How to teach beginning sounds

25 Beginning Sounds Activities and Printables

These beginning sounds activities give young children the chance to practice important phonemic awareness and phonics skills. Be sure to add them to your master list of literacy activities for preschoolers!

Recognizing how sounds are the same, and how they’re different, is referred to as sound discrimination. Hearing the first sound in words is one aspect of sound discrimination, and it’s an important phonemic awareness skill. It helps children to pay attention to the sounds they hear, and it aids them in learning letter sounds down the road.

Below, I share a variety of beginning sound discrimination ideas for young children. Some are purely oral language activities, focusing only on the sounds in spoken words.

Others are beginning sounds activities that incorporate letters. While these are inherently phonics-based activities, more research has come out indicating that pairing letters with phonemic awareness activities is beneficial. It is important to remember that language development, learning to read, and learning to write include a multitude of skills that interweave to create a literate person.

Related: Spring Printables for Preschoolers

Table of Contents

Before I jump into the beginning sounds activities, I wanted to talk about HOW to teach initial sounds. Because they do need to be taught. While kids can pick up a lot from being read to, carrying on conversations, and observing those around them, explicit literacy instruction (at all levels) is very important.

That being said, this instruction doesn’t need to happen for hours at a time while children are sitting at a desk. For young children, especially, that just won’t work. So here are some tips for teaching children about beginning sounds:

• Explain and model in a succinct manner. Short and sweet direct instruction!
• Scaffold the children along the way. Your support is imperative.
• Incorporate lots of hands-on activities and games.
• Let the children move as they learn.
• Keep it going throughout the year. This isn’t a “one and done” topic.
• Make things meaningful to the children as much as possible.
• Use visuals!
• Don’t forget conversations and songs.

The above tips can really be applied to all phonemic awareness activities! What would you add to the list?

Now let’s get into the initial sound ideas! As I mentioned earlier, some of these will be solely focused on oral language while others will bring in the alphabet. I separated things into categories for you. That way, you can find the activities that best meet the needs of your individual students.

First up are activities that are 100% phonemic awareness. Click on the links below to read more about each of the ideas and, in some cases, grab the free printables.

The St. Patrick’s Day beginning sounds printable is the beginning of a series focused on initial sound games for preschoolers. I’ll be adding more to the series throughout the year, so do check back!

The Measured Mom has a set of sound clip cards ready for your kids. You can use them with clothespins or math manipulatives.

Grab your own set of printable beginning sounds bingo cards from Growing Book by Book.

Related: Syllable Activities

You’ll find a fun initial sounds sorting game over on Pre-K Pages. I love that this activity uses simple materials you might already have.

Play This Reading Mama’s letter sounds tic tac toe with your students! What a unique way to practice matching beginning sounds.

Make a beginning sounds book based on family or classroom members like Growing Book by Book. Then be sure to read it over and over again once it’s done!

I also want to share some beginning sounds activities that you can easily weave into your day. These are fast and easy and don’t require much prep.

Incorporate the initials sounds into transitions. “Line up if your name starts with /m/.”

Play a guessing game, “I’m thinking of a name that begins with /s/.” Or, “I spy something that starts with /d/.”

Challenge the children to a beginning sounds scavenger hunt based on their own names. You might need to double-check there’s something available for everyone beforehand.

Practice gross motor skills with a beginning sounds bean bag toss. Place a few images on the floor. Kids toss a bean bag at the image that starts with a sound you say.

Use children’s pictures, real photos of common items, and/or store-bought picture cards for picture sorts.

Make up a song! Here’s an easy one, to the tune of “Do You Know the Muffin Man”

Do you know what starts with /m/,

Starts with /m/,

Starts with /m/?

Do you know what starts with /m/?

Let’s say a word!

Tie the initial sounds into what you’re learning about (butterflies, for example). Say two words. If the words have the same beginning sounds, kids can flap their “wings” like butterflies.

Make a “feed the monster” game by cutting a hole in a shoebox top. You can even go all out and decorate it like a monster. Kids can only feed the monster pictures of things that start your chosen sound.

Play a listen and clap game. Kids clap if you say two words that start the same. Otherwise, they don’t clap.

Challenge the children to a “what’s different?” game. Place a few pictures or objects out. The kids have to determine which one doesn’t start the same as the others.

Now let’s talk about beginning sounds activities that incorporate letters. You can definitely tweak these ideas and remove the letters if that’s what you prefer!

