22 Word Awareness Activities to Develop Phonological Awareness
Discover engaging word awareness activities, teaching tips and strategies for this basic phonological awareness skill. This blog post is a practical guide to developing word awareness through playful, hands-on strategies. Perfect for kindergarten, preschool, and first-grade teachers looking to teach the concept of a word.
Word awareness is a key part of phonological awareness. It's about knowing that sentences are made up of individual words. Even though children hear and use words all the time, it doesn't automatically mean they understand what a word is or can tell where one word ends and another begins.
Have you ever listened to someone speaking a foreign language? It's hard to figure out where one word stops and the next starts. Is it one long word or two separate ones? This confusion is something our kids sometimes feel in our phonological awareness lessons.
For a child’s awareness of words to develop, word awareness needs to be explicitly taught. There are lots of ways to do this in our classrooms.
Interested in teaching this important phonological awareness skill?
In this blog post, we will explore what word awareness is and how to teach it. I’ll also share my tried and tested activities and give you example lessons to follow. Your students will have a well-developed awareness of words in no time!
Phonological Awareness Explained
Phonological awareness is the ability to recognise that words are made up of a variety of sound units.
As children develop phonological awareness they begin to learn
words can be segmented into syllables
each syllable begins with a sound (onset) and ends with another sound (rime)
words are made up of small sound units (phonemes)
phonemes can be manipulated to form different words.
Phonological awareness is about understanding and manipulating the sound structures of our spoken language. It is an auditory and oral language skill that plays a critical role in literacy development. There is research suggesting it is actually a strong predictor of later success in reading and spelling.
The Phonological Awareness Umbrella
Phonological awareness is a broad umbrella term covering four subskills:
Word Awareness: Recognising whole words as individual units within spoken sentences.
Syllable Awareness: Identifying and manipulating syllables within a spoken word.
Intra-syllable Awareness or Onset-Rime Awareness: Distinguishing the first sound - the initial consonant sound (onsets) from the remaining phonetic unit (rime) in a syllable or word.
Phonemic Awareness Skills: Recognising and manipulating individual phonemes - the individual sounds in words.
Many educators confuse phonemic awareness and phonological awareness. The primary difference lies in the size of the speech sound unit you are working with.
Phonological awareness activities involve spoken sentences, words and syllables.
Phonemic awareness activities are at the phoneme level and work with the 44 speech or letter sounds.
The first and most basic level of phonological awareness is word awareness. This is where children start to hear individual words within a sentence. We are working at the word level here.
There are five levels within the skills of sound and word discrimination.
Sound discrimination activities are important phonemic awareness activities. If you are working on developing phonemic awareness skills, you will want to head over to this blog post: 9 Practical Fun and Easy Sound Discrimination Activities
My sound discrimination blog post is all about teaching kids to listen and really pay attention. There are nine practical auditory or sound discrimination games and activities for you in that blog post. It deals with phonemic awareness skills.
This blog post on word awareness deals with phonological awareness skills.
What is Word Awareness?
Word awareness is the most basic level of phonological sensitivity and involves recognising that a sentence or phrase is made up of individual words. Children with strong word awareness can easily identify where one word ends, and another begins when listening to spoken language. They can also separate individual words when reading and writing.
Word awareness is an important skill for children to develop because it helps them to understand the structure of language. It allows them to recognise patterns in words, such as rhyming words and compound words.
Children with strong word awareness are also better able to learn new words because they can break them down into smaller parts and understand their meaning. They understand that our spoken language is made up of sentences and that these sentences are made up of separate, individual words.
When children have word awareness, they can isolate words within sentences, manipulate these words, and track the word sequences in sentences. These skills are essential for sentence segmentation and word manipulation. These skills also help students see that sentences are constructed from individual words.
The Role of Word Awareness in Reading and Writing
Word awareness is so important in reading and writing. Understanding where one word ends and the next begins is the first step in breaking down language into manageable parts.
For Reading: Students need word awareness to decode words. They need to be able to break words into smaller chunks, like syllables and sounds, for effective decoding. If students don’t have word awareness, this task would be impossible.
For writing: Students need word awareness if they are to write coherent sentences. They need to be able to recognise words and appropriately space them. Not that my students have got this yet. “Where are your finger spaces?” seems to be on repeat in my classroom 🤣
Tips for Teaching Word Awareness
To teach word awareness, here are a few teaching strategies and tips I use in my classroom:
Sneak In Phonological Awareness Practice: Use transitions, circle time and lesson warm-ups to sneak in a little phonological awareness practice. You don’t need to dedicate huge chunks of your daily timetable to word awareness lessons. Five minutes here and there adds up. Your students will have word awareness down pat in no time.
