How to Teach Phonemic Awareness - Tips and Activities
Learn how to teach phonemic awareness effectively and enhance early reading skills. In this blog post you’ll get strategies and activities for isolating, blending, and segmenting phonemes to use with your young students.
I remember asking one of my kindergarteners, "What’s the first sound in the word cat?" He looked at me, thought for a moment… and then meowed at me. 😳
Has this ever happened to you?
At first, it was funny. But I quickly realised we needed to go back to basics - teaching phonemic awareness strategically and purposefully.
Because here’s the thing:
The students that proudly meow back at you might be adorable the first time, but there’s a major problem - and it’s rooted in why some kids struggle with reading.
Are You Struggling to Help Your Students Hear and Manipulate Sounds in Words?
Before a child can read or write, they need to develop phonemic awareness - the ability to hear, identify, and manipulate individual sounds (phonemes) in spoken words.
This isn’t something all children just “pick up.” Some do, but in my experience, most need consistent, explicit teaching with well-structured strategies that follow a specific developmental continuum.
Here’s the challenge:
Many teachers jump straight into phonics instruction (matching letters to sounds) without realising that phonemic awareness must come first.
Some children have weak phonemic awareness skills, making it difficult to blend and segment words when reading.
Others struggle to distinguish similar sounds, which impacts their ability to spell and decode words accurately.
Without a strong foundation, reading becomes frustrating - and that frustration can lead to disengagement and a lack of confidence in your young learners.
The Solution: Explicit Phonemic Awareness Instruction
You might be missing a crucial step - and it’s probably not what you think!
Many teachers assume phonemic awareness is just about hearing sounds in words. But for it to truly impact reading success, it needs to be:
Explicitly taught and not just expected it will be picked up naturally.
Practised daily through engaging activities.
Taught in a structured way, moving from simple to complex skills.
What You’ll Learn in This Blog Post
By the end of this post, you’ll know:
✔️ What phonemic awareness is and why it’s a critical skill for early reading success.
✔️ How to explicitly teach phonemic awareness following a structured continuum.
✔️ Engaging activities to help students isolate, blend, segment, and manipulate phonemes.
✔️ How to make phonemic awareness fun with hands-on, play-based learning.
If you’ve ever wondered how to teach phonemic awareness to your young children in a way that truly sticks, this post will give you the clarity and confidence you need.
Oh and make sure you grab my FREE guide to teaching phonological and phonemic awareness at the end of this post!
What is Phonemic Awareness?
Phonemic awareness is an important skill. It involves the ability to hear, identify, and manipulate individual sounds (phonemes) in spoken words.
It’s an essential pre-reading skill that helps children understand that words are made up of sounds, which can be broken apart, blended, or changed to create new words.
Think of it as playing with sounds and it has to happen before children ever see written letters.
Phonemic awareness is all about the sounds and the spoken word. It is a listening and speaking activity.
A child with strong phonemic awareness can:
Hear and isolate the first sound in "dog" (/d/ and not “woof”).
Blend the sounds /c/ /a/ /t/ together to say "cat."
Segment the word "ship" into /sh/ /i/ /p/.
Manipulate sounds by swapping /m/ for /b/ in "mat" to make "bat."
Phonemic Awareness vs. Phonological Awareness: What’s the Difference?
Many teachers (and even some literacy programs) use these terms interchangeably, but they are not the same thing. Phonemic awareness is actually a subset of phonological awareness – just one part of a broader skill set.
Phonological awareness refers to a child’s ability to recognise and work with larger units of spoken language, such as rhymes, syllables, and word parts. It includes skills like clapping syllables in a word or identifying rhyming words in a sentence.
Phonemic awareness is much more specific. It focuses only on phonemes ( the individual sounds in words).
Think of phonological awareness as an umbrella term that covers many skills. Phonemic awareness sits right underneath that umbrella – and I believe it’s one of the most important skills for early reading success.
Want to discover more about the differences and why they matter so much?
Check out this blog post: Teaching Phonological Awareness and Phonemic Awareness
You might be wondering -
Why is phonemic awareness so important?
Can’t kids just learn to read by learning phonics and letter sounds or even just memorising words?
In the next section, we’ll look at why phonemic awareness is the strongest predictor of later reading success and how skipping this step can set kids up for reading struggles later on.
Why Phonemic Awareness is Essential for Early Reading Success
If you want your students to become confident, fluent readers, phonemic awareness is a non-negotiable.