Related: Magnetic Letter Sorting

Use Fantastic Fun and Learning’s free printable to go on a dinosaur beginning sounds scavenger hunt. Little paleontologists will get a kick out of this one.

Bring out the play dough for Modern Preschool’s identify and stamp activity. Perfect for your collection of cookie cutters.

Your little builders will have a blast hammering beginning sounds with ABCs of Literacy. Definitely add this to your next construction theme.

Related: Simple Early Literacy Activities

Growing Book by Book’s beginning sound pancakes would be fun in the dramatic play center. Everyone can have a pancake that starts with the same sound as their name!

Or make a set of beginning sounds sticks like Pre-K Pages. Lots of fine motor practice to be head here, too.

Add in some tactile learning with Stay at Home Educator’s initial sound object matching.

Set up a Busy Toddler’s sound matching sensory activity with your favorite sensory materials as the base.

Royal Baloo’s planet beginning sound clip cards would be great as part of a preschool space theme.

Challenge the children to a sound scavenger hunt like Frugal Fun for Boys. Then have them sort what they found onto the appropriate letters.

Now that you have so many ideas for your own beginning sounds activities, let’s chat materials. I love that you can use what you have on-hand, or grab a free printable, for many of the activities shared here. I’m a big fan of using what I’ve got!

But if you want to expand on the items you use for teaching initial sounds, I’ve got some ideas for you (I may get commissions for purchases made through links in this post):

• Interactive alphabet sounds posters and books
• Letter picture games
• Alphabet and sound magnets
• Letter sound games
• Language miniature objects

Let Preschool Teacher 101 save you time with fully-developed preschool resources! We have a wide variety of resources from lesson plans to STEM challenges to math activity packs.

We also have some phonemic awareness materials, like this beginning sounds pack that you can use as online OR printable games. Click on the image below for more information:

Here are a few more alphabet-centered literacy resources for you:

Be sure to join the waiting list for The Pack from Preschool Teacher 101 today! Members get access to more, and there are multiple membership options to choose from.

Originally published February 2015.

HOW TO BEST TEACH BEGINNING LETTER SOUNDS

How to best teach initial sounds - teaching ideas and printable resources ideal for young children learning beginning letter sounds.

Learning to tell sounds apart is a key literacy skill in the Early Years and a first step in being able to read and write.  

As parents and teachers we do this orally - helping our children distinguish between sounds like 'd is for dog, c is for cat'. Being able to tell sounds apart in this way is called sound discrimination.

Learning beginning letter sounds is the next step to linking a child's oral language skills to written language - what they see and will attempt to write themselves.

But how best to teach preschoolers beginning sounds? What resources to use? 

I've rounded up some of my favourite printables for introducing and teaching children initial letter sounds at school or at home.

This post contains affiliate links.

INTRODUCING LETTERS NAMES AND SOUNDS

Some experts will probably disagree with me but I introduce both the letter name and the letter's initial sound to children at the same time. I also introduce the upper and lower case letter forms but then spend most of our time teaching the beginning sound using the lower case letter.

I believe young children need to be taught early the distinction between a letter's name and the sound it makes in words - D said as 'dee' as it's letter name but makes a shorter 'd' sound phonetically.  

If a child trying to decode the word dog 'dee-oo-gee' isn't going to make much sense so they need to understand that each letter has a name and a sound or possibly more than one sound - g = g as in goat and game and j as in giraffe and gem.

TEACHING BEGINNING SOUNDS

Depending on your literacy program (think Jolly Phonics, Words There Way, Sounds and Letters, Thrass, Soundwaves), each has a particular order for introducing the letters.

My preferred way is to teach a letter a day so that over a week you have a handful of letters to review and consolidate at a time. The most common - SATPIN start, then allows children to begin to mix and match these letters to start making simple words - at, it, in, pat, sat, tin, pin.

Having visual prompts around your classroom to help support young children check their thinking is key at this stage. As Early Childhood teachers, we know children 'read' pictures before they read words.

I created some picture/sound based alphabet posters for my own classroom which I often catch children 'reading'. You can find a copy of these posters here.

With one Reception class, we made our own alphabet wall charts which was such a fun term long project that helped the children understand initial sounds and make connections across different words.

After teach the letter and the sound it makes, resources that allow children to make this connection themselves and practice it are what you need.