Start with Basic Skills: Begin teaching word awareness with simple word identification, progress to counting words in sentences, and then eventually to sentence production. The number of syllables in the words you use also affects the task difficulty. Start with small words - monosyllabic words (one-syllable words like CVC words) in short phrases or sentences before introducing longer words with more syllables in longer sentences.
Make it Fun: Making it fun is a great way to boost engagement but it also helps to make the learning stick! Use creative ways to count words in sentences, such as clapping, using blocks, counting on fingers, or jumping for each word. Include engaging hands-on word awareness activities in your investigation areas and literacy centers. Check out the activities below for some ideas!
Why is Word Awareness Important?
While word awareness is an important semantic language skill, it's worth noting that it is less directly predictive of reading success than other phonological skills.
However, recognising words as separate units in spoken language is a precursor to reading and writing. Word awareness contributes significantly to vocabulary development, comprehension, and overall language proficiency.
Word Awareness Stages and Examples
Word awareness has three progressive stages.
Word Isolation and Identification
Start by helping students isolate single words in short phrases and compound words. Ask them, Which has two words? cream or ice cream? or my dog or donkey?
Sentence Segmentation
Move on to teaching students how to count words in a sentence so they recognise each word as its own unit. Segment short three and four-word sentences like I am hot. (3 words) or We like to run. (4 words) before moving on to more complex sentences. Encourage your students to represent the words with concrete items by holding up a finger for each word they hear or using manipulatives like counters or blocks to represent the words.
Sentence Production
In this higher-level stage, ask students to create their own sentences. Can you make a sentence with three words? …four words … five words?
Use manipulatives like blocks, counters, or small toys to help students visualise the separate words within sentences. Ensure students use only one manipulative to accurately represent each word in a sentence.
Start with short 3 and 4-word sentences with monosyllabic words. Then, introduce multisyllabic words and small function words (a, to, the) before increasing the difficulty to longer, more complex sentences.
Gradually increase sentence complexity and pace as students become more confident.
Examples of Simple 3 and 4-Word Sentences
Here you go.
I love school.
Jump high up.
Max ran to me.
I see the dog.
Where is the fish?
More Complex 5-Word Sentences Using Multisyllables
Chocolate biscuits are so yummy.
Monkeys swing in the trees.
Butterflies have delicate, colourful wings.
Elephants stomp through the jungle.
Rainbows appear after the rain.
Children play during the break.
This structured approach, combined with practical examples and a clear progression from simple to more complex sentences, will help your young learners develop a solid understanding of word awareness.
Detailed Example of a Sentence Segmentation Lesson for Word Awareness
The Gradual Release Model is an effective teaching strategy that moves from teacher-directed instruction to student independence. Here’s how it can be used to teach word awareness.
I Do: Teacher Models
Provide each student with 6 counters and ask them to place these in a horizontal line in front of them.
Say a simple sentence, like “I like dogs.” Repeat the sentence and pause between each word. “I. Like. Dogs.” As each word is said, slide one counter down so the children see that each word is represented by one counter.
After moving the counters, explain to the children, “The sentence has 3 words: 1, 2, 3.” Pointing to each counter as you count.
Put all the counters back in the original line to show you are ready for the next sentence.
We Do: Practice Together
Repeat the process, this time inviting students to join you. Choose a new sentence, “Pass the doll to me.”
Ask the students to repeat the sentence before breaking it down together – “Pass. The. Doll. To. Me.” and sliding the counters down for each word said.
Then ask, “How many words are in this sentence?” Count the words together, ensuring each child demonstrates one-to-one correspondence and points to each counter as you collectively count, “1, 2, 3, 4, 5.”
Ensure the students are following along and correctly associating each word with a counter.
You Do: Independent Practice
Now, the students individually demonstrate their understanding. Start with a simple 3-word sentence like “It is hot.”
Students repeat the sentence, “It. is. hot.” and, as they say each word, they slide a counter down. They will be visually and physically segmenting the sentence into words.
Then again ask, “How many words are in this sentence?” You might like to count the words together just to make sure they are using one-to-one correspondence and pointing to each counter. “1, 2, 3.”
Progressive Difficulty: As students become more comfortable, introduce more complex sentences by gradually increasing the number of words or syllables.
Use clear, slow pronunciation, especially in the initial stages, to help students distinguish between the words.
Encourage students to start with the far left counter and move along the row from left to right. This reinforces reading direction.
