Sound hunt

From the house

• Paper and a marker
• A basket or box

How to play

1. Write the first letter of their name big (or S, if their name starts with a tricky sound like Ch, Th or a vowel) and say its sound, not its name: “sss” for S, not “ess”.
2. They hunt the house for things that start with that sound and drop them in the basket.
3. Check each find by saying it slowly together, stretching the first sound: “sss-sock.”
4. Pick a new easy letter, like m, b or t, and hunt again.

Fit it to your child

• Easier: Hold up two things, like a sock and a cup, and ask which one starts with “sss”.
• Harder: Make up a silly sentence where every word starts with the hunt sound: “Seven silly snakes sip soup.”

Words to use

• sound
• starts with
• letter
• listen
• same

Why it helps

Hearing the first sound of a word and matching it to a letter is a key building block for reading and spelling.