33 Easy Phonological Awareness Activities for Preschool

Phonological awareness is an umbrella term for the ability to recognize and play with the sound structure of spoken language. It includes noticing that sentences are made of words, words can be broken down into syllables as well as broken down into the onset and rime (not to be confused with rhyme).  Phonological awareness also includes rhyming (different from rime) and alliteration.  At the most advanced level, phonological awareness also includes hearing the individual sounds that make up words. This is called phonemic awareness.  Phonemic awareness includes segmenting and blending sounds as well as manipulating and substituting sounds.  

Basically, phonological awareness is a child's ability to learn that speech can be broken down into smaller and smaller units.  New to phonological awareness? Start with our blog on what is phonological awareness and how to teach it.  This blog is specifically phonological awareness activities. But if you are looking for phonemic awareness activities, we have those too.

1. Keep it short. A couple of minutes, a few times a day, beats one long lesson.
2. Pick 1 or 2 skills at a time. You don't have to do every phonological awareness activity on this list at once.
3. Prioritize blending and segmenting. They have the strongest link to learning to read. You'll find them at every level below.
4. Model first. The best way to teach is: I do (As in, you do it and model or talk through how to do it), we do (As in, you and the children do the skill together), and last, you do (As in, the child does the activity independently).
5. Say sounds, not letter names, and snip the extra sound. Say /m/, not "em" or "muh."

Word awareness means knowing a sentence is made of separate words. Start with 2-word sentences and build up to 5. Say them naturally, without long pauses between words.

1. Snack Words (Low prep)
Routine: snack
Try this:
1. Say, "I'm going to say a sentence. Push a cracker forward for every word you hear.
2. "Model: "Kelly ran." Push two crackers. "Two words!"
3. Together: "I like waffles." Then let them try: "You have two dogs." Then they get to eat their words!

2. Count the Directions (No prep)
Routine: any transition
Try this:
1. Give a direction and count the words on your fingers as you say it. "Time to get our coats."
2. Ask, "How many words did I say?" (Five!)
3. Let a child hold up fingers while you say the next one.

3. Word Hop (No prep)

4. One Word or Two? (No prep)
Routine: circle time or waiting in line
Try this:
1. Say, "I'm going to say two things. Which one has two words?" "Cream... or ice cream?" (Ice cream!) "My dog... or donkey?" (My dog!)
2. Have them hold up one or two fingers to answer.

5. Word Toss (Low prep)
Routine: outside or gym
Try this:
1. Stand in a circle with a basket of soft balls. Say a short sentence.  As you say the sentence, toss one ball to a different child for each word. "We. Go. Outside." Three tosses, three words (3 kids caught a ball).

6. Build a Sentence (No prep)
Routine: circle time, for older 4s and 5s
Try this:
1. Say, "Can you make a sentence with three words?"
2. Help them: "I see... Mom!" Clap each word together.
3. Then try four words, then five.

Syllables are the parts of the word that contains a vowel or a vowel sound. Syllabication is the ability to separate a word into syllables (e.g., cake (1 syllable), cow-boy (2 syllables), ba-na-na (3 syllables).  Start with compound words (cowboy), then 2-syllable words (flower), then 3 or more (strawberry). Blending (putting parts together) is easier than segmenting (pulling them apart), so start there.

7. Clap Your Name (No prep)
Routine: arrival or attendance
Try this:
1. Say each child's name and clap the parts together. "Gi-o-van-na. Four claps!"
2. Ask, "Who has a one-clap name? Who has three?"
3. Switch it up: stomp, pat knees, or tap shoulders.

8. Robot Directions (No prep)
Routine: any transition
Try this: 
1. Give directions in a robot voice, one syllable at a time. "Get your... back-pack."
2. Children blend the word and do the action.
Try: "Wash your... fin-gers." "Sit on the... car-pet."

9. Feed the Puppet (Low prep)
Routine: dramatic play kitchen
Try this:
1. Grab any puppet or stuffed animal and some play food.
2. Say, "My friend is hungry, but he talks in a silly way. Help him put his words together!"
3. Puppet says, "A-pple." Child blends it and feeds him. Try dough-nut, straw-ber-y, car-ot.

10. Playdough Smash and Pull Apart (Low prep)
Routine: table time
Try this:
1. Smash (blending): Children hold a small ball for each part you say. "Cow... boy." Smash them together: "Cowboy!"
2. Pull apart (segmenting): Give one big ball. "Flower." Children pull off a piece for each part. "Flow... er!"
3. Move from compound words to 2-syllable words to 3-syllable words.

11. What's in the Box? (Low prep)
Routine: circle time
Try this:
1. Put a few toys in any box or bag.
2. Sing to the tune of "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star": What's in the box? Let's take a peek. Pull out a toy, what could it be? Clap the sounds, nice and slow. Let's count the beats, ready, go!
3. A child pulls out a toy and the group claps its parts. "Din-o-saur. Three claps!"

12. Hoop Hop (Low prep)
Routine: outside
Try this:
1. Lay a few hula hoops (or chalk circles) in a row.
2. Say a word. Children jump into one hoop for each part. "Wa-ter-mel-on!" Four hoops!
3. Let children call out words from the playground: "slide," "swing-set," "sand-box."

13. Mixed-Up Words (No prep)
Routine: waiting in line, for older 4s and 5s
Try this:
1. Say a compound word backwards. "Bow... rain."
2. Ask, "Uh oh, I mixed it up! What's the real word?" (Rainbow!)
3. Try: "cake... cup," "ball... foot," "man... snow."