Please don’t think it’s just another extra literacy skill!
It’s the foundation - the first steps of learning to read.
The Research is Clear: Phonemic Awareness is Critical
Children with strong phonemic awareness skills learn to read more easily. According to the Science of Reading, phonemic awareness is one of the strongest predictors of later reading success (National Early Literacy Panel, 2008).
Explicitly teaching phonemic awareness can reduce future reading difficulties. Research from the National Reading Panel (2000) found that teaching phonemic awareness improves both reading and spelling outcomes, particularly when paired with systematic phonics instruction.
Struggling readers often have weak phonemic awareness skills. A study by Dr. David Kilpatrick (2015) found that without strong phonemic awareness, students struggle with decoding and orthographic mapping (storing words in memory for quick recognition).
👉 The takeaway? If we don’t explicitly teach phonemic awareness, many of our children will struggle to read, no matter how many phonics lessons we give them.
The Challenges Teachers Face
Even when teachers understand why phonemic awareness is essential, actually teaching it effectively can be a real struggle.
Some children struggle to hear individual sounds. Certain phonemes are hard to distinguish, especially for students with limited oral language exposure or hearing difficulties.
Many teachers feel unsure about how to teach phonemic awareness systematically. In fact, there are many reading programs that don’t explicitly teach phonemic awareness or assume children will pick it up naturally.
Many phonemic awareness activities aren’t very engaging or hands-on. If you’ve ever tried to teach phonemic awareness with dry, repetitive drills, you know how quickly kids can lose interest. The secret is making it interactive, playful, and multi-sensory!
How This FREE Guide Helps You
If you’ve ever wondered how to actually teach phonemic awareness in a way that works, then this FREE guide is for you!!
It has:
Step-by-step teaching strategies so you know exactly where to start and what to teach next.
Engaging, play-based activities for isolating, blending, segmenting, and manipulating phonemes = no more boring drills!
Links to engaging resources that make implementation easy, including hands-on ideas and printable phonemic awareness activities.
Now that we know why phonemic awareness is essential, let’s get into the how.
In the next section, I’ll walk you through the best way I have found to explicitly teach phonemic awareness.
I follow a structured continuum that ensures my students master these skills at the right time.
4 Steps to Building a Strong Phonological Awareness Foundation
Before we explore specific phonemic awareness skills, I thought I should tell you about my student – you know the one who meowed instead of saying /k/ for "cat".
Well - they needed more time developing phonological awareness first.
So if you have students like this, you need to take a step back and help them tune into sounds through:
Listening games that build awareness of sounds in the environment.
Rhyming activities that strengthen their ability to hear patterns in words.
Syllable clapping so they understand words can be broken into parts.
1. Listening & Sound Awareness
Before children can hear speech sounds, they need to notice any sounds. This includes:
Environmental sounds (eg: What sound does a doorbell make?)
Animal sounds (eg: What sound does a cow make?)
Instrument sounds (eg: Which instrument is making this sound?)
What to do? Try a Sound walk – go outside and listen for different sounds (birds chirping, a car passing, leaves rustling). Ask them, “What do you hear?”
Get my Related Listening and Sound Awareness Resources HERE
2. Word Awareness
Children need to understand that sentences are made of words before they can break words into smaller parts.
What to do? Try Counting words - say a simple sentence like "I like dogs" and have children clap for each word (three claps: I – like – dogs).
Get my Related Word Awareness Resources HERE
3. Syllable Awareness
Recognising syllables is an important bridge to hearing phonemes and phoneme awareness.
What to do? Try Syllable Clapping – Have children clap, tap, or stomp syllables in words. eg: el-e-phant = 3 claps.
Get my Related Syllable Awareness Resources HERE
4. Rhyme & Alliteration
Playing a fun game with rhyme and alliteration strengthens a child’s ability to hear patterns in words. Another essential skill for phonemic awareness.
What to do? Try some Silly Rhyme Time – Give students a word like cat and have them think of a rhyming word or word families (bat, hat, mat - even nonsense words like zat!).
Get my Related Rhyming Resources HERE
Ok! Now They’re Ready for Phoneme Isolation!
Once children can hear, recognise, and manipulate sounds at the word, syllable, and rhyme level, they are ready to start isolating phonemes.
How to Teach Phonemic Awareness (Step-by-Step Guide)
To effectively teach phonemic awareness it needs to be
Explicit
Structured
Systematic
We don’t just jump straight into isolating phonemes in our phonemic awareness lessons! We build up to it with strong phonological awareness skills first.
