Almost Free Phonics Game

This is a game that I made up to teach phonics to my kids. You can do this at several levels and even use it to teach spelling and math.

That Says

Materials needed:
index cards
newspapers
tape
scissors
markers

Instructions:
1.Cut index cards in half. Write That Says on one side of each half card.
2.Cut out one upper case and one lower case character of each alphabet letter you want to work with. “A”, “a”, “B”, “b”, “C”, “c” etc. I recommend you start out with only 5 to 7 letters.
3. Tape each character on the index cards. If your child is an artistic type, put the letter towards the top of the card, leaving room for your child to illustrate the sound the letter makes. Have him draw an apple on the “a” cards, a book on the “b” cards etc. This helps him remember the sounds, but is not essential.
4. Start out playing concentration or memory with these cards. Place each card face down on the table and encourage your child to make matches by turning the cards over 2 at a time. Each time your child turns a card over say, “That’s the A that says a in apple. Can you find the other “a” that says a in apple?” or, “That’s the d that says d in dog. Can you find the other D that says d in dog?” You get the drift. Just make sure you do this with every card they turn over. After awhile, they will be able to tell you what the card is and what the letter says.
5. Add one or two new letters every few days once they can identfy the current letters are.
6. After a while, you will have to many cards for concentration. Switch to a “Go Fish” type game. Deal each player 7 cards. Players take turns asking other players if they have the matching card. If the other player has the matching card, they must give it to the asking player. Then the asking player must say, “I have the h that says h in helper.” before they can put it on the table.
7. Once the basic sounds are mastered, other sounds can be added by just making two cards of each sound. At this level the cards should have both the letters and a word with the sound they make, such as ow and low or ow and cow.
8. Eventually this can be turned into a spelling game with players earning points by making words from the cards in their hands. You can even add a little math by numbering the cards 1 through 9 and scoring by adding the numbers on the cards. To add multiplication, add the numbers on the cards and multiply by the number of letters in the word.