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Fun Online Phonics Games

Learning to read isn’t an easy skill to master, and it takes time and practice. But sometimes practicing the skills needed for reading can be fun! Many websites provide free online games that make learning more fun. However, it is not always easy to find games that target a specific phonics skill. The games in … Continue reading “Fun Online Phonics Games”

Learning to read isn’t an easy skill to master, and it takes time and practice. But sometimes practicing the skills needed for reading can be fun! Many websites provide free online games that make learning more fun. However, it is not always easy to find games that target a specific phonics skill. The games in this post are targeted to practice the skills needed to understand the 44 sounds of the English language.

Symbaloo
Symbaloo of phonics games at www.symbaloo.com/mix/phonicsgames7

Some online games require flash, which is no longer supported after 12/31/2020. Learn more at The End of Flash.  Some more mobile friendly games are collected at this Symbaloo. More online games at these Symbaloo collections.

I. GET READY

Phonological & Phonemic Awareness: Symbaloo collection for Phonemic Awareness

Letter names and sounds – Alphabet Games at Wakelet

II. SOUND OUT WORDS

Short vowels and Word families

Blends

III. VOWEL PATTERNS

Silent e

Bossy R

Diphthongs – vowel combinations that make (mostly) new sounds

Vowel Teams that are often long

Vowels that vary: Wild Old Words at wordwall.net

Short or Long Vowels

IV. CONSONANT PATTERNS

Consonant Digraphs

Consonants that vary

V. MULTI-SYLLABLE WORDS

Open & Closed Syllables

Consonant -le: consonant-le at wordwall.net

Schwa: Schwa words at wordwall.net, Online Quiz at purposegames

Word Search Puzzles

websites in alphabetical order:

abcya.com – a teacher-created website that provides fun and educational games for kids. Pre-K through 5th grade, and includes games for learning letters (also numbers and more) It is free for use on pcs (ads) and can be obtained for mobile or tablet use with a subscription.

arcademics.com – arcademic skill builders are free online educational video games that offer a powerful approach to learning basic math, language arts, vocabulary and thinking skills. These are highly engaging and some are multi-player. Apps are available for both Android and iOS.

www.education.com – has many resources on a variety of topics. To access worksheets and more resources there is a subscription fee, but there are many games available for free (with a sign-in) for learning reading skills. Alphabet, Syllable Counting, Short vowel sort, Short Vowel Sort, Long/Short sort, Blends, and Silent E +more. Also Digraphs Hopper & Digraphs Photoshoot, Sight Words Balloon Pop and more, Compound Word Fish, Interactive Stories.

ezschool.com – some free online phonics games

Funfonix.com – free online games (and worksheets) for phonics.

GalacticPhonics

Galactic Phonics (Flash) – free resources created by teachers. It can be difficult to find games to practice diphthongs, this site has a good collection plus more. Find them all at Symbaloo.

Ictgames.com – free online games for phonics, mobile friendly

Kizphonics – an online phonics program which provides a few games on each level free, access beyond that requires a membership.

Learn English Kids -from the British Council

Learninggamesforkids.com – free online learning games

Literactive (Flash)– many online games for phonics skills including phonemic awareness. So many that I made a Symbaloo of them. There’s also a Tizmos collection. Great resource!

Making English Fun – many online games, apps are available.

Mr Nussbaum – has lots of mobile friendly literacy games and interactive resources. Build words with Word Maker and blend sounds with Sound Garden.  (Two Letters with both digraphs & blends available with upgrade)

pbskids.org – a website from the Public Broadcasting System which is aimed at preschool kids.

phonics bloom – many games that work on pc and mobile devices, some free and more with subscription

readwithphonics.com – free for schools, libraries, & educational organizations with 10 or more students. Parents can pay for access, and there is an app available.

readwritethink.org – provides free materials including some games (Flash)

RoomRecess.com has lots of reading games. Many are available for both pc & mobile.

