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Fun Games to Teach Letters & Phonics

Fun games are an educational and entertaining way to help a child learn the alphabet and letter sounds. Children can play card games and matching sounds games while learning. Combine visual stimuli, such as pictures, with saying the sound of the letter, to help children remember the letters. Children may be more motivated to learn when learning is fun. Parents can create games at home with a few index cards and things they find around the home.

Letter of the Day
- Children who are just learning the alphabet will enjoy a daily game of "letter of the day." Make a "letter box" using a shoebox and then decorate the box with letters of the alphabet. Write each letter of the alphabet on a separate index card and place the cards in a shoebox. The child selects a random card from the box each day for the letter of the day. The child then points out things in the home that start with that letter. Award one point each time your child finds and names an object that starts with the letter of the day.
Refrigerator Phonics
- Parents can help their children learn to read by practicing phonics on the refrigerator. Buy two or three sets of plastic letters that have magnets in the back for sticking on the refrigerator. Separate the letters into vowels and consonants and then arrange the vowels on the top row and a few consonants in a row underneath the vowels. Help the child arrange consonants to make blending letters for the first part of a word and vowels for the next part of the word. Letter arrangements may be "sh-" and "-ow" to make the word "show." Help your child sound out the letters as they are arranged into letter groups on a third row.
Animal Match
- Create some animal picture cards using plain index cards or buy some animal stickers to place on index cards. Write each letter of the alphabet on another set of index cards. Select six animal cards and their matching letter cards. Place the cards face down on a table and turn over two cards. If the cards are an animal card and it̵7;s a matching letter, leave the cards face up. If they do not match, turn the cards back over face down and turn over two more cards. Say the letter sound and the name of the animal when the cards match.
Beginning, Middle and End
- Collect some coins or bottle caps and three match boxes. Place the match boxes on a table in a row. Create a list of words that share a sound, such as "ch" or "b." Make sure the letter sound occurs at different places in the word by choosing words with the sound in the beginning, middle and at the end. Say the words slowly. Instruct the child to put a coin in the first box if the sound occurs at the beginning of the word. If the sound occurs in the middle, place the coin in the middle box. Place a coin in the last box if the sound occurs at the end of the word.

Kids Games