If you’re looking for new, fun, and easy Phonics Phase 1 game ideas for introducing environmental sounds, then look no further! Here are 5 super Phase 1 Phonics ideas that your children will love, and they take next to no time to prepare. Teaching preschool listening games has never been so easy, so let’s get started!
How these new Phonics Phase 1 game ideas will help your children
What are Environmental Sounds?
Phase 1 Phonics environmental sounds are the everyday sounds we hear from the moment we are born, like the chirping of birds, the sound of a car engine, or the ticking of a clock. These are all around us, and, in today’s busy world, it can be all too easy to tune these environmental sounds out because there’s so much distraction.
As phonics is a system of corresponding spoken sounds to letters, it’s vital that we help youngsters ‘tune into’ these everyday sounds from the get-go. Afterall, our preschoolers will never learn to hear the difference between ‘f’ and ‘th’, if they can’t tell the difference between a cow mooooooing and a horse neighing!
Who are Letters and Sounds Phase 1 environmental sounds activities for?
Letters and Sounds Phase 1 introduced the importance of environmental sounds in 2008. This much-loved document recommended developing key listening skills using everyday sounds. There was little explanation about how such Phase 1 Phonics activities are an essential springboard for all other areas of pre-phonic development. The Phonics Phase 1 game ideas in this post are a first step on the preschool pre-phonics journey. They’re best suited to 2- and 3-year old’s, developing the auditory skills they need to thrive later.
Easy phonics phase 1 games
Phonics Phase 1 games using environmental sounds are a gift to the preschool practitioner, busy parent, or early years educator because they use real things that we already have. This means there should be no printing and laminating of resources, which is good for the environment too!
Instead, we simply need to be mindful of the sounds around us, spending time thinking about how we can draw children’s attention to the similarities and differences in the sounds they hear every day. Playing preschool listening games to encourage comparison between loud sounds, quiet sounds, fast sounds, slow sounds, and silence, are key to this listening success.
When, where and how often should we use phase 1 phonics activities using environmental sounds?
Creating an environment that sets 2 and 3-year old’s up for success is critical as they try to tune into the similarities and differences in sounds..
We need to:
Minimise visual distractions posed by technology, toys, and clutter.
Minimise auditory distractions by reducing adult and child talk, creating time to focus.
Model thinking aloud, explaining what is heard in comparison with different sounds.
Little and often is best for any of the Phonics Phase 1 activities you introduce. 2 and 3-year-olds have limited concentration and developing memories, so playing the same games on repeat, but in short sharp bursts, always ensures the best results.
Play a NEW Phonics Phase 1 game today!
Phonics Phase 1 Game 1: Mobile Phone Game
Here’s a Phonics Phase 1 game that’s immediately relatable to preschoolers, because it uses the familiar sound of a phone. Ideally all you need are a couple of phones and a large space to play. This video also explains how you can make this more challenging as ‘tuning in’ skills develop.
Phonics Phase 1 Game 2: Noisy Farm Game
This environmental sounds game from the Super Sounds book is one of my favourites. I love getting outdoors with the children, and if you don’t have a device or speaker to play sound effects, you can just make the noises yourself!
What you need
- Two large toys or pictures (matched to familiar sounds) placed at either end of a large space, these need to be large enough for the children to see them.
- A speaker with some music to dance to.
- A noisy book with sound effects, or sound effects downloaded to play through the speaker or device.
How to play
- Show the children the sound-making objects or pictures at either end of the room.
- Play the sound effects to match the objects.
- Can the children name the objects and match these with the corresponding sounds.
- This game is like a traditional game of musical statues.
- Explain that the children are going to dance to the music in the middle of the large space. When the music stops, the children need to listen to the sound effect and run to the corresponding object/picture.
- Play the music. Stop the music. Play/make the sound effect.
- Once the children have run to the corresponding object or picture, replay the sound effect to check that they matched the sound to the object correctly. The children then return to the centre of the space and play continues in this way several times.
Phonics Phase 1 Game 3: Busy Birds
Bird sounds are brilliant for building into your Phonics Phase 1 game opportunities because they:
- Build an awareness of similarities and differences in the natural world.
- Support vocabulary development by naming birds and describing their sounds.
- Provide a real-life opportunity to compare similarities and differences in sound.
- Are free to listen to, birds live all around us!
Play along with this popular video or use these Noisy Birds to play an interactive version with your little learners.
Phonics Phase 1 Game 4: Pass the box
Whenever I’m introducing Letters and Sounds Phase 1 alternatives to schools, nurseries, or playgroups, I love to start with a song! Singing is so important for building memory, exercising mouth muscles, and it’s lots of fun too! This game is also in Super Sounds, and I can guarantee your children will love this one!
What you need
- A box
- Toys or objects matched to the sounds you want the children to make. For example, Farm Animals, Jungle Animals, Vehicles.
- You could use pictures or photos if you don’t have the toys.
How to Play
- Explain that the children are going to be playing a game by making noises matched to the objects.
- Show the children each of the toys / pictures you’ll be using for the game.
- Name them and make their sounds all together. Put the toys or pictures into the box.
- Explain that the children are going to be singing a song to begin the game.
- As they sing, the children pass the box around the group. At the end of the song, the child holding the box will look inside the box.
- The child holding the box should peep inside, choosing a toy.
- This child shouldn’t take the toy out of the box or tell the children which one they have chosen. Instead, this child will give the other children a sound clue for the children to guess which toy they have picked.
- For example, “choo choo” for the train, “mooooo” for the cow. This will need modelling by an adult first.
- The other children in the group should guess the toy.
- The child with the box can reveal whether they were right by holding up the toy as all the children to make the sound again, all together.
- Repeat the game multiple times by singing the song, passing the box, and encouraging the children to make/ guess the sounds for further toys in the box.
Phonics Phase 1 Game 5: Who is knocking at the door?
This is a great game to play with 2 adults, especially if your children have favourite characters like Peppa Pig or Santa Claus. You don’t need anything to play this game, but you can make it even more fun by dressing up with character props or using toys as noise making characters.
Super speedy phase 1 phonics planning solutions for introducing environmental sounds
If your preschooler enjoyed playing these preschool listening games and you want to continue the prephonics fun, then Super Sounds is just what you need
It’s an evidence-based, tried and tested prephonics programme that is designed specifically for 2,3 and 4 year olds.
Perfect for using before any phonics programme, Super Sounds is uniquely written for a fun and engaging approach to teaching a progression of prephonic skills step by step.
Whether you want fresh ideas as an alternative to Phase 1 Phonics, or you’re new to phonics in nursery and don’t know where to start, Super Sounds is waiting for you!