Anything hands-on is a winner in my classroom. My students love playdough so at the start of the school year when we're starting to introduce the different letters and sounds I use these playdough mats to invite play.

Don't like using playdough? You can use these mats with any small objects to create an invitation in your classroom. Here I've just added some small stones to build the different letters but you could also laminate the cards and add whiteboard markers to practice writing the letters.

Being able to make the letter using these alphabet mats is a great way to introduce and consolidate their knowledge of the alphabet independently in our literacy centres.  You can find the alphabet mats here. 

When ready I swap the individual letter mats out for these ones. I've created mats for the entire alphabet but again just use the letters we are focusing on until we have taught all of the alphabet. You can find the alphabet mats here. 

With many young children starting school with poor or underdeveloped fine motor skills, I often use clothes pegs in our centre activities to help strengthen those small hand muscles while allowing them to practice other skills.

These peg clip cards are a perfect example. Once the children have learnt their letter sounds they can practice differentiating between just three pictures to find the one that matches the letter displayed on the cards. You can find these cards here.

The next step up from our peg clip cards are our letter sound wheels as they still require children to use their growing understanding of initial letter sounds but now have a few pictures that don't belong. We've also thrown in some handwriting practice making these initial sound wheels one of my favourite resources ever.

Disguised as a game, our letter sound mazes ask children to do the same as our letter sound wheels in they have to differentiate between sounds to find their way through the maze from the start to the finish.

A little less complex, these initial sound mats have long been a favourite in my classroom. Simply print and add magnetic letters or laminate and write the letter to match the beginning sound.

These letter sound wheels ask children to do the same but they have individually labeled clothes pegs to match the letter to the first sound in each word. You can find these wheels along with our FREE upper/lower case letter match wheels here.

Few have been able to resist our initial sound alphabet mats! Simple to prep, just print and add some counters for children to search for all the words that start with the letter sound displayed in the middle of each mat.

With a mat for each letter included, the children can see clearly that few words start with 'X' or 'Q' compared to 'B' or 'T'. You can download the mats from here.

How to teach a child to speak: methods, games and exercises

The formation of a child's speech occurs long before he begins to speak on his own. From a very early age, the baby perceives the speech of adults, imitates it, and subsequently relies on the acquired experience. Speech development is not a process that can be left to chance - and in this article you will find out why.

Contents of the article:

• Stages of speech development
• 10 ways to teach your child to talk at home
• Exercises and games for the development of speech
• General tips
• When you need specialist help
• Conclusion

Stages of speech development

The formation of speech occurs gradually, starting from birth. Knowing the approximate stages of speech development at each age, it is much easier to determine the presence of signs of a lag.

1. From 0 to 6 months. The baby actively listens to the speech of adults, tries to reproduce the sounds that he still perceives as a melody. He already distinguishes the voices of people who are talking to him. First, the baby masters vowel sounds, and already closer to the age of one and a half months, the consonant sounds “g”, “k”, “x” appear, thanks to which the child begins to “walk”.
2. 6 to 12 months. At this age, the child often imitates the sounds of adult speech. Pronounces separate syllables, for example "ma-ma", "babbles". By the end of the first year of life, the first words and sentences appear. Vocabulary ranges from 2-3 to 20 words, most of which are nouns. nine0012
3. 1 year. In a year, speech becomes active and becomes a means of interaction with adults. Together with the ability to move independently, the child accumulates knowledge about the world around him and replenishes his vocabulary, which at this age is 300-400 words. Pronunciation adapts to itself, skipping or replacing complex combinations of sounds.
4. 2 years. By the age of two, phrasal speech is formed. At this time, the child is able to formulate a sentence of 2-3 words. Gradually, grammatical categories are mastered, such as number, gender, case. The vocabulary reaches up to 700 units. nine0012
5. 3 years. Children of this age actively communicate with adults and peers, but still with the help of simple sentences. A three-year-old child masters the basic laws of the language and, on their basis, invents his own words. This process is called "word-creation" and signals the normal development of the child's speech. Vocabulary - up to 1000 words.
6. 4 years. In the fifth year of life, the child "hones" the acquired skills, replenishes the active and passive vocabulary, which is approximately 2000 words. As they grow older, the child begins to pronounce all the sounds of his native language clearly and clearly. nine0012
7. By the age of 5, it is considered normal if the child has mastered all aspects of the language and is fluent in speech. If not, this is a reason to immediately contact a specialist.

