Phonemic Awareness is the ability to identify and manipulate individual sounds in words. It is a key predictor for your child's reading success. Skills such as identifying the initial sound of a word (cat --> "c") or distinguishing between two different sounds can be challenging at first, but the more exposure and practice your child gets with these skills, they will become phonemic awareness pros! Here are some fun, easy games to play with your child at home to work on phonemic awareness:
1) What's That Sound?
This game is very simple and surprisingly fun! Make sure you have some objects nearby that can make noises. Have your child close their eyes as you create a sound with a household object such as, clicking a pen, zipping a zipper of a jacket, jangling keys, etc. The possibilities are endless with this game! However, the main objective is for the child to be able to distinguish the sound without relying on their sight. This can be trickier than you think, but it keeps your child engaged. See how many sounds they can correctly identify!
2) Animal Name Game
This activity is very similar to the first game mentioned, but instead of common household items making the sounds, it's animals! You can use animal sound recordings found on the internet, or you can try making the animal sounds yourself. This is another great way for your child to practice phonemic awareness while also learning about different animals around the world.
3) Same or Different?
This is an extension activity to "What's That Sound?". Once your child has mastered the skill of identifying certain sounds, they can work on sound discrimination. While their eyes are closed, make two sounds and then ask your child, "Were those two sounds the same or different?" Make sure to present a variety of options. For example, the first sound you could clap and the second sound you snap. It's an important for your child to be able to distinguish between two different sounds.
4) Nursery Rhymes
Besides Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and Mary Had a Little Lamb being rhymes we remember for most of our lives, they also serve as great introductions to the concept of rhyming. While reading these stories to your child, you might ask "Do star and are rhyme? Yes or no?" Once your child develops more of an understanding of rhyming, you could say the first part of a line and have them recite the missing part: Parent- "Up above the world so high, like a diamond in the...." Child- "Sky!".
5) Name Work
Name objects or people in the house and then give the first sound in the word. Your child might benefit from seeing a couple examples of you doing this first. "Ball... b", "Mom... m", "Shoelace... sh".
6) Alliteration
Once your child is comfortable with initial sound identification, they can work on alliteration. Play with words that have the same first sounds and recite tongue twisters together! For example, "Polly the parrot pecked at the pole in Pennsylvania".
Written by Madison Dwyer