roythezebra.com – some content free, more with registration

sadlier-oxford.com – an educational publisher of books and materials for grades PreK to 12+. Some games are available on pc only at SadlierConnect

Skillswise – provided by the British Broadcasting Corporation, this website includes a section of English Games. There is lots more about reading, writing, and math for higher levels.

softschools.com – provides many resources for free, including Phonics plus other resources. A premium subscription is available that removes ads and lets teachers set up student account to track progress.

splashlearn.com – tons of phonics games, free with sign-up, apps available.

starfall.com – provides some free content on phonics aimed at early grade levels, with expanded content available for a subscription. Starfall classic, free app is available.

teach your monster to read – free on PC with sign-up. App is available.

turtlediary.com – provides many resources for free on PC only. Premium subscription removes ads and allows mobile play. app is available

wordwall.net – teacher made resources, whack-a-mole, random wheel, and more! A similar site is tinytap.com.

yourchildlearns.com – some free online games for reading.

Too many people struggle with learning to read. Low literacy levels often lead to limited opportunities for employment, according to literacy statistics at Phonics Facts. Make a difference by sharing the resources at Phonics Pow to help others teach reading.

Learn the Alphabet

Letter knowledge is one of the key skills to master reading.

WATCH videos of letter sounds from Turtle Diary at this Symbaloo collection and at this Wakelet.

WATCH more videos at the Letter Sounds Wakelet, the Alphabet Animals Wakelet, the Phonograms Wakelet, and the Short or Long Vowels Wakelet.

Play online alphabet games at Wakelet

Read Animal Alphabet books.

More Alphabet Resources:

PLAY Printables: Alphabet Chutes and Ladders: lowercase & uppercase from Super Simple, Mailbox ABC from Totschooling (6 pages, color), Fishing for Letters from Kindergarten Crayons (7 pages, color), Sammy the Starfish from Fuelthebrain.

consonants

Active, Board, and Card games at the ABCs of Games For Reading.

Sight Words

binoculars

Phonics guidelines can often be helpful, but there are some words that are not easily decodable.

Sight words are frequently found in written text, and many are not decodable with phonics guidelines. When these words are learned, a large percentage of written text can be read. E.W. Dolch identified 220 words and 95 nouns. In 1996, Dr. Fry expanded on the Dolch list and published “Fry 1000 Instant Words.” In his research, Dr. Fry found that:
• 25 words make up approximately 1/3 of all published text
• 100 words make up approximately ½
• 300 words are 65%
• The full list of 1000 words makes up 90% of all published text

WATCH videos and PLAY online games at the Sight Word tutorial at Wakelet

Some online games require flash, which is no longer supported after 12/31/2020. Learn more at The End of Flash. 

WATCH more videos at the Sight Word playlist at Phonics Pow Youtube channel

PRACTICE Fry Sight Words (with audio) at Quizlet.com.

FRY SIGHT WORDS

ProgressBookmark

DOLCH SIGHT WORDS

FLASHCARDS

READ Phrases with Fry Instant Words from http://www.uen.org & Fry Fluency Sentences from Curriculum Corner. 220 Dolch sight words in a story from Mrs. Perkins.

PLAY Printables:

BuildaSentence

Super Tutor Tools store at Teachers Pay Teachers:

FREE! Roll a (sometimes silly) Sight Word Sentence – to make this into a sentence shake cut the columns of words apart and put them in bottles.

sightwordsentences

The Roll a Color Sight Word Game pictured below uses the first 100 Fry words, or use any sight word flashcards and mark them with the colors.

rollacolor1

PLAY more printable games: Sight Word Last Card from sightwords.com, Battling for Sight Word Treasures from Liz’s Early Learning Spot, Gone Fishing editable Sight Words from thisreadingmama, Sight Word Scrabble from craftnectar. (The last two may not fit easily in the portable Phonics Kit, but look fun!)

The Schwa Sound

SchwaSymbolChairBe Aware of Schwa:

Schwa is often a light “uh” sound that can be made by any vowel. It is the most common sound in the English language. It is often very similar to a short u, but is softer and weaker.

