like this are called phonemic awareness, which means SOUND awareness. I wrote this parent’s guide to phonemic awareness as a guide as your child learns how to read.
Sound awareness is part of reading readiness, and there are a few things we can do at home to help our children prepare.
For now, let’s run to the recycle bin or find your nearest tissue box to dive into listening for beginning sounds. Let’s take the alphabet to another level!
RELATED: Save this post about five easy ways to include reading readiness into your child’s day.
Big Kid Activity Cards
Because our big kids crave hands-on learning, too!
20 hands-on activities for ages 5.5-8 years old.
Learning how to read is complicated.
It is believed that most children learn to read around 6 or 7. And the good news is that we do not need to rush learning how to read.
Instead, we can focus on early reading skills (reading readiness) with our preschoolers and kindergarteners by discussing what our mouth does to form letter sounds and explore rhyming words.
Learning the alphabet and reading can go hand in hand when we better understand reading readiness.
Let’s do some prereading skills together.
Before diving into this beginning sounds activity, let’s take a minute to understand what I mean about how our mouth forms with letters and rhyming words.
Giving parents and caregivers a chance to understand better the WHY helps make activities like this more meaningful.
Do this now:
- Say the letter sound /p/. What happens to your lips? Do you feel the air?
- Next, say the letter sound /m/. Did your mouth change? Did you feel air saying /m/?
- Bringing awareness to you and your child helps develop sound awareness.
- Now, let’s say the word cat.
- Can we rhyme cat with the word hat?
- What if a fat cat sat on a black mat wearing a purple hat? Have fun making up rhyming phrases (and explore word families) with your children as you wait on your Starbucks.
Hands-on activities allow us to give preschoolers, kindergarteners, and first graders a few more tools in their toolbelts.
As a child learns how to read in school, they will begin to connect the dots from conversations (and easy ideas) from home.
Setup
Start with letter sounds your child has mastered.
Doing so helps build confidence and investment in the activity (We call activities like this Breakfast Invitations) and allows you to extend and play again, adding more sounds.
- First, I picked five letters: W, M, D, C, and T. I picked these letters because they are common, and w is the first letter in his name.
- Next, I pick objects that begin with the same letter sounds. I have a watch, motorcycle, dog, car, and toothbrush here.
- I placed all the objects into the box and covered the top to make them mystery objects. – I love spicing up simple Kindergarten activities like this!
RELATED: Letter recognition and sound recognition are different. Learn what letter recognition is here.
Supply list:
All supplies I share on Days with Grey are items you can use often and may already be in your home. Here is my full list of supplies for hands-on activities for kids. Gather a few toys in your home, and let’s begin!
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White Paper Roll
This paper is a staple in our home. Place it on the table or a verticle surface. There are so many uses!
Markers
I’m just saying. No judgment if you keep this pack to yourself. I do!
What my kindergartner is learning
My five-year-old is still learning his letter sounds. Remember, there is no rush to read. Since my five-year-old is still learning his letters and letter-sound relationships, I want to begin with the letter sounds he has already mastered.
He has one more year before kindergarten, so we have time to work on letter-sound relationships.
As he picks up each object, he giggles and places it on the correct beginning sound.
Next time we play, I can use the same letters with different familiar objects and add one or two more letters to the list.
Want to focus on letter recognition? Take a look at Fine Motor Letter Grab and Writing Letters with Racecars.
RELATED: Here are our favorite alphabet toys for kids!
Older kids variation
My seven-year-old knows his sounds, yet he can use some review.
I like to place the first round with beginning sounds and then play again, focusing on matching the objects to the correct ending sound.
See that? Once your child has a solid foundation with beginning sounds, you can keep the same supplies and set up to better meet their needs as a reader.
Looking for other literacy and letter activities?
Be sure to check out:
When will you play this letter sound alphabet game?
FAQ
Learn the requirements of your state before enrolling your child for kindergartners r. Next, understand where your child is with social-emotional learning, self-regulation, and self-help skills. You can make the best decision for your child based on understanding these two components rather than focusing solely on their age.
It is believed that most children learn to read around 6 or 7. And the good news is that we do not need to rush learning how to read. Instead, we can focus on early reading skills (reading readiness) with our preschoolers and kindergarteners by discussing what our mouth does to form letter sounds and explore rhyming words.
Phonemic awareness equals sound awareness.
In Greek, the root word “phone” means sound, so we’re simply talking about raising the awareness of sounds (within words). So from this point on, when you read the clunky phrase “phonemic awareness,” we want you to think of “sound awareness.”
Also, when we use the word “phoneme,” we just mean one individual sound.
