Letter Sounds Games

What Are Letter Sounds?

Letter sounds are simply the individual sounds represented by the letters of the English alphabet. Letter sounds are also called “phonemes” or “phonemic sounds.”

Whenever we see any letter, we first remember its special sound, just like each one of us has our own voice. This way we are able to link letters to specific sounds, which ultimately helps us to read. Learning letter sounds is an important part of Phonics in ELA. 

What Are Graphemes and Phonemes?

As mentioned earlier, letter sounds are also called phonemes. The written form of a sound is called a grapheme. Phonemes are the spoken sounds, while graphemes are their written representations.

Example: When you read the word ‘kind,’ the letters (k, i, n, and d) are graphemes. The individual sounds represented by these letters are called phonemes.

What Is the Difference between Letter Names and Letter Sounds?

Teaching letter sounds can be tricky. Children often get confused between letter names and letter sounds.

A letter name is what we say out loud when we try to spell a word. It is simply what we “call” each individual letter.  On the other hand, a letter sound is the sound made while reading a particular letter.

Example: In the word “joy,” the letter names are J, O, and Y. 

The sounds these letters make when reading the word are called letter sounds. To understand these individual letter sounds better, you can check out our alphabet sound games, such as Letter Sounds J Games, Letter Sounds O Games, and Letter Sounds Y Games. 

Importance of Learning Letter Sounds for Kids

Letter-sound knowledge is an important basic skill essential when learning to read. Understanding the connection between letters and their sounds is important for reading and writing.  These skills are the foundation of literacy. 

Here are some points stating the importance of letter-sound knowledge:

• Reading and writing foundation: Learning letter sounds is the first step in learning to read. When kids learn letter-sounds, they can start blending these sounds together to read words. To read, kids must know how to connect letters with their sounds. To write, they first need to break words into sounds and know which letters represent them. 
• Spelling skills: Knowing letter sounds helps kids spell words correctly. 
• Vocabulary: By mastering letter sounds, children can explore, recognize, and understand new words every day and build a strong vocabulary.

Benefits of Introducing Letter Sounds to Kids through Games

• Engagement and Fun: Online letter sound games make learning enjoyable and engaging for kids. They often don't even realize they're learning an important phonics skill because they're having fun, which keeps them motivated to keep learning.
• Active Participation: Learning letter sounds through games encourages active participation. It allows kids to practice letter sounds in an effective way. 
• Fun activities: Learning letter sounds through fun activities such as tracing and coloring keeps kids interested in the topic. These activities often include daily objects to teach real-life relevance.
• Social Interaction: Many letter sound games involve interaction with peers or family members, promoting social skills and cooperative learning while reinforcing letter sound recognition.

How to Teach Letter Sounds to Kids

• Familiar sounds first: Pick the familiar sounds first. Start with the letter sounds that occur more frequently in simple words.
• One at a time: It is always better to teach each letter-sound correspondence separately. Introduce a new letter sound correspondence as soon as the learner has mastered one. Later, kids can also be taught letter sounds in sets.
• Avoid confusion: Give special attention to the letters that look and sound similar (b and d). Separate easily confused sounds and letters.
• Visual connections: While teaching letter sounds, always encourage visual connections with the letter, both big and small. Online letter sound games can be really helpful to establish this visual connection.
• Teach with Music: Use music and songs to teach sounds. This is a very effective technique to teach letter sounds while keeping kids engaged.
• Online games: Online letter sound games for kids can be used to teach letter sounds with ease and fun. Choose letter sound recognition games aligned with the curriculum and grade level.

What Are the 5 Best Fun Letter Sound Games and Activities for Kids?

SplashLearn offers letter sounds games for each letter from A to Z. Here are 5 fun games for learning letter sounds:

1. Practice Letter A and Its Sound Game
2. Trace the Letter B Game
3. Words Beginning with the Letter C Game
4. The Sound of D Game
5. Revise the Letter H Game