In words with more than one syllable, one syllable is stressed or given more emphasis. Other syllables are unstressed, or unaccented. The schwa sound can occur in an unaccented syllable, so it is heard more often in words with more than one syllable. Notice that schwa can be present in words with consonant -le, open or closed syllables alike.

SchwaCard

Since the Schwa sound is more often found in words with more than one syllable, it is included at the end of the Phonics Pow Toolkit. (V.c) However, it is a good idea to introduce it earlier as Schwa can be found in some one syllable words like: the, a, was, and of.

The sled was a lot of fun.

Hear the Schwa sound in these one syllable words with the letter o: My son won a ton of money a month from the lottery. At the end of the Silent e section (III.a) there are activities with words that have the Schwa sound (some love gloves).

WATCH

Extra Attention to A Schwa

Any vowel can make the Schwa sound: zebra, open, pencil, lemon, and butter. But let’s give a little extra attention to the letter A, which can make the Schwa sound at the beginning (aware) and end (ninja) of some words. Play an online word search game with words where the letter a makes the Schwa sound at the beginning.

The letter a can make the Schwa sound at the end of some words like extra.

The letter a can also sometimes make the Schwa sound in the middle of words like: alphabet, amazon, elephant.

Practice words that have an A Schwa with a set of resources available at the Super Tutor Tools store at Teachers Pay Teachers that includes a handout, worksheet, and nice dice practice. There is also a free Schwa Word Treasure game.

More Resources

PLAY A Schwa maze at English-Zone.com. Pizza! Pizza! printable schwa game from the literacy nest. Online Quiz at purposegames.

Note: read about short U & the schwa sound at the challengeoflearningUSEnglish

Consonant -le

PurpleCandleThere are seven syllable types. Learning the different syllable types helps makes sense of the different vowel sounds in the English language. We’ve learned about: Silent e, Bossy R, Diphthongs, Vowel Teams, and Open & Closed Syllables. The last syllable type to learn about is Consonant -le.

Consonant -le is an unaccented final syllable that contains a consonant and -le. The e at the end is silent, and creates a new sound: “ul”

The middle consonant doubles when it comes right after a short vowel. Try a rabbit or turtle online word sort.

DoubleMiddle

WATCH videos and PLAY games at the Consonant-le Wakelet tutorial

LISTEN and practice at Quizlet

/ul/ variations

There are different spellings for the sound of /ul/. A helpful pupil says it is simple: an eagle is a symbol, a squirrel is a mammal. Try a wordsearch and an online word sort at /ul/ variations.

More Resources:

7 syllables blog pic

Poster from maketaketeach

Open and Closed Syllables

Syllable2

Syllables are simple, one for every vowel sound, so there are lots of syllables around. You can clap or tap, or feel your mouth drop! Hearing syllables is a part of phonemic awareness that can be practiced with a syllable sort mat and animal flashcards.

Open and Closed Syllables

WATCH:

pinclosed

When a vowel is followed by at least one consonant, it is closed in. It often makes a short sound, as in pin. (the vowel stops short)

openno

A vowel is open with no consonant behind. Open syllables are often long, you will find. (the vowel can go long)

Advanced phonics patterns are more powerful and follow their own guidelines: “car” makes a new sound because of Bossy R,  and so does “loud” because of the Diphthong. “Cake” and “team” both have long vowel sounds because of Silent e and Vowel Teams. WATCH this video from Jessie Ketchum.

WATCH videos and PLAY online games at the Open and Closed Syllable tutorial at Wakelet. Some online games require flash, which is no longer supported after 12/31/2020. Learn more at The End of Flash. 

OpenClosed1Syllable

WORD SORT

Examples of words with open and closed syllables at sightwordgames.

Syllable Division

SyllableDivision2

WATCH videos and play games at the Syllable Division tutorial at Wakelet

Open & Closed Vowels in Two Syllable Words

Open syllables are found more frequently in words with more than one syllable.

