Goal
Practise changing one sound to make new words — builds phonemic awareness, blending and an instinct for how words are constructed.
You'll need
- CVC Word Cards
- Alphabet Flashcards (Lower Case)
- CCVC Word Cards
How to do it
Pick a starting word — "cat" is a good one. Read it together. Now change one sound: swap the c for a b — "bat". Change the a for an i — "bit". Change the b for an s — "sit".
Use the letter cards to build each word physically. Reading the new word as soon as it's built — before moving on — is the key step.
Take turns choosing which sound to swap. See how many rungs you can climb before you run out of real words. You can use the word cards as inspiration if you get stuck. It's a puzzle, and children who don't like "practice" often love puzzles.
Grab our resources
Print our cvc word cards and alphabet flashcards (lower case) to get started.