22 Kindergarten and Preschool Word Awareness Activities
As an experienced teacher, I have found that hands-on learning activities are the most effective way to teach word awareness to preschool and kindergarten students.
Here are some fun and engaging activities that I have tested and found to be successful in my classroom:
1.Listening to Words in Sentences
To develop word awareness in your students, start by developing their listening skills. Encourage them to listen to sentences and try to identify the separate words. This can be done through simple exercises like repeating sentences and clapping for each word.
2. Cloze Sentences for Developing Word Awareness
To deepen the understanding of word awareness, say a sentence with a missing word and ask your students to fill in the blank. For example, A ___ is a pet. This encourages children to think about the structure and meaning of the sentence. An oral cloze activity is great for consolidating the concept of a word.
3. Jumbled Up Sentences
Another fun way to develop word awareness involves playing with the word order of a sentence. Say a simple 4 or 5-word sentence, jumbled up and see if your students can unjumble the sentence. For example, say, “Like, apples, I, red”. Ask them to rearrange the words to say a sentence that makes sense. This activity is great for developing the concept of a sentence and for word awareness.
4. Name that Object or Feeling
Teach word awareness by naming objects around the classroom and playground. As you walk together through the school, pause to point out and name different things you see. For example, say, "This is the office. office is a word." Emotions and concepts can also be expressed through words. For example, say, "I feel happy. Happy is a word," or "We're learning maths next. Maths is a word." This simple activity develops vocabulary and helps students develop word awareness. I like it because it is quick and easy to implement.
5. Focus on Words Throughout the Day
Highlight words throughout the school day. Make it a point to emphasise individual words in sentences during everyday conversations. For example, when saying, "Please push your chair in." Put a finger up for each word as you say it. Then you can point out, "That was five words!"
6. Label Everything!
If you have student name cards, days of the week cards, or labels on objects in the classroom, frequently refer to them as words. Label everything! Classroom objects, resources and learning tools. Discuss the idea that labels represent written words.
7. A Word Scavenger Hunt
Have a word scavenger hunt where students search for labelled pictures hidden around the classroom. Want some labelled pictures perfect for this activity? You can download my comprehensive set of animal picture cards here.
I like these animal vocabulary cards because students instantly recognise the real-life photo pictures. This comprehensive pack contains so much more than just the picture cards for a scavenger word hunt. Yes - there are 54 animal picture cards perfect for scavenger hunts, but you can also use them for category sorting activities like picture sorts, writing tools, vocabulary work and science lessons on living things!
8. Get the Wiggles Out
During a read-aloud, every now and then, stop to focus on the words in a sentence from the story. Count the words together by getting your students to clap for each word they hear. Want to add a bit of movement and get the wiggles out? Instead of clapping, get your students up and ask them to jump for each word they hear.
9. Mix It Up
Mix up familiar rhymes and songs to teach word manipulation. Tell your students you’re going to change one of the words, and they need to listen carefully to discover the change. Then, sing a song or say a rhyme but change one of the words. For example, in these popular nursery rhymes, you could say, “Baa-baa black jeep” or “Mary had a little ram”. This will only work if you use familiar songs and rhymes.
10. Start a Band
Use musical instruments to develop word awareness. Say a sentence and then have the students repeat the sentence and bang on a drum, strike a triangle or click a castanet as they say each word.
11. Word Walls for Word Awareness
Create word walls in the classroom. These can be related to topics under study like math word walls, living things in science or a particular phonics sound. I like to use illustrated vocabulary cards for our word walls. During lessons or transitions, discuss the word wall. Point to the words, say them out loud or use them in sentences. Add new words regularly and use them in sentences to demonstrate their use in context.
12. A Movement Game for Word Awareness
Adapt a traditional game of heads, shoulders, knees and toes to teach word awareness. Say a sentence and have your children touch their heads, shoulders, knees, and toes for each word said. You can also challenge them to see if they can create their own sentences to match the necessary four movements.
13. Create a Sentence Line-Up
This activity works best in literacy rotations when you are working with a smaller group of children. You say a sentence, and the kids make it by lining up. One student for each word in the sentence. You can then have the group repeat the sentence together while any remaining children help you count. Make sure they have one student representing each word in the sentence.
14. Jumping for Word Awareness
Go outside with a few hoops so your students can jump the words in sentences. Lay the hoops together in a line. The children line up behind the first hoop. You say a sentence, and the first child in the line repeats it. They say the sentence again, but this time, they jump into a hoop for each word they say.
15. Teach Word Awareness through Conversations
During investigative play time, or when working with small groups, discuss any materials, feelings, and activities, emphasising the names of the objects or concepts as words.
