Updated: Oct 6, 2023
As you introduce new letters, it is important to keep revisiting the ones your child has already learnt to help them remember them. You could write the letters s, a, t, p and i on pieces of paper and hide them in playdough eggs.
Get your child to crack the eggs open to find the letters. Can they say the sound?
Arrange some of the letters to create words. Start with VC words (vowel-consonant) like it. Say the sound as you point to each letter then blend the sounds to read the word e.g. i-t, it.
Then make some CVC words (consonant - vowel - consonant) e.g. sit, pit, tip, sip. You could use the playdough to make sound buttons. Get your child to press each ball of playdough as they say the sound. Then see if they can blend the sounds, pushing them together to say the word e.g. s-i-t, ssssiiiit, sit.
Support: Use the playdough to create insects. Tell a story with one of the insects but sound-talk some of the words e.g. he went to s-i-t on a leaf. s-i-t, sit. Buuuuut he fell in a p-i-t. pit! Encourage your child to join in with you when you blend the sounds. Oral blending will help your child to practise blending skills without the pressure of reading the letters.
I used the plastic inserts from Kinder Eggs for this activity, but you could still use the playdough eggs. Put a magnetic letter inside each egg and place the high-frequency word cards into envelopes. These words are included in the Reception Phase 2-4 Flashcard pack.
Invite your child to open the envelope and read the word. Can they guess which eggs have the letters they need inside? When they open the egg, they should say the sound and then check whether or not it is in their word. They should keep going until they find all of the letters they need to spell their word.
NB: The word is is classed as a decodable high-frequency word. The sound represented by s in is is said in the same way as a z. If your child finds this word tricky to sound, model it with the s making a z sound and then teach it as a sight word where we remember the s is the tricky part that we need to remember.
Model how to use the phoneme frame to help with spelling. Say the word then sound it out, putting one sound in each box. Put the letters back inside the eggs, mix them up in the egg box and play again with a new word.
Extension: Once they have found the correct letters, get them to turn their word card so it is face down. Can they segment the word, sounding it out and putting the letters in the correct order? Turn the flashcards back over to check if they are correct.
The phoneme frame and magnetic letters are included in the Phonics Box.
The Phase 2 Words and Captions flashcards include words for each of the Phase 2 sounds: