n - tin can alley

Find something to write on and draw a line down the middle. Write each player's name at the top and the letter n on each side nine times. Take it in turns to roll a dice. The player should cross off that many letters on their side of the board. The first person to cross off all nine letters is the winner.

Play again but this time write all of the letters your child has learnt so far, writing each letter twice e.g. s, a, t, p, i, n. This is a great way to revisit the letters to help your child remember them.

Before you do this activity, hide some post-it notes around your house and leave a note by one of your child's toys that says "I have hidden 4 notes for you to find."

Examples:

sit - on a chair

sip it - on a water bottle/drink

tip it - on a cereal box

pat it - on a toy animal

Read the note from the toy to your child then help them to find the hidden notes. Give them some clues to help them find them e.g. let's look in the kitchen. When your child finds the note, help them to sound out the words and blend to read what it says.

Extension: Leave the post-it notes and pens out for your child to use. They may even leave some notes for their toy. They might just mark make or write some of the letter-like symbols at this stage.

You will need:

Ask your child to pick a word card. Ask them to read it to you. Model how to sound it out and stick one magnetic letter to each tin can to spell the word. When you have finished ask them to look at the card and check if you were right. Then they can throw the bean bag at the tin cans to try to knock your word down. Play again but swap roles.

Support: Begin with VC (vowel - consonant) words if they find it tricky e.g. as, at, is, in, it, an.

The magnetic letters and high-frequency word cards are included in the Phonics Box.

The Phase 2 Words and Captions flashcards include words for each of the Phase 2 sounds: