13 SUPER FUN Phonics Activities for Kindergarteners – 2023 Edition

| Last Updated: February 8, 2023

To develop a child’s phonological awareness, you must focus on it since the age of preschool.

The process of sounding out words is called decoding. It requires a good amount of effort from parents and teachers to teach it to kindergarten students.

However, following some techniques and teaching phonics with activities can make the process easy for all.

Great Phonics Activities For Kindergarten

Here we have rounded up some easy and simple activities that you can apply to make learning fun and easy for your little ones.

Writing | Fine Motor | Word Recognition

1. Primer Sight Word Playdough Mats 

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With all the repetition required for learning sight words, you probably find it hard to keep the activities fresh and your students engaged. One trick is to make use of the things they are excited about, for instance, playdough.

These playdough mats from EducationOutside allow children to build and spell sight words through sensory play. Each mat features one word from the Dolch primer list and lets the kid form, find by reading, tracing, and writing it. Therefore, this activity encourages not only word recognition but also fine motor skills development. 

Simply print and laminate the pages and hand out playdough to students. Have them roll out their playdough into long “snake” pieces, then shape them into the letters that form the sight words. As for the tracing and writing exercises, use a dry erase marker.

Creative | Writing | Fine Motor

2. Primer Sight Word Coloring Worksheets

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Coloring is a simple activity that helps with children’s development. And they love to do it anyway, so why not incorporate it in sight word activities?

In these worksheets, kids practice coloring each fun bubble letter that forms the sight word as per the designated color. Using specific colors is a great way for them to work on color recognition. When done coloring the entire word, they can practice writing it independently and then find it in a jumble of other sight words to further gain word recognition. Talk about hitting two birds with one stone!

This learning packet includes all 52 Dolch primer sight words, with one page for each word. You can target one word or several words at a time. Use these worksheets to introduce or reinforce high frequency words to put them well on the way to fluency.

Fine Motor | Creative | Color Recognition

3. Primer Sight Word Activity Mats

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Make your sight word practice a bit challenging (but still fun) with these no-prep activity mats from EducationOutside. These printables are similar to the ones featured above but with an additional activity focusing on the skill of understanding the words in context.

In these mats, children start by coloring each letter of the word in a specified color pattern. This alone already helps them develop color recognition, fine motor skills, and stimulate creativity.

Next to coloring, kids scan and find the target word among other sight words to work on recognition and reading skills. Then in the third section, they can practice writing the word as many times as will fit.

In the fourth and last part, a sentence using the word is provided with a picture clue to support comprehension. Visual aids can be an excellent strategy for beginning readers to be more engaged with the text, which can improve recollection and retention.

Sight words are fundamental to fluency and these activity mats from EducationOutside will provide great practice.

Fine Motor | Reading | Recognition

4. Use Letter Beads

Letter beads can be a great way to start the practice of sounding out words for kindergarteners.

These beads are often really cute as the ones shown in the image. They rapidly attract the attention of children and make them want to play with them.

Moreover, as the child sights the alphabet and tries to connect the right ones, it can be a good push for his motor skills. This is because these beads are tangible, and as the child will find his way to link up the right ones together, he will feel more attentive and active.

Along with this activity of finding the right beads to form a word, you can ask the child to say the sounds of the letters aloud. You can participate with your students and make them feel more engaged.

For further information on this exciting activity, be sure to visit and explore ThePrintablePrincess.com.

Fine Motor | Writing | Reading

5. Make a Playdough Writing Tray 

Playdough is synonymous with excitement for children of all ages.

Therefore, it can be used very purposefully by teachers to teach loads of important stuff to the preschoolers. Phonics can also be made more enjoyable for little ones using play dough.

You can hand out play dough to the children and ask them to roll it flat on the table in front of them. Then ask them to carve various letters and even small words on that play dough using a stick. With this, the practice of saying the words out loud should be ensured.

One care that you must exercise here is that the sticks used should not have sharp ends.

For further guidance on this activity, you can take help from fantasticfunandlearning.com, where you can find a great collection of other ideas as well.

Social Skill | Cooperation | Recognition

6. Play a Sight Word Sticky Note Match

This will be a very interesting game to indulge a whole class of little children.

You can write different words on the class whiteboard and make sticky notes of each of those words. Then you can ask students to come one by one and cover a word they see on the board with the same word on the sticky note.

In this way, the whole class will interact, and each child will get his turn. Also, if anyone makes a mistake on their turn, you can teach them that it is alright to make mistakes when we are learning. This will improve the students’ learning as well as their cooperative and social skills. 

To find out more about this activity, be sure to check out thekindergartenconnection.com, where you can find many other similar phonics activities to sharpen your little students.

Creative | Reading | Social Skill

7. Create a Word Monster

Another exciting way to spark creativity in your kindergarteners’ minds is to create a word monster. For this purpose, you will need an old shoebox, some glaze paper, chart paper, scissors, and markers.

Simply cover the shoe box with some glaze paper and decorate it with cuttings from the chart paper. After that, use the marker for detailing. With the completion of the word monster, the fun will begin. Write alphabets and small words on some flashcards and ask your students to feed the monster with a word that you tell them.

This activity will be a fun and creative way to get your students to practice phonics. It will also include crafting, and you may include coloring and painting with it as well.

A lot more about this activity can be found on thecrafttrain.com, so be sure to check it out.

Reading | Fine Motor | Social Skill

8. Park a Car in the Sight Word Parking Lot

This innovative activity will sound much more like a game and so much less of activity for phonics. As a result, it will instantly attract all your little ones to come and play it.

For this activity, you will require many flashcards arranged in a maze-like manner on a table. You may ask the students to bring their tiny cars, or you can provide them each with one.

