Language Games - Phonemic Awareness Skills

What is Phonemic Awareness?

To become effective readers and writers, children need a strong awareness of the sounds that make up words. These skills of hearing, identifying, and working with the sounds in words are called phonemic awareness. 
We do lots of games and activities in the classroom to build phonemic awareness, and these games are perfect to practice at home - or anywhere! - because they don't require any materials. They are totally spoken, so you could even play them in the dark. 
We start with the simplest skills with our 3-year-olds, and keep increasing the challenge as their skills advance. At each level, we provide as much support as they need to feel successful - the key is that they stay engaged and motivated so that they can get the amount of repetition and practice they need to strengthen each skill.  

Introductory Games

Rhyming

Rhyming is an important pre-reading skill that young children can learn & strengthen with practice.

#1 - "I'm thinking of" 

Pick a category (fruits, forms of transporation, colors, etc.) and tell your child - "I'm going to think of different fruits and see if you can guess which one I'm thinking of."

Say a word (real or nonsense) that rhymes with the fruit - "I'm thinking of a fruit that rhymes with "nare" - what is it? .... 'pear!" (then repeat the rhyming pair together a few times. - "Nare, pear! Near, pear! they rhyme!)

#2 - "Let's think of words that rhyme with _____" 

Say, “Let’s think of words that rhyme with____” (“bat”, for example). You may be the only one thinking of words at first – and that’s okay. Your child can repeat the rhymes you say, and soon they’ll be making their own. Variation: your child names something they see (bread, plate, car, tree, etc) and you rhyme with their words.

#3 - Two words

Say two words. Have your child say them back to you and tell you if they rhyme or not (“blue, shoe. Do they rhyme? (Yes!) “one, sun” “rug, cat” etc.) Try to do a random mix of rhyming and non-rhyming, but not alternating – kids are smart and will figure out the pattern instead of listening for the rhyme!
Variation: instead of saying 'yes' or 'no', your child can give a thumbs up or thumbs down to say whether or not the words rhyme.

Beginning Sounds

Two words

"I'm going to say two words, and you say them back to me.  If they have the SAME beginning sound, give me a thumbs up. If they are NOT the same, give me a thumbs down."  

Example "rrrrun, rrrabbit"... (child repeats, gives thumbs up ).. "run and rabbit both start with the sound 'rrr'

Tips:

• Always start a few pairs that have the same beginning sound to prep the child's ears
• Don't alternate match / non-match - your child will catch onto the pattern and 
• Exaggerate the beginning sounds ("mmmmouse, mmmmat"... "ssssink, aaaaapple") until your child is confident and consistent, then make it more challenging

"I Spy" Sound Game  – Beginning sounds

Level 1: You say the beginning sound of an object and the child identifies the object. Start simple! (“I spy something you’re holding that starts with ‘fff’” when a fork is the only thing in their hand) and gradually make it more challenging (”I spy something on your face that starts with ‘nnn’” 
Watch this short video on how to play "I spy" game
For more details about how to play (including video clips) and the next levels of challenge (ending sounds, middle sounds, and segmenting all the sounds), I recommend this post by Maitri Learning

Segmenting

Compound Words

Separating the syllables of compound words (2 words stuck together to make a new word) is the first step in segmenting skills. Video example

Advanced Phonemic Awareness Games

“Slow-motion” word game

To become effective readers and writers, children need a strong awareness of the sounds that make up words. Here is a pre-reading skill to practice at home: Say a word in “slow-motion” (“ssssiiiiittt”)
and ask your child if they can tell what your word is. If this seems easy for your child, increase the challenge by adding a pause between the sounds in the word – this requires them to work harder to blend the sounds (mmmm-ou-ssss (mouse)). Remember to keep it fun and give as much support as your child needs to feel successful.
Example: Video of Blending game

Sound segmenting word game

Here is another phonemic awareness skill (awareness of sounds in words) to practice at home that helps prepare your child to become an effective reader and writer: Say a word and then sound it out verbally with your child, segmenting the different sounds that make up a word (c-a-t; sh-ee-p, etc.) To help children keep track of the sounds, we use “finger spelling” – make a fist and starting with the thumb, put up a finger for each sound you say. This is a challenging skill – it’s okay if you model segmenting a word, then have the child repeat it with you. 
Watch a short video showing how to teach sound segmenting
Song to practice sound segmenting - "In the Woods there was a Tree"
Video with rainforest themed rhyming and segmenting activities