If a child meows when you ask for the first sound in "cat," they aren’t ready to isolate phonemes yet. They need more time tuning into sounds and developing their awareness of spoken language before working at the phoneme level.
Step 1: Build Phonological Awareness First
Before isolating phonemes (the smallest units of sound), children need to develop:
Listening & Sound Awareness – Learning to notice and distinguish sounds.
Word Awareness – Understanding that sentences are made of separate words.
Syllable Awareness – Breaking words into syllables.
Rhyme & Alliteration – Hearing patterns and playing with word sounds.
Want to learn more about phonological awareness? Check out this detailed Blog Post: Teaching Phonological Awareness and Phonemic Awareness
In this blog post you will discover essential strategies for teaching phonological and phonemic awareness in early childhood education. This post outlines the developmental stages and suggests practical phonological awareness activities and teaching ideas to develop these important early literacy skills in preschool and kindergarten children.
Once your children have a strong phonological awareness foundation, they are ready to work at the phoneme level.
Step 2: Isolating Phonemes (Hearing and Producing Sounds in Words)
Now that students can hear and manipulate larger sound units, the next step is isolating phonemes.
This is when they can hear and identify individual sounds in words.
Before children can blend, segment, or manipulate sounds, they need to first hear and identify the individual phonemes in spoken words.
This is where phonemic awareness really begins.
If a child can’t hear the /m/ in "man" or the /sh/ in "shop," they won’t be able to blend sounds into words or break words into their parts.
What does this skill look like in action?
You say, "What’s the first sound in sun?" and the child responds with /s/.
You say, "What’s the last sound in dog?" and they say /g/.
You say, "Tell me the middle sound in cup." and they say /u/.
This skill needs lots of exposure and practice. And the best way to do that?
Make it fun and use games!
4 Activities for Isolating Phonemes
1. The Mirror Game – Watch, Say, Copy: Some sounds are harder to hear, but easier to see when spoken.
This activity helps children connect articulation with phonemes and is such a fun way for kindergarten students to build phoneme awareness!
Have students watch their mouths in a mirror while saying different phonemes.
Point out how their lips, tongue, and teeth move when producing different sounds.
Encourage them to copy the teacher’s mouth movements for correct articulation.
Teacher Tip: Some phonemes look similar when spoken but sound different. For example, /p/ and /b/ use the same lip shape, but one is voiced and the other is unvoiced. Mirrors can help children see these differences!
2. Tongue Twisters – Phoneme Isolation Through Play: Tongue twisters help children focus on specific phonemes in a fun and engaging way.
Start with simple ones like "She sells seashells" for the /s/ sound.
Ask students to exaggerate the first sound in each word as they repeat it.
Challenge them to create their own tongue twisters using words with the same beginning, middle, or ending sounds.
3. Picture & Word Sorting – Focus on Initial Sounds: Sorting activities provide a hands-on, visual way to practice phoneme isolation. Remember - phonemic awareness is an auditory skill so don't focus on the written word. Use pictures and real life objects.
Give students a set of picture cards (e.g., sun, sock, sandwich, dog, door, duck).
Ask them to sort the pictures by their beginning sound (e.g., all /s/ words together, all /d/ words together).
As they sort, encourage them to say the sounds aloud and reinforce sound-symbol relationships.
Grab my Initial Sound Picture Sorts for Phoneme Isolation here!
4. Sound Discrimination Activities – Hear the Difference: Some children struggle to distinguish between similar phonemes (eg: /b/ vs. /p/). Focused listening activities help strengthen this skill.
Say three simple words and ask students to identify which one doesn’t belong (eg: say "dog, door, sun" and ask them which is the odd one out – sun.)
Play a same or different? game by saying two words: If they hear the same initial sound, they clap. If they hear a different sound, they stay quiet.
Read a familiar story or poem, emphasising specific sounds, and have children raise their hands when they hear them.
Now that students can hear and isolate phonemes, the next step is teaching them how to blend sounds together to form words and segment words into individual phonemes.
This is where phonemic awareness moves from passive listening to active word-building. Don’t skip this step!
Step 3: Blending & Segmenting Phonemes
Once children can isolate phonemes, the next step is teaching them how to blend sounds together to form words and segment words into individual sounds.
These are two of the most crucial phonemic awareness skills as they directly impact a child's ability to decode and spell words when reading and writing.
What is Blending & Segmenting?
