Phonological and phonemic awareness activities: a 10-step ladder

Phonological awareness is hearing and playing with the sound parts of spoken words: words, syllables, rhymes and single sounds. Phonemic awareness is its smallest-unit part, the single sounds (phonemes). Children usually manage bigger parts before smaller ones, and noticing sounds before changing them, so the ladder below runs from clapping words to swapping sounds in ten spoken steps. Try three items per step. The first step where your child doesn't get all three is the one to practice, with two games for it. No letters, about ten minutes.

Try the ladder

Read each item aloud and mark what your child says on the first try. The steps, items and games were written by the team behind Readigo, an iOS reading-practice app for children ages 6–12; they don't come from any published test.

Step 1 of 10

Step 1 of 10: Words in a sentence

Hears that a sentence is made of separate words.

Say the sentence. Your child claps once for each word, or tells you how many words there were.

  1. The dog ran.

    Listen for: 3 claps

  2. I like red jam.

    Listen for: 4 claps

  3. Mom has a green car.

    Listen for: 5 claps

0 of 3 marked. Keep the screen turned toward you: it's all spoken, and your child doesn't need to see anything.

How to run it

  • Keep it spoken. Your child listens and answers out loud. Nothing to read, nothing on the screen for them.
  • Slashes mean a sound. /k/ is the first sound in "cup": say the sound, not the letter's name. Short vowels: /a/ as in apple, /e/ as in egg, /i/ as in itch, /o/ as in octopus, /u/ as in up.
  • Say sounds short and clean. /m/ is "mmm", not "muh". An extra "uh" on every sound makes /k/ /a/ /t/ hard to blend into "cat".
  • Show one example first if a step is new. Do an item of your own out loud ("Listen: /s/ … un, sun!"), then give the three items without help.
  • Stop while it's still fun. The ladder stops by itself after two hard steps in a row. If your child gets tired earlier, press "Finish here".

The ten steps, with two games each

Research on how these skills develop finds bigger parts before smaller ones (syllables, then onset and rime, then single sounds), noticing before changing, and blending before breaking apart, with plenty of overlap (Anthony and Francis, 2005). The standards don't follow one order: Common Core already asks kindergartners to swap a sound in a simple word, but leaves breaking a whole word into sounds to first grade. The ladder follows the research order, and steps 9 and 10 come last as stretch steps.

  1. 1. Words in a sentence

    Hears that a sentence is made of separate words. Example: The dog ran. (3 claps)

    In the standards: Kindergarten in Texas's standards (TEKS). Common Core's kindergarten standard names spoken words (RF.K.2) but has no separate item for counting words in a sentence.

    • Block sentences. Say a short sentence and push one block forward for each word. Then your child makes a sentence and pushes the blocks.
    • Hop the words. Take one hop for each word as you say a sentence together. Make it sillier as it gets easier: "Big frogs eat pink cake."

  2. 2. Clapping syllables

    Hears the beats (syllables) in a word. Example: rabbit (2 (rab-bit))

    In the standards: Counting syllables at ages 4 to 5 in Head Start's framework. Kindergarten in Common Core (RF.K.2b).

    • Robot names. Talk like a robot, one beat at a time: "Grand-ma", "Ja-mal", "spa-ghet-ti". Your child guesses the word, then takes a turn as the robot.
    • Clap and sort. Pull toys out of a bag, clap each name, and sort them into piles of one, two and three claps.

  3. 3. Hearing rhymes

    Tells which words rhyme and which don't. Example: boat, cake, lake (boat)

    In the standards: Telling which words rhyme in a group of three at ages 4 to 5 in Head Start's framework. Kindergarten in Common Core (RF.K.2a).

    • Thumbs up, thumbs down. Say two words. Thumbs up if they rhyme (bat, hat), thumbs down if they don't (bat, sun). Good for the car.
    • Odd one out. Line up three toys or pictures, two that rhyme and one that doesn't (cat, cup, hat). Your child takes away the one that doesn't belong.

  4. 4. Making rhymes

    Comes up with a word that rhymes. Example: man (can, fan, pan, van…)

    In the standards: Giving a rhyme for a word by age 5 in Head Start's framework. Kindergarten in Common Core (RF.K.2a).

    • Rhyme chain. Take turns adding a rhyme to a word (cat, hat, mat, zat…) until someone runs out. Silly words keep it going.
    • Finish my rhyme. When you read a rhyming book aloud, stop before the last word of a line and let your child fill it in.

  5. 5. Start and rest of a word

    Puts the first sound and the rest of a word together (onset and rime). Example: /m/ … ilk (milk)

    In the standards: Kindergarten in Common Core (RF.K.2c).

    • Mystery bag. Peek at a toy in a bag and say its name in two parts: "/d/ … uck". Your child guesses before you pull it out.
    • Split I spy. "I spy a /b/ … ook." Your child finds it, then gives you one to find.

  6. 6. First soundphonemic awareness

    Names the first sound in a word. Example: sun (/s/)

    In the standards: Saying the first sound of a word by age 5 in Head Start's framework. Kindergarten in Common Core (RF.K.2d).

    • Sound I spy. "I spy something that starts with /m/." Start with sounds you can stretch, like /m/, /s/ and /f/, before short ones like /b/.
    • Same-sound snacks. Name things at the table that start with the same sound: "milk, muffin, mango". Then make up silly same-sound names.

