Today, we have a lovely kids phonics activity for you. Something simple, but really effective to help kids with some of those tricky words when kids are learning to read. Parents can sometimes agonise about how best to teach their children to read and when. But they should feel confident. They already teach their children complex things like morals and manners. By contrast, teaching a child to read is doddle. The important thing is for both parent and child to have fun and to take delight in the oddness of our language. The fact is that there is no one right way to teach a child to read. While the kids phonics experts battle it out with whole word enthusiasts , parents can simply crack on. Once a child has a basic grasp of letters and the sounds they make, you are ready to jump into this book!
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The B on Your Thumb is a collection of rhymes to boost reading and spelling. Using rhythm, rhyme and wordplay, these playful ditties aim to help children navigate the strange territory that is the English language. In this book, the letters have their own stories to tell. Why do Q and U stick together? (They’re actually in love!) What is life like as a silent letter? (Hugely frustrating!) And why is E so bossy? (’E just is!)
Each rhyme teaches a particular lesson . The rule for parents is one rhyme at a time. It’s important to leave them wanting more. Where to start? Simply choose a rhyme your child will enjoy and a sound they’ll have fun making. Take the sound of a double O. While they not be quite sure of an o sound, a double O is distinctive. What’s more, It’s fun to say oo! in an exaggerated, sing song way.
Man in the Moon
Before reading this rhyme with your child, work together to create a list of ten words with a double O. Write the words down in big letters – the bigger the better as it’s more fun. Nudge your child to include the words in the rhyme: Moon, school, noon, proof, Roof . Now ask your child to circle the double oo in each word. And now….now you are ready to read the rhyme. Read it together aloud several times encouraging your child to join in.
Then ask your child to put their hands in the air each time an oo word comes up. Then ask them to jump for each oo word. This helps them to listen actively and anticipate the word.
“The Man in the Moon
From B on Your Thumb, by Collette Hiller
Came into our school
Just yesterday morning
At round about noon
You may not believe me
But I have the proof
There’s a man in the moon shaped
Hole in the roof.”
See with 2 Es: A kids phonics poster
Use a similar approach with the Double E sound. Make a list together of EE words – Again, encourage your child to think of some of the double words in the rhyme: see, Cheetah, sleep, trees, Bees, flee, Eek! Read the list several times , adding new physical things to do on the EE sound. Stand up or sit down, hands on head…whatever will make them alert and happy.
“Use your 2 eyes
From B on Your Thumb, by Collette Hiller
To see with 2 Es..
Do you see the cheetah
There in the trees
Do you see his teeth
As sharp as can be
See with 2 Es
How fast you can flee!’
Magic spells are powerful, they’re easy and they’re quick. You can cast a magic spell , once you learn the trick!
Even very young children can learn spellings – provided the rhyme is clear enough.
One final rhyme to leave you with that children seem to like a lot is….A Lot!
A lot: Remembering rhyme…
“A lot is not just one word
From B on Your Thumb, by Collette Hiller
It’s always made of two
A lot of people don’t know that
From now on you do!”
We hope your children enjoy learning these rhymes and that they really do learn from them. We would love to hear how it is all going too! Drop us a line on Twitter, or visit our Facebook page.
To download the poster and the phonics activity sheet, please click on the circular image below.
If you are after other activities around kids phonics and reading, we do have more on the site, so check them out.
Phonics and reading on KiddyCharts
More ideas and activities for kids around phonics and reading.
Learning phonics with toddlers: Download your free phonics flashcards #31DaysOfLearning
Flash cards for you to use to help with Phonics and your little ones from our 31 Days of Learning event.
CVC games with an ocean theme
CVC games are a great way to help with learning early - check these ones out.
Three reading rhyming games for kids: Free printable #31DaysOfLearning #WorldBookDay
Rhyming is always fun as this book shows - so how about these three rhyming games to help with reading too?
There are loads of other phonics activity sheets out there too – so do check these out as well….
Phonics activities from around the web
More ideas for Phonics activities from off site - why not have an explore?
Fun Phonics for Kids - Chromatography and Phonics - Science Experiments for Kids
This is such an imaginative idea - STEM and Phonics together; give it a go!
Printable for teaching letter sounds
Measured Mo has some great resources for teaching phonics - check this out, and some of the other ones on her site.
Phonics Ball Games
These are some wonderful ideas for games to play with the kids, and ping pong balls - a great way to teach phonics and letter sounds.
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Thanks for stopping by,
Helen
Helen
Helen is a mum to two, social media consultant, and website editor; and this site is (we think) the only Social Enterprise parenting magazine!Since giving up being a business analyst when juggling travel, work and kids proved too complicated, she founded KiddyCharts so she could be with her kids, and use those grey cells at the same time.KiddyCharts has reach of over 1.1million across social and the site. The blog works with big family brands (including travel) to help promote their services, as well as offering free resources to parents of kids under 10.It gives 51%+ profits to Reverence for Life, who fund a number of important initiatives in Africa, including bringing running water and basic equipment to a school in Tanzania.Helen has worked as a digital marketing consultant (IDM qualified) with various organisations, including Channel Mum, Truprint, Talk to Mums, and Micro Scooters. She loves to be creative in the brand campaigns she works on.Get in touch TODAY!