Phonic Games

Early learners love to play games, so why not make them phonic games? We have several free, printable, easy-to-use and fun-to-play games on our site, starting with this one! It provides a fun way for your early learners to practice short vowel sounds and spelling, if you like.

Read the rules below, then click on the printable link and get started!   If you'd rather work on long vowel sounds, we have a game for that, too!

Picture This

Grade level: K-2
Players: 3
Objective: Cover up the most squares
Supplies: Printable game board and answer key, one standard die, markers of two different colors for covering pictures

Variation 1: Short Vowel Sounds

To play:

1. Print out the game board and answer key. Laminate, if desired.

2. Players 1 and 2 choose a color. Player 3 is the checker.

3. Player 1 rolls the dice. He looks at the key at the bottom of the game board. He identifies a word with that vowel sound on the game board. For example, if he rolls a 2, she looks for a word with a short e sound (ten, bell, eggs or bed). If he correctly identifies the word, he covers it with a marker.

4. Player 2 rolls the dice, finds a new square and proceeds as described above.

5. If a player rolls a 6, she may choose any picture that is not covered and tells its vowel sound. If she is correct, she puts her marker on it.

6. If a player rolls a letter sound for which there are no more pictures, his turn is over.

7. The game ends when all the squares are covered. The winner is the player with the most markers on the board.

 Variation 2: Short Vowel Sounds and Spelling

Play the game as described above, adding that the student must also spell the word correctly after identifying its vowel sound. 

More Free Phonic Games

Picture This Phonic Game - We think your early learners will enjoy this activity featuring long vowel words such as bone, bike, toast, and light.  Which player can cover the most pictures?

Letter Lane - A phomenic awareness board game that features beginning consonant sounds for the letters b,d,f and m. No reading is necessary.

In addition to free phonics games, you may want to use some of these resources for your early learners:

• Literacy Worksheets
• Alphabet Printables
• Free Preschool Games
• First Grade Spelling Words and activities
  

Ann Richmond Fisher is a longtime published educational writer, a former classroom teacher and a former homeschool teacher. Ann's spelling bee resources, graded spelling word lists, spelling games, worksheets, and other language arts resources have become respected around the globe since she launched Spelling-Words-Well in 2010.

Ann is also the creator of www.word-game-world.com.

Visit my YouTube Channel for fun spelling practice videos!

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