Matching Games and Activities for Teaching Phonics and Blends for Preschool and Kinder

I don't know about you, but back when I was still teaching I was looking for tons of ways for my little learners to be more engaged in the classroom. I remember this one time when I was asked to sub for a group of preschoolers in a language school in Vietnam. The teacher left coloring pages for the kids! Only coloring pages! I was like, "WHAT?!" If only I could go back to those times and hand them these matching games I created... 

Teaching blends and phonics doesn't have to be TOO complicated. Actually it can be the most fun! If you are looking for matching games and activities for alphabets, compound words, beginning and ending digraphs, and beginning and ending consonant blends, you've come to the right place!

ALPHABETS

Your little learners won't say no once they see these cute chicks on their table! This is a fun alphabet sorting game to practice letter recognition. Aside from the words written on the chick, there are also only letters provided to work on their letter sounds and picture identification.

There are so many things you can do with this matching chick and egg game:
  • You can do a write a room activity where you put the eggs around the room and students walk around to find the correct picture based on the chick they are holding.
  • You can also do a scavenger hunt activity. Hide all the chicks and eggs inside the room and let the students find and match them.
  • Students can also have a friendly competition. The student who finds all the matches in a given time frame wins!

BEGINNING & ENDING CONSONANT BLENDS

Your students will definitely adore this matching jellybeans game! Get the other piece of the jellybean, find the match, and write the words on the recording sheet. This game is so diverse and you can work on a lot of skills at the same time! 



If there is a hatched chick and nest game, there's also an egg and nest matching game! They match the eggs to the correct blend and complete the word. This game helps them to recognize patterns in words and identify unfamiliar vocabulary words. They can also work on their pronunciation and identification. 


COMPOUND WORDS

Who doesn't know about compound words? Compound words are two or more root words merged into a new and different word. This is one of my favorite topics back when I was studying and teaching and this matching game is close to my heart, too!
Students match the pieces to form a compound word. Example: sea + horse = seahorse. Once they find the match, they write the word on the recording sheet. Easy as 1 2 3, right? I have also included a matching game where there are only words and no pictures to match. Then, they find a picture of the word and paste it on the recording sheet. All of these matching games are perfect for centers!


BEGINNING AND ENDING DIGRAPHS
Oh these robots look so cute! But who would have thought that you could teach beginning digraphs using.... robots?! There are 50 pictures included and students have the options to choose the design of the robot they want. There are also 2 color options available (red and yellow).

This activity is perfect when exploring letter pairs to help students how to read and learn new and unfamiliar words. You can also work on their pronunciation and spelling all at the same time!



Have your students ever built a train.... using ending digraphs? You can do so many activities using this build a train activity! I have three ideas for you: 1. Build a train using only words. 2. Build a train using only pictures. 3. Build a train using both words and pictures! You're not only learning, but you're also building a train! Wow! It's like you're hitting two birds with one stone (look at the connection!)

I recommend that you print and laminate each train car for durability.

Click here for more info.


All these matching games can be used for centers. And all of them can be used for write the room activity, scavenger hunt, and many more! They are all printables and can be used all year round whether it's at the beginning of the school year or during reviews at the end of the year. If your students are struggling with phonics, these matching games are going to be a huge help! We only want the best for them, right?


Til my next blog post,

The Viral Teacher

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