10 ways to teach your child to talk at home

1. The most effective and basic way is to talk to your child as often and as much as possible. Pediatricians recommend communicating with the child even before he is born. The speech of an adult should be expressive, as babies perceive it on an emotional level. It is possible to teach a child to speak at 1 year old by abandoning sign language and completely switching to verbal communication. Use short and clear sentences, do not distort words. Speak in such a way that the child can observe the movements of the lips and try to independently apply them to his speech. nine0012
2. Develop fine motor skills. Stimulation of nerve endings on the fingers has a positive effect on the development of speech. Any exercises that involve the motor skills of small muscles are suitable for this method: sorting through cereals, playing with massage balls, stringing beads on a string. (You can link to an article about developing fine motor skills by writing, for example, "Learn more here.") Fine motor skills classes will help to teach a two-year-old child to speak as early as possible. nine0012
3. Expand vocabulary. At home, on the street, in a store, in nature, show and call the child the names of the surrounding objects. To his questions in an accessible language, explain the meaning of certain objects, trying not to overload the child's brain with complex terms. This is a natural and inexpensive way to quickly teach your child to speak at 2 years old.
4. Read books. Children love to look at bright, colorful pictures. Read a book to your child, while pointing at the characters, for example, a bun, a fox, a hare. Simultaneous visual and auditory perception will help you remember words faster and learn how to pronounce them. Set aside time for this activity each day to develop this healthy habit in your child. nine0012
5. Sing songs. As much as books, children love songs. Sing along with your child his favorite songs, learn new songs that he will like. In addition to stimulating the speech apparatus, you will provide both yourself and your baby with a good mood.
6. Not understanding sign language. If your child often uses gestures, replacing words with them, you need to stimulate him to the opposite. Once again, when the baby points his finger at something, pretend that you do not understand him. Try to start a dialogue by asking leading questions, but do not bring the child to hysteria if he is not yet ready for this way of communication. nine0012
7. Take by cunning. When reading a well-known book, intentionally replace words, for example: "I'll sit on a stump, eat a pot (instead of" a pie ")". This technique will inspire your child to listen carefully to the speech, so that next time they can tell you how to do it right. The method is perfect for teaching a child to speak at 3 years old, since by this age children are actively interested in literary works.
8. Repeat one after another. As a game, repeat the syllables that he says after the baby, and then offer your own version. The child will be happy to join this activity and will try to give out even more new syllables. nine0012
9. Remove distractions. An incessantly running TV or computer with cartoons will drown out any of your attempts to enter into a dialogue. The child needs to hear the lively, clean, correct speech of an adult. To teach a child to speak at 4 years old, you should adhere to the time limits for watching cartoons.
10. Show attention. Drop everything when the child comes up to you to tell you something interesting. Listen carefully, ask questions, be surprised and show your interest in every possible way. This will stimulate the desire to share with you everything that comes to mind and that you want to tell. Mutual dialogue is possible and necessary even with a small child, because it will help you quickly learn to talk. nine0012

Exercises and games for the development of speech

Finger games

Favorite activity for all kids. Aimed at the development of fine motor skills and, as a result, the formation of speech. Learn small rhymes with your child, for example, "Magpie Crow." Connect finger movements that your baby will be happy to repeat. Such games improve fine motor skills and help to teach the child to speak correctly.

Articulation exercises

The small muscles of the mouth in childhood need to be trained, as they may not be sufficiently developed. To strengthen them, daily articulation exercises are required. Sit with your child at the mirror to control the correct execution of the exercises. Follow the movements of the lips and tongue, showing the child an example for his independent work.

Exercises for the development of speech breathing

It is important to teach a child to breathe correctly, starting from the moment of his speech development. The air released by us during the pronunciation of speech is the source of sound. Many simple and easily accessible exercises are aimed at developing breathing, for example: blow on a dandelion, inflate a balloon, blow soap bubbles. nine0003

Music games

You can teach your child to speak with the help of music games. When children sing, the assimilation of sounds, syllables and, ultimately, words is easier for them. Musical games can be organized in several variations: with musical instruments (spoons, drum), songs with onomatopoeia of animals, songs with the simultaneous execution of simple movements.

