Phonics Games
Phonics games will help your child to practice sounding out words, which will help them to read. Initially, children will learn
basic letter sounds, such as "c-a-t" for "cat". Later they will move on to sounds such as "th", "sh" and "ch", then "oo", "oa" and so
on. Once they recognise a few basic letter sounds, they will be able to work out what a written word says for themselves, a
skill which they will be very proud to show off!
Follow the links below to the free phonics games. Your child will have lots of fun while developing their phonic knowledge and
skills.

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Wild West Phonics
Choose from three levels - Medium, Hard or Really Hard. Listen to the word and choose the correct sound to fill the gap.
(BBC Schools)
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Sound Sea
Use the dropdown menu to choose the sound. Click the mouth to hear the sound. Wait for the correct letters to pop
up then click on those which match the sound. (Kented)
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Letter Lifter
First click the lever to start the belt. An object will appear and you will hear the word. Type the first
letter of the word. If you get it right you will be able to click on the lift button and the object will be taken away. (ICT
Games)
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Phoneme Pop
Choose the group of phonemes (sounds) you want the child to practice. The sound is spoken clearly and the child has to pop the
bubble containing the matching sound. Simple, but strangely satisfying, like popping bubble wrap. (ICT Games)
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Word Wheel
This game uses three-letter words. Decide which word the picture represents, then stop each wheel when the correct
letters are showing. Quite tricky! (Crickweb)
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Reading machine
Practice reading cvc (consonant, vowel, consonant) words with the reading machine. Choose the correct word from the
three displayed to match the object on the machine. Click next to go to the next word. (ICT Games)
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Three-letter house
A great game to help children with cvc (consonant, vowel, consonant) words. Choose a word ending or a middle sound. Read the
words and decide whether they are real words. (ICT Games)
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Starfall
This is a brilliant site with lots of phonics games. Choose the sound and play a game, or choose an online book to
read. When you are reading the book, you can click on any word to hear it being sounded out. Excellent!
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DJ Cows
Choose a spelling pattern, e.g. words containing ch, sh and th. A word search is generated with words containing the
pattern you chose. Kids love the sound effects! (ICT Games)
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Phonic Fighter
A letter appears on an alien spaceship and you have to click the picture beginning with that letter. If you get it
right, your fighter will shoot the alien. If you get it wrong, the alien will shoot your fighter. (ICT Games)
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CVC Maker
Choose Word Match, then click the buttons to make the word. Uses simple c-v-c (consonant-vowel-consonant) words.
This game could also be used to practice reading the real and nonsense words that are generated as you make your way to finding
the correct word. (Crickweb)
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Another skill which phonics games can help with is being able to recognise the sounds that a spoken word is made up of,
which will help them when it comes to writing and spelling. For example, when they want to write the word "dog", they need to be able
to hear the sounds "d", "o" and "g" in order to write the word. Listening skills are therefore very important in learning to
read, and these games can be a great help.
Recommended books on phonics:
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