Phonics games & activities

Phonics can be difficult for children to understand but is a crucial part of the curriculum that children need to develop. Teachers must find creative ways to teach phonics to their pupils. Doing this engages pupils in the subject and allows them to understand phonics. This can be difficult for teachers and it can feel like an impossible task to make phonics enjoyable. A perfect way to make phonics fun is through phonics games & activities.

Here at Hope, we are determined to inspire teachers’ phonics classes and make it fun for children. Take a look at our phonics games & activities to try out with your class.

I-Spy

This game is an absolute car journey classic, but I-spy can easily be adapted to the classroom for some phonics fun. Rather than asking the class for something beginning with a certain letter, shout out a relevant sound. The class has to spot something around them that uses the sound. Make sure there are plenty of objects around the classroom that uses the sounds you have planned.

To make it extra fun, get children to grab or stand next to something that starts with the sound. This will make pupils want to participate more as it’s enjoyable learning phonics this way, as well as getting them up and moving.

Bingo

Take the popular numbers game Bingo and adapt it to fit into your phonics class. Instead of a sheet with numbers, hand each pupil a grid that is filled with words. Work your way through a list of sounds, asking the class to mark off any words in their grid that uses that sound. First to cross off every word has to shout BINGO!

Playing phonics bingo is a perfect way for children to grasp phonics as they relate the sounds to the correct words the more they play it. Plus, due to it being a fun activity they learn the subject quicker as they are actively participating and listening.

Sorting Hats

Sorting sounds and words is a popular way of reinforcing phonics in classes. A great way to sort sounds and words with pupils is by using sorting hats, adding a Harry Potter style twist to the subject. This is a super fun game & activity to use in phonics lessons.

Grab different hats and place them at the front of the classroom where they can be seen. Label each hat with a particular sound. Place a collection of bean bags on the tables where the children sit. Label each beanbag with a word that correlates to the sounds on the hats or use our phonics beanbags. Challenge the class to toss the bean bags into the correct hat, matching the correct word with the sound. Allow them to work as a team to decide where to toss the beanbags. Teamwork helps children to further understand phonics as they discuss sounds and words together and receive different perspectives on the topic.

Twister

Create a game of Twister using our phonics spots. Instead of putting different body parts down on colours, read out a word and ask children to move towards a sound that is used in that word. This can be done in a large space indoors or, in good weather, outdoors. Playing Twister using phonics will increase children’s knowledge on the topic and get them physically moving. Also, this game helps pupils to understand phonics better whilst having fun with their learning.

Online games

There are plenty of fun free phonics games that children can access online which you can use within your phonics classes. These online games are interactive and help children to understand how phonics works. There are plenty of free websites with multiple phonics games that children can play independently or as a class. Phonics games such as blending bingo hones into key areas in phonics like practising blending skills. Other skills from the online games that can be developed are understanding the relationship between letters and sounds, building words, helping to read words, and identifying phonemes.

Find free phonics games to use in classes here.

Pass the sound

This is a great game & activity to play in a large space, or outdoors, for children to get fully involved to learn more about phonics.

Using grapheme cards or sounds cards split the class into groups. Get each group to line up behind each other. Hand a card to the first child in the line. Let them know that once ‘go’ has been shouted, they need to whisper the letter or sound to the person behind them. Then they must give them the card. The person behind repeats this and hands the card to the next person. This continues to the end of the line. Once there, the last child must say a word that begins with the letter or sound. If correct, they run to the front of the line to receive a new card. The aim of the game is for all the children to have had a turn at the front of the line. Once that has been accomplished, they sit down. The first team to sit wins.

This game develops correspondences between sounds and letters as well as phonological awareness as they develop words with the correct phonemes.

Fish the letters

This is an excellent and enjoyable phonics game that can be done outdoors or in the classroom. To set this up, find a tray or small pool and write different letters on small pieces of paper. Punch small holes in each bit of paper and place into the tray. Ask pupils to fish the letters out of the tray using a small hook. Once they manage to hook a piece of paper, they have to shout out the letter. This helps them develop the pronunciation of different letters and understand them more.

To make it harder, shout out a sound where they then must find the corresponding letter. Another way to play can be telling pupils to build words using the letters that have the sound in them.

Electronic phonics game

Our electronic phonics is a perfect game & activity for children to grasp the world of phonics whilst having fun with the subject. This product helps children to word build and blend letters and sounds together to learn correct pronunciation. To incorporate a game aspect with electronic phonics, teachers can shout out a word, and their pupils must find the correct letters and sounds to make it. Once they have built it into the electronic phonics, they will hear if they are correct. Pupils can also pronounce the word into it to play it back, helping pronunciation.