16. Sensory Bin Word Awareness Activity
Set up a sensory bin and include labelled objects or pictures. Discuss how the labels represent words and how we can write words. I’ve included word awareness sensory bin printables in each of my picture sorts packs here. You can use these packs to set up different themed sensory bins in your classroom.
Like this activity? Instantly grab all the printables you need to set up this engaging sensory play activity for animal words HERE.
17. A Sorting Activity
You can also use labelled picture cards for a vocabulary sorting game. Give each student three cards: two that are related and one that's the odd word. For example, the cards could show a picture of a cat, a dog, and a car. The student is to identify the car as the odd one out and explain why. This activity helps children think critically about words and concepts and how they are related. I’ve got sets of picture cards perfect for this activity HERE.
18. Word Stepping
Put some circles of felt or sit spots on the carpet. Say a sentence. The student repeats the sentence and steps on a different circle for each word they say.
19. Spotlight on Words
When writing or reading big books together, discuss the words. Clap for each word in a sentence. Isolate words by drawing attention to the spaces between written words.
20. Squash the Words
I love using these Nursery Rhyme Playdough Mats to teach word awareness. Each of the mats features a familiar sentence from a popular nursery rhyme. You give each student some play dough to roll into small balls. The kids place the playdough balls on the designated circles beneath each word in the sentence on their mat. As they say each word, they develop one-to-one correspondence and word awareness by squashing the corresponding playdough ball.
This simple yet highly effective activity will help young children see and hear word boundaries. It reinforces one-to-one correspondence, builds fine motor skills, and promotes counting practice. Such a fun and engaging way to develop word and phonological awareness skills.
21. Counting Words in Sentences for Word Awareness
I like to use printable word awareness mats to teach children how to count the words in a sentence. Because phonological awareness is about auditory and oral language skills, don’t use printed sentences for the children to read. Make sure you say the sentence.
Start with simple 3-word sentences with monosyllabic words before progressing towards longer sentences with multisyllabic words. I've made this progression easy for you and designed a progressive list of 144 sentences to guide you. Click the resource to see the list 👇
3 Easy Steps to Follow:
Children put 6 counters on the numbered dots at the top of their mat.
You say a simple sentence from the included list.
For each word said, children slide one counter down to the numbered spaces below.
It’s easy to teach sentence segmentation with this activity, and it’s a good one for small groups or whole-group literacy lessons.
22. Building Word Awareness with Blocks
Give each student a handful of connectable blocks like Lego, Magna-tiles or Unifix cubes. Think of a sentence, and based on the number of words it contains, tell the students to connect that many blocks together. For example, for a four-word sentence, they should connect four blocks. Then you say the sentence to your students, and as they repeat it to you slowly, they separate one block for each word they say.
Word awareness can and should be more than simple word recognition. It is about developing vocabulary and an understanding of how our language is structured and used. Use any of these fun activities to get your phonological awareness instruction off to a good start.
Assessing Word Awareness the Easy Way
I use a simple checklist to evaluate my students' word awareness. If you make observational assessments during any of the above activities, you’ll quickly determine each student's understanding of words and sentences.
The ability of a student to perform simple tasks like counting the words in a given sentence or manipulating sentence structure can be recorded on a basic checklist. This information can inform your next steps. Does the student need more practice, one-on-one explicit instruction, or are they ready to move on to working with syllables?
Assessment doesn’t need to be hard or time-consuming.
word awareness checklist - Download My Word Awareness Checklist Here
My Resources for Teaching Word Awareness
Take the worry out of creating engaging resources for teaching word awareness and use the ones I’ve already created. They have been tried and tested so you can rest easy knowing they work and are engaging.
Check them out here:
Nursery Rhyme Playdough Mats for Word Awareness
Count the Words - Mats for Word Awareness
There are bonuses like observation checklists and printable learning prompts in each of these resources. Just click the resource name to see everything included in each of these comprehensive packs.
Word awareness is an important skill, but it is just the start of phonological awareness. I've got heaps of phonological awareness activities HERE in my store.
Word awareness is all about understanding that sentences are made of words, and each word has its own place and meaning. We've explored how learning through play is a fantastic way to teach this. Playful activities, like building sentences with blocks or using playdough to represent words, make learning fun and effective!
I'm here to support you with resources and ideas that make teaching engaging and easy. My goal in this blog post was to provide simple, yet creative ways to teach word awareness in the classroom.
If you found this blog post on teaching word awareness useful, please consider sharing it. Just click the sharing link here 👇