Blending is putting individual phonemes together to form a word. Example: /c/ /a/ /t/ → cat.
Segmenting is breaking a whole word into its individual phonemes. Example: dog → /d/ /o/ /g/.
Why is this important?
Blending helps children decode unfamiliar words when reading.
Segmenting helps them spell and write words by breaking them into smaller sound units.
Now, let’s look at some engaging activities to teach these skills!
4 Activities for Blending & Segmenting Phonemes
1. Phoneme Bingo – Sound Matching with a Fun Twist: Bingo is a fun, low-pressure way for children to listen for specific phonemes and blend them into words.
Use bingo cards with pictures of words that contain target phonemes.
Call out the individual sounds (eg: /s/ /u/ /n/), and students blend them to find the matching picture on their card.
2. Stretch the Sound (Elastic Band Game) – Visualising Phoneme Segmenting: Using an elastic band provides a physical, hands-on way for children to understand how words stretch apart and come back together.
Give each student a rubber band.
Say a word slowly, stretching the band apart as you stretch the sounds. Example: “s-u-n” (pull the band).
Have children repeat after you, stretching and releasing the band as they say the word.
Reverse the process by having students blend sounds together as they slowly pull the band back to its original size.
Teacher Tip: This activity is especially effective for students who struggle with segmenting individual words because the movement mirrors the phonemic process.
3. Tap It Out – Using Fingers for Segmenting: Using finger taps gives children a multi-sensory way to break words apart and feel the phonemes.
Say a word (eg: map).
Have students tap one finger for each sound: /m/ (tap index finger), /a/ (tap middle finger), /p/ (tap ring finger).
Once they’ve tapped all sounds, have them blend the sounds together to say the full word.
Teacher Tip: Start with compound words, then CVC words and work up to longer words once students master segmenting.
4. Robot Talk – Turning Segmenting into a Game: Kids love playing robots, and this game makes phoneme segmentation fun and interactive.
Say a word in robot talk by breaking it into its individual phonemes (eg: /c/ /a/ /t/).
Have students blend the sounds together to figure out the word.
Switch roles: Let children take turns being the "robot" and saying words in segmented sounds while classmates blend them together.
For more phoneme blending games, check out my blog post: Fun Phoneme Blending Activities - Build Phonemic Awareness.
Now that your young students are proficient at blending and segmenting sounds, they are ready for the most challenging phonemic awareness skill - phoneme manipulation so now we will explore some fun, hands-on ways to teach children to substitute, delete, and add phonemes to make new words.
Step 4: Manipulating Phonemes (Substituting, Adding & Deleting Sounds)
Phoneme manipulation is the most advanced phonemic awareness skill and a strong predictor of reading success.
It requires students to substitute, delete, or add phonemes within words to create new ones. This skill directly impacts decoding and spelling, making it a vital step before moving into phonics instruction.
What is Phoneme Manipulation?
Phoneme Addition – Adding a sound to a word to create a new word (eg: at → sat)
Phoneme Deletion – Removing a sound from a word to form a new word (eg: stop → top).
Phoneme Substitution – Changing one sound in a word to make a new word (eg: cat → bat).
Why is this important?
Helps children decode unfamiliar words by recognising sound patterns.
Strengthens spelling and writing skills.
Supports orthographic mapping, helping students store words in memory for quick recognition.
Now, let’s look at some engaging activities to develop these skills!
4 Activities for Manipulating Phonemes
1. CVC Word Play – Simple Word Changes: Starting with consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) words makes phoneme manipulation easier for beginners.
Write a simple word (eg: cat) on a board or card.
Have students change the first sound to make a new word (cat → bat → mat → sat).
Next, change the final sound (sat → sap → sad).
Finally, swap out the middle vowel (sad → sod).
2. Magnetic Letters & Loose Parts – Hands-on Sound Play: Hands-on learning makes abstract phoneme changes visual and concrete.
Provide magnetic letters, letter tiles, or loose parts with letters written on them.
Ask students to physically swap out letters to create new words.
Encourage them to say the sounds aloud as they manipulate letters.
Teacher Tip: Use letter rocks or bottle caps with the letters written on them for an engaging, tactile experience!
3. Phoneme Substitution Game – Swap the Sounds: This game builds listening and critical thinking skills while reinforcing phoneme changes.
Say a word (eg: dog) and ask students to change one sound to make a new word.
Example: "Change the /d/ in dog to /f/—what's the new word?" (fog).