OpenSyllables

This chart from the Long Vowel Patterns section of the Phonics Pow Toolkit shows some examples. See the full chart at the post Author Wiley Blevins.

TigerCamelWords

After learning about how to divide syllables, notice that two syllable words with one middle consonant can divide after the first vowel. This leaves the first syllable open, which often has the long vowel sound. Examples: pa|per, be|gin, ti|ger, ro|bot, mu|sic. Note that there are exceptions: about 40% of the time the word splits after the middle consonant, making the first syllable closed and short. Examples: cam|el, ped|al, vis|it, rob|in.

In words with more than one syllable, one syllable is stressed or given more emphasis. Other syllables are unstressed, or unaccented. The schwa sound (often “uh” similar to a short u) can occur in an unaccented syllable, so it is heard more often in words with more than one syllable. Notice that schwa can be present in words with consonant-le (where it sounds like /ul/), open or closed syllables alike.

Learn more at More Ways Vowels Can Be Long.

Bossy R Variations

Vowels can vary in the sounds they make. Here are some of the ways that Bossy R words can vary. First let’s look at what happens when words have both a Silent e and a Bossy R.

SilentevsBossyR

Silent e vs Bossy R

If you find a wire in your spare tire you will see that Silent e wins with -are & -ire. When we explore nature, it is Bossy R that wins with -ore & -ure.  A Silent e vs Bossy R words worksheet is available at my Teachers Pay Teachers Super Tutor Tools store.

The Bossy R Schwa

SchwaBossyR

Some words say “er” with different Bossy R spellings. “The pearl is worth a dollar.” In this phrase, all of these spellings make the “er” schwa sound. Try an online Bossy R Schwa word sort.

The -ear phonogram is quite tricky. You will learn (er) not to fear (long e/r) the bear (“air”) with a big heart (ar). WATCH: trigraphs song from english4abc and the ear video from stickyball.net.

EAR3

The -air sound (or phoneme) can be made with several spellings. Besides the ear in bear, AR can say arrow and ER can say error. Be warned that AR can also say OR when it is warm. IR can say a long e in words like spirit & mirror.

AIR

Multiple Meaning Words

MultipleMeaningWords2

When working with Bossy R variations, you may notice that many of these words can be homophones. They sound exactly the same, but are spelled differently and have different meanings. “I have a pair of pears.”

You may also see homonyms or homographs, words that are spelled and sound the same but have different meanings. “I will park the car at the park.” In the phrase “There is a tear in my eye as I tear up the paper” the word tear is a hetronym. Hetronyms are a type of homograph that have the same spelling, but a different sound and meaning.

READ “A Bat Cannot Bat, a Stair cannot Stare” by Brian P Cleary, “Dear Deer” by Gene Barretta, “Eight Ate” and “The Dove Dove” by Marvin Terban.

PLAY Categorical Dominoes from Brian P Cleary to practice homophones.

Practice Schwa Bossy R with worksheets that can also be used as word sorts available at the Super Tutor Tools store at Teachers Pay Teachers. A free copy of the Multiple Meaning Chart can be found there as well. PLAY a homophone Search-a-word puzzle.

Learn more at R is Very Controlling from ogforall.com

More Ways Vowels Can Be Long

Vowels can be long with the Silent e pattern, Vowel Teams, Open Syllables, and Tricky Y. Two more important long vowel patterns to learn are: i and o can be long when followed by two consonants, and open syllables in two syllable words with one middle consonant. These can be challenging, because in both cases, words may have either the long or short sound.

treasuremap

i and o can be long when followed by two consonants. Learn more at Find and Lift the Lost Gold.

See the video of this slideshow at the Vowels That Vary Wakelet Tutorial.

Open and Closed Syllables in Two Syllable Words with one middle consonant

TigerCamelWords

The first syllable in two syllable words with one middle consonant can be either long or short, so it is important to understand and practice these words too. Since more are long (60%) than short (40%), try the long vowel sound first to see if it is a recognizable word. If it is not, try it with the short vowel sound.

