Phonics Games For Kids

Writing on their backs or stomach
I did this with my 2 year old son just before putting him to sleep. With my finger, I would trace the alphabets on his back or stomach. I would then say the sound of that letter and 2-3 words that began with that sound. For example, while tracing the letter 'b', I would say "/b/ for ball, bat, banana." I would go through the alphabets a-z (well, sometimes we don't make it to 'z' coz' he would have dozed off already). At first he just listened. Later, he started to give me words that matched the sounds.

Matching game
This is a simple game of cards that are arranged faced down. Children open 2 cards at a time and keep the ones that match. You can simply make your own cards using cardstock, cardboard or recycle cereal boxes. Print out letters and pictures and paste them on.
You can use this game to achieve different objectives. Have children find matching sounds, match sounds to pictures or match 2 pictures that have the same beginning sound.

Bingo
Make bingo cards that consists of 5 rows of 5 squares. Then randomly paste in each square a letter or picture. Then you will call out the sound of a letter, for example /b/ (pronounced "buh"). Your children will then check to see if their card has the corresponding letter or picture. If they do, they can either color the square, cross it out or even better, place a candy on it. The goal is to get 5 in a row, either diagonally, across, up or down. Whoever has 5 in a row shouts BINGO!

Fishing
Cut out cardboard or construction paper into fish shapes. Write letters or words, or glue pictures onto it. Slip a paper clip on each cutout. Make a fishing rod out of a wooden dowel (or any stick). Tie a string or yarn around one end of the wooden dowel. Make a tight knot so it stays put. Tie a magnet to the other end of the string. Make sure you have a strong magnet so your children don't get so frustrated. Start fishing out the cards you want.
You can have your children fish out the sounds you want or words/pictures with the same beginning or ending sounds. You decide what skill you want to enforce and adjust the game accordingly.

I Spy
This is perfect for a car game or when out and about. Spy out specific sounds from your surroundings. For example, spying for the /c/ sound, you might find coconut trees, a cat, or the letter "C" on a billboard.

Changing Words
Give your children a word and have them change one sound at a time to create other words. For example, start with the word "cat", change it to "bat", then "fat", "fan", "fun", "bun", "bin", "bit" etc.... To make it more interesting, see if they can change the word back to the first word they began with.
Obviously this game is more suited to older children (maybe 5 years and above) who are already quite adept at blending sounds together. This game is a way for children to revise and put to practice the phonics they have learned. You can either use a whiteboard or magnetic letters to do this.

Word Creation
Prepare magnetic letters or print out individual letters and laminate them. Give your children several letters such as b,a,n,t,i,s and see how many words they can create.

Learn Phonics Online
There is no arguing that children in this day and age naturally gravitate towards computer games. Captivating graphics and animation make phonic programs such as ClickN READ Phonics a viable option to learning phonics online. It definitely beats doing boring worksheets. It's interactive and learning becomes part of play.

With young children, teaching phonics is all about listening, creating awareness and practicing making the sounds. You can start doing this when your children are still toddlers because young children have a natural fascination with letters and sounds. Don't push too hard though. Keep your teaching very simple. Remember to inject the element of play. Your goal is to help them make associations between letters and sounds.