Continue swapping sounds in different positions: beginning, middle, and end.
For an added challenge, use nonsense words to focus purely on phoneme substitution.
4. Word Chain Challenge – Building Words One Sound at a Time: This activity helps students visualise how words transform when phonemes are manipulated.
Write a starting word (eg: pin) on the board.
Have students change one phoneme at a time to build a chain of new words: Pin → Pan → Tan → Tap → Top → Hop → Hot
Challenge them to see how long they can make the chain!
Get more fun ideas for phoneme manipulation in this blog post: 21 Activities for Teaching Phoneme Manipulation
Now that you have a step-by-step guide for teaching phoneme isolation, blending, segmenting, and manipulation, let’s talk about how to make phonemic awareness a consistent part of your literacy routine.
Best Practices for Teaching Phonemic Awareness
So now you know that teaching phonemic awareness effectively isn’t about drilling isolated skills and ALL about using a balanced, engaging approach that integrates explicit instruction, hands-on activities, and meaningful connections to literacy, let’s explore some best practices for you to get the most from your phonemic awareness instruction.
Combine Explicit Teaching with Play-Based Learning
Explicit instruction (clear, direct teaching) is essential for phonemic awareness AND … play-based, hands on learning makes it engaging, interactive, and memorable.
How to do it:
Use direct instruction for introducing new skills like modelling phoneme blending.
Follow up with hands-on games to reinforce skills like my Phoneme Bingo or Picture Sorts.
Incorporate movement and play, like hopping for syllables or using toys for phoneme manipulation.
Teacher Tip: Structured mini-lessons combined with play-based reinforcement creates the best results.
If you are wondering what the most effective strategies are for teaching phonemic awareness because you want your students to reach their reading benchmarks AND have success learning to read and write… you really need to know the best strategies for teaching this foundational literacy skill.
I’ve got my absolute best (tried and tested) phonemic awareness activities explained here in this blog post: 12 Effective Strategies for Teaching Phonemic Awareness.
Make Teaching Phonemic Awareness Multisensory
Children learn best when multiple senses are engaged - hearing, seeing, and moving can all help you to strengthen phonemic awareness.
How to do it:
Auditory – Listening to words and sounds like those in my sound discrimination powerpoints.
Visual – Like we have already talked about - use pictures, letter tiles, and mirrors to reinforce phonemes.
Kinaesthetic – Incorporating actions and movement like finger tapping, jumping, or stretching rubber bands while segmenting words.
Teacher Tip: If a student struggles with phoneme isolation, encourage them to trace the shape of their mouth while saying the sound.
Use Real-Life Contexts: Songs, Stories & Play
Phonemic awareness doesn’t have to feel like a separate "lesson”. It can easily be woven into your everyday classroom activities.
How to do it:
Use nursery rhymes – Classic rhymes like Hickory Dickory Dock naturally emphasise phonemic patterns.
Incorporate storytelling – Have students clap or stomp when they hear target sounds in a read-aloud.
Play with names – Start the day with circle time name games that emphasise initial sounds.
Need more ideas? There’s heaps more different ways in my blog post on fun phonemic awareness activities: 12 Effective Strategies for Teaching Phonemic Awareness
Assess Regularly (Without Stressing Kids Out!)
Consistent observation and assessment helps you track progress and adjust your instruction for any struggling students.
How to do it:
Use quick, informal assessments like asking students to segment or blend a word during literacy warm-ups or as a time-filler before the bell.
Keep a checklist to track which phonemic awareness skills each child has mastered.
Incorporate self-assessment by getting students to show thumbs up/down if they "get it" or need more practice.
Help Your Students Master Phonemic Awareness!
Phonemic awareness is the foundation of early reading success.
When children develop strong phonemic awareness skills, they are better equipped to decode, spell, and recognise words automatically.
Key Takeaways from This Blog Post:
✔️ Phonemic awareness is essential for early reading success. It directly impacts decoding, spelling, and fluency.
✔️ Teach explicitly AND make it engaging. Use structured lessons combined with hands-on, play-based activities.
✔️ Follow a step-by-step progression. Focus on isolating, blending, segmenting, and manipulating phonemes in a logical order.
✔️ Assess progress and differentiate instruction. Use informal observations and checklists to support all learners.
CLICK HERE to Download Your Free Phonemic Awareness Guide!
This guide will give you clear strategies, printable activities, and a structured approach to building strong phonemic awareness skills in your students.