As teachers, we all know one of the first aspects of reading we teach is letter recognition - more specifically, letter sound recognition. It’s great if students can name all the letters of the alphabet - the ABC song is, after all, one of the first tunes they memorize as young kiddos. But the key to reading is to be able to recognize the sounds the letters make. Letter sounds (and all aspects of phonics) provide the true foundation for reading.

So, how do we do this?

Luckily, there are countless ways to explore letter sounds! And sometimes, the choices can be overwhelming. So I’ve compiled a list of 10 simple letter sound recognition activities you can do with your child at home or with your primary students in the classroom. Let’s get to it!

ONE: Letter Sound Picture Sort

I love any activity that a child can complete with their hands - tactile activities really lend themselves to better learning. One of my favorites is my Letter Sound Picture Sort. Simply print the sorts in black and white or color on cardstock and laminate for future use. Give each student a sort bag and have them place the letter cards at the top as headings. Students go through the pictures and sort them underneath the corresponding letter. As they do, students will say the picture out loud and the letter sounds as they sort it under the correct letter.

Helpful hint: be sure that the bags include just the letters that are combined together on each page. Having the entire alphabet as a sort would be too overwhelming for students who are early in their learning. However, for students further along in their learning, feel free to do multiple letters at a time.

TWO: Roll + Read Letters & Sounds

Simply print out the Roll & Read strips, cut them out, and laminate them for longevity. Grab some dice and manipulatives (mini erasers or unifix cubes work great). Pumpkin or heart erasers make a great fun holiday twist to spice up this fun literacy game!

To play, give each student in a group a roll and read a strip, some erasers, and one die. Students roll the die and say the sound and letter that correspond with that number. Then, they simply cover the letter with an eraser, and the next player rolls. Play continues until all letters are covered!

THREE: letter Sound Cover

Everyone loves a good Letter/Sound Cover, and this one uses many of the same materials as the Roll and Read. Simply print out the letter sheets on cardstock and laminate for durability. Grab some mini erasers or other manipulatives and letter dice (optional). Each student gets a cover-up sheet, dice, and mini erasers. If you have letter dice, students can roll that and cover the letters that they roll. Alternatively, teachers or parents can call out the letter sound and the student can cover the letters on their sheet.

I also love this spinner version! It is a great resource to use during small group instruction and then stick into a center rotation.

FOUR: Parking Lot

Got a car lover in your house? Grab a large sheet of paper and draw 26 parking spots and write a lowercase letter inside each one. Then, grab 26 cars (or any other small toy vehicles) and some circle stickers. Write an uppercase letter on each circle and stick them to the cars. As your child grabs an uppercase car, he or she will say the letter sound and vroom the car into its lowercase parking space. After some practice, this also serves as a great independent activity.

FIVE: ZAP!

Okay, let’s turn it up a notch. Are you ready to take letter recognition to the next level? Try out ZAP! Simply print the letter sheets on cardstock and place the letter cards in a stack. Mix in the ZAP cards in the pile.

In groups, students take turns going around the table, drawing one card from the stack. As they draw, the student says the letter and sound. If they’re correct, they keep the card. If not, the card goes back in the pile. Students who draw a ZAP! card is forced to put their cards back into the pile. This game is a particularly fun and exciting way to practice letter sounds!

SIX: PLAYDOH

We all love activities that require materials that we already have at home. These activities are quick, simple, and always effective. For a simple activity like this, grab some play dough and make letters out of the dough. Once a letter is made, practice the letter sound. Kids can choose to make capital and lowercase letters. This also makes a great number recognition activity, if math’s more your thing. ;)

SEVEN: POST ITS

If you want to see a kid happy, toss them a pile of Post-It Notes. For some reason, kids love these little gems and they serve as great learning tools. Write down a letter on each Post-It (it can be uppercase, lowercase, or both.) Let your child go around the house, placing Post-Its on furniture and items in your home that match the letter.

For example, the Tt Post-It can be stuck to the television, and the Dd Post-It can be stuck to a door. When they stick the Post-It onto the household item, the child says the letter sound for extra reinforcement.

EIGHT: BRING IN THE TOYS

Have one of those toy hammer benches at your house? Grab your circle stickers and write letters on them. Stick them to the tops of the wooden pegs and hand the hammer over to your child. He or she will have a blast hitting down the letters and saying the sound each time. This is a great way for your child to both have fun and learn at the same time! You may choose to leave the stickers on the wooden pegs for a while for practice and then switch them out for new letters later when the original letter sounds have been mastered.

NINE: BRING ON THE SNACKS

We are all busy. Sometimes the idea of sitting down with our child to learn and play seems impossible on certain days. When you’re in a stage of life that feels a bit more chaotic than normal, one of the best “mom hacks” is using daily activities that are musts and turning them into learning time.

For example, we all need to eat, right? Grab some alphabet crackers or cereal and maximize snack time by sneaking in learning letter sounds with food. Don’t have any food that resembles the ABCs? No problem! Simply grab some Cheerios or another small food to form letters. Another task we all need to do in a day? Bath time! Foam bath letters in the bath are a great way to explore learning letter names and sounds.

TEN: Who doesn’t love dot markers?

It took me way too long into my mothering career to discover dot markers, but once I did, I realized how many uses there are for them! Print out (or write) large letters onto a piece of paper. No need to go overboard or even print - any letter on any piece of paper will suffice. Give your child the paper and some dot markers. As they place dots on top of the letter, they say its letter sound. For example, if given the letter A, they will trace the A and say “/a/, /a/, /a/” with each dot.

Remember that with these letter sound activities, you don’t need to reinvent the wheel or make sparks fly. Activities that are easy to prep for you and engaging for your child are the ones that you’ll likely choose over and over. All of these activities are accessible, effective, and as easy as A-B-C!

Below, you will find some of the activities I shared in today’s post PLUS some of my other favorites!!