  7. 7. Blending soundsphonemic awareness

    Hears separate sounds and blends them into a word. Example: /k/ … /a/ … /t/ (cat)

    In the standards: Kindergarten in Texas. First grade in Common Core, including consonant blends like /s/ /t/ (RF.1.2b).

    • Robot sounds. The robot from the syllable game now talks in single sounds: "Get your /h/ … /a/ … /t/." Your child says the word and does it.
    • Sound Simon says. "Simon says touch your /l/ … /i/ … /p/." Start with two or three sounds and short gaps.

  8. 8. Breaking a word into soundsphonemic awareness

    Says each sound in a short word, in order. Example: mat (/m/ /a/ /t/)

    In the standards: Kindergarten in Texas. First grade in Common Core (RF.1.2d).

    • Sound boxes. Draw three boxes in a row. Your child says a word slowly and pushes one button or coin into a box for each sound. Once they know some letters, use letter tiles instead of buttons.
    • Stretchy words. Pretend the word is a rubber band and stretch it out, "mmmaaat", then snap it back together: "mat".

  9. 9. Taking a sound awayphonemic awareness

    Says a word without one of its sounds. Example: Say "cup". Now say it without /k/. (up)

    In the standards: First grade in Texas. Not named in Common Core.

    • Disappearing parts. Warm up with big parts: "Say cupcake. Now say it without cup." Then take away a single sound: "Say mice without /m/."
    • Shrinking words. Find words that hide another word when the first sound goes: snail and nail, scar and car, train and rain. These split a cluster of sounds, so they're harder: try them last.

  10. 10. Swapping a soundphonemic awareness

    Changes one sound in a word to make a new word. Example: Say "mop". Change /m/ to /t/. (top)

    In the standards: Kindergarten in Common Core, in simple one-syllable words (RF.K.2e). First grade in Texas.

    • Word chains. Change one sound at a time, out loud: cat, hat, hot, hop, mop. Your child makes the next change.
    • Silly name swap. Change the first sound of everyone's name to /b/: Mom becomes "Bom", Dad becomes "Bad". Then try /z/.

Steps 9 and 10 are stretch steps. Some researchers time children on taking away and swapping sounds to see whether sound skills are automatic. This ladder doesn't time answers, so it can't tell that, and whether practicing these tasks helps reading hasn't been tested in teaching studies yet.

When to ask for help

This ladder is a practice guide, not a screening or a diagnosis. It has three items per step and no norms, and a tired or distracted child can miss items they know. Talk with the teacher or your pediatrician if you see signs like these:

  • In preschool: doesn't notice sound patterns in songs and nursery rhymes, like rhymes or words that start the same, even after hearing them many times, or word play with syllables and rhymes doesn't click.
  • In the early grades: blending, breaking apart or judging single sounds in words stays hard, or letter names and sounds are slow to stick, even with practice.

In the US, you can ask your public school district for a free full evaluation at any time under the federal special-education law (IDEA), even if your child is in preschool or a private school. Put the request in writing. An evaluation for reading problems typically includes phonological skills, including phonemic awareness, so you can ask for them by name. Waiting doesn't help: if your child needs extra teaching, earlier is easier. See how to get your child tested for dyslexia and early signs of dyslexia in young children.

Questions parents ask

What is phonological awareness?

Hearing and working with the sound parts of spoken language: the words in a sentence, the syllables in a word, rhymes, the first sound and the rest of a word (onset and rime), and single sounds (phonemes). It's all done by ear, with no letters.

What's the difference between phonological and phonemic awareness?

Phonological awareness is the whole range, from words and syllables down to single sounds. Phonemic awareness is its smallest-unit part: hearing, blending, breaking apart and changing single sounds, like hearing that ship has three sounds, /sh/ /i/ /p/. On the ladder, steps 6 to 10 are phonemic awareness.

At what age do children develop phonological awareness?

Gradually, from big parts to small. In Head Start's framework, picking out rhymes and counting syllables show up between ages 4 and 5, and giving a rhyme and the first sound of a word are expected by age 5. Common Core puts rhyming, syllables, onset and rime, single sounds in short words and swapping a sound in kindergarten, and blending and fully segmenting words in first grade. Awareness of single sounds mostly grows once children start learning letters, and the two feed each other.

What are good phonemic awareness activities?

Short spoken games: blending sounds into a word ("/k/ /a/ /t/, what word?"), breaking a word into sounds with a finger or a button for each sound, I spy by first sound, and word chains that change one sound at a time. In the National Reading Panel's review, programs that focused on one or two skills worked better than ones that covered many (blending and segmenting together helped reading more than a mix of skills), and practice that used letters worked better than practice without them.

How much practice does phonemic awareness need?

Less than parents expect. In the studies the National Reading Panel reviewed, programs that added up to 5 to 18 hours in total worked better than shorter or much longer ones, and a session lasted about 25 minutes on average. The Panel warned against turning that into a fixed rule. At home, a few minutes of games on most days adds up.

Does my child need advanced phonemic awareness (deleting and swapping sounds)?

Most children don't. In a 2021 post, Timothy Shanahan reports that he, David Kilpatrick and Linnea Ehri agree: getting children to fully segment words is a reasonable goal for class teaching, and for most children the faster, automatic sound skill grows from reading and spelling after that. Kilpatrick thinks children with a core weakness in sound skills may need more practice, which can include deleting and swapping sounds; that hasn't been tested in teaching studies yet. On this ladder, steps 9 and 10 are stretch steps, not a reason to drop reading and spelling practice.

Sources

Phonemic awareness vs phonicsReading readiness signs before kindergartenReading milestones by age
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