Phonics
Learn Phonics through play.
Phonics is mostly an ear skill before it is an eye skill. Long before a child can decode a written word, they can hear that "cat" and "cup" start the same way, clap the beats in "el-e-phant", or tell you what rhymes with "mouse".
So these activities are games played out loud: I-spy with sounds instead of letters, silly rhyming pairs, robot talk where you say a word in separate sounds and they put it back together. They work in the car, in a queue and at bath time, and none of them need paper.
They are also the ones that make the difference when written letters do arrive. A child who can already hear the three sounds in "dog" has much less to do when they meet d-o-g on a page.
Activities
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Phonics Activities for Preschoolers: 25 Playful Ways to Learn Sounds
Twenty-five playful phonics activities for preschoolers aged 4–5 that build letter-sound skills through rhyme games, sound hunts, blending practice and simple word building — all hands-on, all joyful.
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The Red Boots
A story for a child who is starting to read some of it themselves. Short words, short lines, and a puddle.
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I Spy, But With Sounds
The same game you already know, played with the sound a word starts with instead of the letter. Needs nothing at all.
