As children get older they become more aware of sounds in words, and how words are formed. Speech sound awareness activities not only support children’s speech sound development, but are also useful when children are learning to read and write.
Syllable Awareness
- Clap out syllables in words. Put items in a bag and take turns to take one out slowly. Clap out the beats in the word as you say it e.g. car = 1 clap, apple = 2 claps, dinosaur = 3 claps.
Alternatively, clap out the beats in names.
Initial and Final Sound Sorting
- Present a series of objects or pictures for your child to name. Can he sort them according to their initial or final sounds? Work towards identifying the initial and final sounds without saying the word out loud.
Rhyme, Judgement and Generation
- Show your child a choice of 3 objects or pictures – two will rhyme and one will not. Ask your child to listen to the words, can he tell you which two sound the same / rhyme?
e.g. Present a cat and a sock. Which one sounds like bat? You might have to model the words – cat, bat or cat, sock?
- If your child can identify the rhyming pairs help him to think of other words that rhyme. Demonstrate that they sound the same at the end e.g. ‘cat, bat, sat, mat, fat, rat…they all sound the same at the end’.
Right / Wrong Judgement
- Ask your child to judge whether or not a word or sentence has been said correctly, e.g. a) sock b) dock – which word was said best?
Onset –Rime / Consonant - Vowel - Consonant (CVC) Blending
- Onset-rime: Use pictures or real objects. Say a word for your child to guess by saying the first sound, then the rest of the word. e.g. where’s the c - at, d - og, c - ar, f - ish ?
- CVC: Say the word in three parts (consonant-vowel-consonant) e.g. c-a-t, d-o-g, f-i-sh for your child to guess.
Remember!
There are lots more ideas to develop speech sound awareness skills in ‘ Letters and Sounds : Principles and Practice of High Quality Phonics’ produced by the Department for Education and Skills.