After that, you will say a word out loud to one of your students, and he or she will drive their way to that flashcard. Then they will tell you the word where they have parked their car. All the students will do the same on their turn and have a fun learning process.

For further help in arranging this activity, you may consult ATeachableTeacher.com.

Motor Skill | Cognitive Skill | Recognition

9. Play Sight Words Fly Swat

This activity can significantly improve the confidence and speed of your little students in identifying alphabet and words.

To perform this activity, you will have to make flashcards with the required alphabet or words written on them. You can make the game and learning even more fun by cutting out flashcards in the shape of a fly.

After the flashcards have been made, ask the children to swat a particular word with a fly swatter. As the child swats a few words, you may increase your speed of saying the words and examine how quickly the child can recognize the said words.

This activity will give children the much-needed repetition required in phonological awareness. Also, it will enhance their motor and cognitive skills.

For assistance, be sure to check out SightWords.com. 

Recognition | Fine Motor | Reading

10. Tennis Ball Phonics Activity

For this activity, your students will need a tennis ball; each student must have at least one. Then you will have to write all the alphabets randomly on the surface of the ball.

After this, you can ask your kindergarteners one by one to find a word. For this, you will say out the alphabet and ask them to point it on the ball. As the word is completely spelled, the child will say it out loud, throw the ball in the air, and try catching it.

This will indicate that one word has been spelled, and it will further engage the little one in the activity and make it fun for him.

This activity can be repeated as often as possible, and the child can take the ball home where his parents can assure that practice is continued.

For further details about this activity, check out OTPerspective.com. 

Memory | Social Skill | Fine Motor

11. Play a Memory Card Game 

A memory card game is easy to play and hard to ever get tired of. It is also simple to arrange.

All you need is a marker and a chart paper. With the chart paper, you will make small cards and write one word on two cards. Then you will flip the cards and place them upside down on a flat surface.

You can team up the students and ask each team to take turns identifying the cards with the same words. They will point to two cards, and you will flip them to show the words. If they match, that team will get a point. If not, the other team will get their turn.

As the students play, you can ask them to spell the words on the cards that they ask to reveal. This game will add to the in-hand manipulation skills of students as it improves their phonics.

More information regarding this activity is available on PlanningWithKids.com. Be sure to take help from it.

Fine Motor | Reading | Writing

12. Roll and Read Sight Words 

Worksheets can be used not only for writing, reading, and completing assignments; they can become a base for an exciting activity like this one.

Make a worksheet with numbered blanks for your little students. Ask them to complete the blanks with the words you tell them. After the written work is completed, you can check these worksheets for any spelling errors.

Now the real fun begins. You will hand out a die to each of your students and ask them to roll it one by one. Once the die stops rolling, your student will look at the number and then look at the corresponding blank in the sheet. Ask him/her to spell out the word written in that blank. 

This activity can be much more than just learning phonics. It will provide a chance to practice writing, and it will help students with their motor skills as well.

Be sure to visit NoTimeForFlashcards.com to find out more about this educational activity. 

Creative | Fine Motor | Social Skill

13. Make a Wordy Christmas Tree

In this activity, you can combine drawing, coloring, and word sighting.

Take an A4-sized paper and ask the students to draw a Christmas tree. On the other hand, you can cut small circles from paper and write different words on them.

After the child has completed his drawing and coloring, you can ask him to decorate that tree with different circles that you have cut. As the child selects the circles, you can ask him to spell the words loudly for the rest of the class to hear.

Any other drawing can be selected for this purpose as well. Drawing a Christmas tree is not a compulsion. You can simply ask the child to draw a ball or anything easy for him.

For further information on this activity, you can visit mrfirstgrade.blogspot.com. 

What Supplies Are Needed For These Activities?

Different materials will be needed for different activities. The most common supplies that will be required in most of the activities include pens, pencils, markers, paper, cardboard, scissors, and glue. Color pencils and paints may be used in many activities as well. These supplies are easily manageable and are commonly available in any local store. They are an essential component of a classroom and will not be difficult to arrange at all. 

For the beads activity, you will need to make sure about the availability of letter beads. Then some strings or thin pipes will be needed as well. Playdough will be required in some other activities. Also, some activities may require the use of tennis balls, while one requires a fly swatter as well. The use of a whiteboard in a class is always a necessity, and you can use it in many activities.

However, one thing to be kept in mind is the careful use of certain objects. The use of any sharp items such as scissors must be carefully supervised.

Conclusion

Kindergarteners require immense attention. This is the age where a child’s basic ability to recognize alphabets and words is developed. Therefore, extra effort should be put into phonic activities by both the teachers and parents. This can help the child become a better reader, writer, and listener in his future.

People Also Ask

Some most frequently asked questions related to the article are addressed in this section. Hopefully, they will be a great help to you.

What is Phonics?

Phonics is a method of teaching early learners about the basics of a language that they are learning. It is a method that helps the learner become familiar with the sounds of the alphabet that make up the language. In most simple words, phonics can be defined as the science of sound.

Photo Credit: TeachPhonics.com

Why are Phonics Important?

Phonics is important because it helps one become familiar with the sounds of the alphabet in a language. Acknowledging the sounds of letters is the most important and basic step towards learning any language. It helps the learner become better in reading and writing as it enables him to read unfamiliar words by himself.

Looking for other kindergarten activities? Here is a list of some other ideas:



Hi, I'm Amanda! Welcome to Education Outside! Im passionate about educating young minds and helping parents/teachers by providing easy and effective teaching resources. Check out all of my teaching resources on my Teachers Pay Teachers store.

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