Strategy: Bē/gin with long, vĭ/sit short

The Tiger & Camel Words Soccer Game is available at Teachers Pay Teachers.

Testimonial1-8-23

Learn more at Long Vowel Patterns.

Vowels That Vary

One of the trickiest things about the English language is that vowels may sometimes look the same and make different sounds. There are even variations with short vowels. (II.b)

WATCH videos and PLAY online games to learn more at the vowels that vary tutorial at Wakelet.

Syllables that are closed are usually short, but when you fīnd and lĭft the gōld don’t get lŏst. The letters i and o followed by two consonants can be bōth – short or long.

AlikeO

And that is not all…did I mention that the letter a can say a short ŏ like in watch or in ball? The Sounds of A Worksheet/Word Sort is available at TeachersPayTeachers. Learn more about Short Vowel Variations.

Y at the end of a one syllable word, often says a long “I” as in fly. Learn more about Tricky Y.

We have met OO/OO, one of the diphthongs. Which might be a foot that is short, or a boot that is too long. How about OU, which can be very rough? More than six sounds can really be tough. i before e is weird too and can vary a lot. i before e, unless foreign scientist Keith leisurely seizes caffeine from feisty atheists.

More vowels that can vary are OW, EA, IE.  When you eat (ē) bread (ĕ ) with a steak (ā) , EA can also say a long a, isn’t that great?

2Sounds

R controlled vowels can vary a lot: AR can sound like ER, as in pillar or dollar. So can OR, when you start your motor. When there is an E before AR all bets are off. It might be ER when you learn, or maybe a long e that you hear. It can even be a polar bear on a chair. Learn more about the Bossy R Schwa sound and other variations.

Last, but not least of all, is the amazing schwa. Any vowel can make this lazy “uh” sound, so watch out for schwas all around!

SchwaCard

In two syllable words with one middle consonant, the first vowel may be closed and short or open and long depending on how they divide. Learn about these at more ways vowels can be long.

Guidelines can help you to figure out the many sounds you will discover all about. Learn more about the sequence followed by the Phonics Pow Toolkit.

Consonants That Vary

When the same letters make more than one sound, or one sound can be made with more than one letter, you really know that English is Weird.

WATCH videos and PLAY online games for: -ck ending, hard or soft c and g, and  more consonants That Vary tutorials at Wakelet. Some online games require flash, which is no longer supported after 12/31/2020. Learn more at The End of Flash.

CONSONANTS

The letters C and G can make hard or soft sounds.

C is often hard before A, O & U. With the others, a soft C will do.

In some silent e words that you see, that c before e will often soft /s/ be.

G is often hard before A, O & U. With the others, a soft G will often do.

(But this is not always true, which you know if you get a gift given to you!)

In some Silent e words you will see, that g before e will often soft /j/ be.

When the K sound is heard at the beginning of a word:

K takes i & e, C takes the other three.

When the K sound is heard at the end of a word:

A CK is often needed after a vowel that is short. The K needs help to make it work.

KorCK

PLAY PRINTABLES Consonant Variations Soccer Sort Games include Hard and Soft C and G, and K or CK ending, available at the Super Tutor Tools store at Teachers Pay Teachers.

Sounds of S: letter S can also make more than one sound. S can say snake, probably everyone knows. It can also say /z/ when a nose smells a rose. Of course in the faces of horses the sound is /iz/. A free word sort game for the letter S is available at the Super Tutor Tools store at Teachers Pay Teachers.

The sound of /f/ can be spelled many ways indeed, more than three! In the following sentence, how many ways do you see? The dolphin swam fast by in the rough sea by the cliff. (f as in fast, ff as in cliff, ph as in dolphin, and gh as in rough.)

A ghost with a slight cough gave a great fright. GH can also be /g/ when you see a ghost all in white, or no sound at all when you see the light.

These guidelines may help you to figure out the many sounds you will discover all about.

Learn more about word sort games for the Phonics Pow Toolkit.