Didactic games

There are a huge number of games and methods using didactic material. And almost all of them can be applied to the development of speech. The game "Magic Bag" is great for developing speech skills. Rules of the game: in the bag there are objects of various shapes and sizes. The child is invited to feel to choose an object and describe it. Pronunciation of the signs of an object reinforces speech, and also helps in the formation of initial mathematical concepts. nine0003

General advice

In the development of a child's speech, it is important to be guided by the general principle "Do no harm". It must be remembered that each child develops according to his own individual model and it does not always adapt to the described stages of development. We recommend adhering to principles that apply in general to the entire process of raising and developing children.

1. The principle of play form. For a child of preschool age, the leading activity is the game. The more interesting the lesson is built, the more involved the child will be in it. Don't force me to play. Get interested instead. nine0012
2. The principle of mutual dialogue. Talking to children is not a waste of time, as it might seem at first glance. Bring the child to a dialogue, keep up a conversation with him, tell and listen carefully. Communication is the most effective way to teach a child to speak early.
3. Problem acceptance principle. It is difficult to admit to oneself that the child has any problems. However, the sooner you start working on the bugs, the faster you will get the result. Do not be afraid to turn to professionals if you see that independent work does not bear fruit. nine0012
4. The principle of accepting individuality. Your child is already a separate person, even if he is just starting to stand on his feet. You should not compare him with peers who are already telling poems with might and main. Instead of criticizing, praise every achievement of your child and then he will definitely speak.

When the help of specialists is needed

When a problem is discovered and the right ways to solve it will help prevent further lagging behind the child. It is necessary to be patient, aim for a positive result and give your child a chance to painlessly enter the social world and learn to exist in it. nine0003

Reasons to start working on the development of speech together with a speech therapist, neurologist and other specialists:

• after 8 months the baby does not respond to calls to him;
• nasal voice appears;
• there is not enough air to complete the phrase;
• during a conversation there is increased salivation;
• at 2 years old, the child speaks only in syllables;
• at 3 years old, the child still tends to speak only in simple words; nine0012
• at the age of 4, the sense of syllable was not developed and the words were distorted.

Conclusion

Children's development centers "Baby Club" have been helping parents in the development of children since 2000. Our mission is the harmonious development of the child and his formation as an independent person.

Baby club teachers will find an individual approach to your baby. And a rich environment and a children's team will help the child quickly enter society and start talking. Contact our centers, because preventing a problem is easier than dealing with its consequences. nine0003

The development of a child’s speech from 0 to a year

What kind of speech is there, you say, if you can hear only a loud “wow!” from him, and in moments of calm and blissful mood - “aha” yes “aha”, not counting other indistinct and obscure sounds. Many parents believe that before their child utters the first words (and this usually happens at the age of about a year), it is useless to talk to him, because he, they say, still does not understand anything and cannot learn anything yet.

Nevertheless, “unintelligible sounds” are already the formation of speech, and it begins long before the appearance of the first words. And already at this, the very first stage, the main function of speech is clearly visible - communication. Yes, yes, your baby is already able and wants to communicate with you!

In order to get an idea of ​​how to communicate with an infant, let's look at the main stages of speech formation.

The first stage - a cry

When a baby is born, getting from one environment to another, he needs to somehow declare himself, his presence in this world. While the child was in the mother's belly, all his needs were met instantly. Now he sometimes feels some kind of discomfort - and screams (still at the level of an unconditioned reflex). When the needs of the baby are satisfied, a certain stereotype of behavior is formed in the child, and the cry becomes a signal of discomfort (wet, want to eat or sleep, sad, lonely). A child has only one remedy - a cry. Gradually, with the help of a cry, the baby learns not only to attract attention to himself, but also to communicate. Remember, when your baby calls you, he first screams, and then waits for an answer: will mom come or won't she? Then he screams louder and waits again. Thus, the child gives his “interlocutor” the opportunity to join in his first dialogue. nine0003 Photo: nastyaofly / freepik.com

Approximately by the third month (and for many children even much earlier), the intonation of cries also changes. An attentive mother can distinguish a lot of different cries of her child - it can be grumbling, whining, discontent, a sharp screech of pain, angry “exclamations”.

“Even in another room, I can almost certainly tell what's going on with my twins from their screams. When they quarrel and cannot share toys - the cry is one, when they are bored - the cry is completely different. And, of course, I always distinguish piercing and sharp “dangerous screams” (when you urgently need to run to help) from “non-dangerous” ones, when children simply express their displeasure. nine0165