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Phonemic Awareness Activities: Daily Sound Games

Five-minute listening games for kindergarten that a grown-up reads aloud. No paper and no letters for the child: just rhyming, clapping, putting sounds together and pulling them apart. One page a week, five games, with every answer printed.

Free: weeks 1 to 4

Each PDF is the how-to-play page and one week of games. Play one game a day.

Sound games week 1: five phonemic awareness games with answers

Week 1

Do They Rhyme?, Clap the Parts, First Sound, Put Two Words Together. With the how-to-play page.

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Sound games week 2: five phonemic awareness games with answers

Week 2

Do They Rhyme?, Clap the Parts, First Sound, Put Two Words Together. With the how-to-play page.

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Sound games week 3: five phonemic awareness games with answers

Week 3

First Sound, Do They Rhyme?, Clap the Parts, Which Two Match?, Put Two Words Together. With the how-to-play page.

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Sound games week 4: five phonemic awareness games with answers

Week 4

First Sound, Do They Rhyme?, Clap the Parts, Which Two Match?, Put Two Words Together. With the how-to-play page.

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Daily Sound Games pack cover: a fox listening to a speech bubble saying /k/ /a/ /t/, cat
Pack · Kindergarten

All 36 weeks in one file

Weeks 1 to 4 are free above. The pack is the whole year, 180 games in all, getting a little harder each week.

Week 10: robot talk and break it apartWeek 18: change a sound, take a sound awayWeek 30: games with blends
Get all 36 weeks: $5

One print-ready PDF, 38 pages, black and white. Instant download.

Or get the Sound Skills bundle for $10: these games plus 126 picture worksheets for first sounds, last sounds, rhyming and syllables.

The games are also part of the Kindergarten Curriculum, a whole year of reading, writing and math.

The games

17 kinds of game, each with six words. Each one shows the line to say and a real example from the pages.

Do They Rhyme?from week 1Say both words. Ask: "Do they rhyme?" Rhyming words sound the same at the end.pup, cup → yes
Clap the Partsfrom week 1Say the word. Clap each part together. Ask: "How many claps?"computer → 3 claps
First Soundfrom week 1Say the word, stretching the start. Ask: "What sound does it start with?" Say the sound, not the letter name.sock → /s/
Put Two Words Togetherfrom week 1Say the two words with a little stop between them. Ask: "What word do they make?"gold ... fish → goldfish
Which Two Match?from week 3Say the three words. Ask: "Which two start with the same sound?"duck, dad, hat → dad, duck
Say a Rhymefrom week 5Say the word. Ask for a word that rhymes. A made-up rhyme counts too ("mig" for pig).hut → cut, nut
Finish the Wordfrom week 5Say the first sound, stop, then the rest. Ask: "What word is it?"/y/ ... ell → yell
Last Soundfrom week 5Say the word, stretching the end. Ask: "What sound does it end with?"fog → /g/
Take a Word Awayfrom week 5Ask: "Say sunshine. Now say it without sun." The word that is left is the answer.butterfly without butter → fly
Robot Talkfrom week 9Talk like a robot: say each sound with a stop between. Ask: "What word did the robot say?"/d/ /i/ /g/ → dig
Break It Apartfrom week 9Say the word. The child says each sound and holds up a finger for each one. Ask: "How many sounds?"tan → /t/ /a/ /n/ (3)
Middle Soundfrom week 13Say the word slowly. Ask: "What sound is in the middle?"bit → /i/
Change the First Soundfrom week 13Ask: "Say cat. Now change /k/ to /h/. What word is it?"kit: change /k/ to /p/ → pit
Take a Sound Awayfrom week 17Ask: "Say cat. Now say it without /k/." What is left is the answer.hat without /h/ → at
Change the Last Soundfrom week 17Ask: "Say cat. Now change /t/ to /p/. What word is it?"bed: change /d/ to /g/ → beg
Change the Middle Soundfrom week 21Ask: "Say cat. Now change /a/ to /u/. What word is it?"dig: change /i/ to /u/ → dug
Add a Soundfrom week 21Ask: "Say at. Now put /s/ at the start. What word is it?"an: put /k/ at the start → can

How the year builds

Why sound games come before reading

To read cat, a child has to know that the word is made of three sounds, /k/ /a/ /t/, and be able to put them back together. Hearing those sounds is a listening skill, and it is easiest to practise without letters getting in the way. That is what these games do: a few minutes a day of rhyming, blending and segmenting, out loud.

They pair with the picture worksheets in this section: beginning sounds, ending sounds, rhyming and syllables. Once a child can blend three sounds into a word, they are ready for short A words and their first decodable books. See the whole order on the reading path.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is phonemic awareness?
It is hearing the single sounds inside spoken words: that sun starts with /s/, that cat has three sounds, that changing /k/ to /h/ turns cat into hat. It is done by ear, with no letters. Children who can do it learn to read more easily, because phonics asks them to match those sounds to letters.
How is it different from phonics?
Phonics links sounds to letters on a page. Phonemic awareness is the listening part that comes first and runs alongside: the child hears and plays with the sounds, out loud. These games have no letters at all, so they work before a child can read.
How long does it take each day?
About five minutes: one game, six words. Read the Say line, play the six words, and stop while it is still fun. Many families play in the car or at breakfast.
What age is it for?
Kindergarten, about ages 5 and 6. The first weeks also suit pre-K, and the later weeks (changing sounds, blends) are good practice for a first grader who finds reading hard.
Do I need to know how to teach it?
No. Each game has one line telling you what to say, and the answer is printed after every word. A sound between slashes, like /s/, means the sound, not the letter name. Keep stop sounds short: /t/, not "tuh".
Can we start in the middle of the year?
Yes. The weeks are numbered, not dated. Start at week 1, or at week 9 for a child who already rhymes and claps word parts easily.
Are the words checked?
Yes. Every game is made from a word list where each word's sounds match its spelling plainly, and every answer must be a real word on that list, so no game asks for a made-up word.