These rhyming activities for preschool start easy and build to the hardest rhyme skill, making up rhymes.
Teach rhyming in this order:
1. First have the children decide whether two words rhyme (Literally "yes" or "no". Do these two words sound the same at the end, yes or no?)
2. Then say 3 or 4 words and have them find the one word that doesn't rhyme with the others (e.g., Car, far, dog, What word does not rhyme, it sounds different at the end.) 
3. Next move to matching rhymes (e.g., You say a word and they have to find something that rhymes with that word) 
4. Last, have the children make up a rhyme on their own. Silly made-up words always count!

14. Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down (No prep)
Routine: circle time or waiting in line
Try this:
1. Say, "Rhyming words sound the same at the end. Nose, rose. They rhyme!"
2. Say two words. Thumbs up if they rhyme, thumbs down if they don't. "Hat, cat?" "Bed, car?"
3. Have children repeat the rhyming pairs out loud.

15. Odd One Out (No prep)
Routine: waiting in line
Try this:
1. Say four words. Three rhyme and one doesn't. "Weed, bead, pill, seed."
2. Ask, "Which one doesn't belong?" (Pill!)
3. Start with three words for younger children: "cat, hat, sun."

16. Rhyming Riddles (No prep)
Routine: snack or lunch
Try this:
1. "I'm thinking of something you eat with a spoon. It rhymes with nogurt." (Yogurt!)
2. "I'm thinking of something you drink every day. It rhymes with pater." (Water!)
3. "I'm thinking of something you go down at the playground. It rhymes with flide." (Slide!)

17. Slide When It Rhymes (No prep)

18. Rhyme Hunt (No prep)
Routine: clean up
Try this:
1. "Can you find something that rhymes with cook?" (Book!)
2. "Find something that rhymes with rock." (Block!) That child puts it away.
3. Try: "rink" (sink), "boar" (door), "hair" (chair).

19. Rhyme Call (No prep)
Routine: transitions
Try this:
1. Instead of calling a child's name, say a word that rhymes with it. "This spot is for someone whose name rhymes with dawn." (Shawn!)
2. That child gets to line up, wash hands, or pick a seat.
3. Made-up words work great: "Rhymes with Bia... Mia!"

20. Rhyme Roll Call (No prep)
Routine: lining up
Try this:
1. "I'll start us off. Mop, hop..."
2. Each child adds one rhyming word as they get in line. "Top!" "Stop!" "Dop!"
3. When you run out, start a new rhyme. "Bug, rug..."

21. Splat the Rhyme (Low prep)
Routine: table time
Try this:
1. Put a few toys on the table: a cow, a car, a block.
2. Give two children a fly swatter (or let them use their hands)."
3. Splat the toy that rhymes with how!" (Cow!)

Alliteration is when words close together start with the same sound. Listen to the sound, not the letter!! "Phone" and "fish" start the same, but "shoe" and "sun" don't.  

22. Match and Move (No prep)
Routine: waiting in line
Try this:
1. "If both words start with the same sound, jump! If not, freeze like a statue."
2. "Cows moo." Jump! "Run fast." Freeze!
3. Try: "bees buzz," "soft blanket," "more milk," "monkeys dance."

23. Which One Starts Different? (No prep)
Routine: circle time
Try this:
1. Say four words. Three start the same, one doesn't. "Bus, bat, cow, book."
2. "Which one starts with a different sound?" (Cow!)
3. Try: "fast, fall, nose, feet" and "mom, money, move, top."

24. Popcorn Sounds (No prep)
Routine: handwashing or lining up
Try this:
1. "When you hear a word that starts like your name, pop up like popcorn!"
2. "Car!" Everyone whose name starts with /k/ pops up and goes.
3. Keep going: "Sun!" "Tape!" "Milk!"

25. Silly Name Game (No prep)
Routine: arrival or circle time
Try this:
1. Add a word that starts with the same sound as each child's name. "Jumping Jada! Charming Charles!"
2. Stretch the first sound so they hear it. "Mmmighty Mmmarcus."
3. Let children make up silly names for their friends.

26. Sound Snack (Low prep)
Routine: snack
Try this:
1. Serve a snack where everything starts with the same sound. "Today we have carrots, crackers, and cookies!"
2. Ask, "What sound do all our snacks start with?" (/k/!)
3. "Can you think of another food that starts with /k/?" (Cake! Corn!)

27. Tongue Twister Time (No prep)
Routine: any transition
Try this:
1. Make up a short tongue twister with a child's sound. "Talia takes tiny tacos."
2. Say it together slowly, then fast.
3. Ask, "What sound did you hear over and over?" (/t/!)

The onset is the first sound of a word. The rime is the rest. /sh/ + ip = ship. This is the bridge between syllables and single sounds, and it's a great place to practice blending and segmenting.

Want to see these activities in action? Join the training.

A few quick ones, each a couple of minutes long. Pick one or two skills and tuck an activity into three or so routines a day. Short and often beats long and rare.

No. Most of the activities on this list use only your voice and your body. A few use things you already have, like playdough, toys, or a bag.  If you prefer using books, there are so many phonological awareness books you can use too.

You don't need to. Preschoolers who are still building sound awareness don't benefit from adding letters. For older 4s and 5s who already know some letter sounds, adding a letter can help.

For children with speech delays, ask yes/no questions ("Is there a /k/ in cat?"), let them point to pictures, or have them push a block instead of saying the sound. They may hear the sound perfectly even if they can't say it yet.

Yes! Print awareness is an equally important early literacy skill.  You can learn more about print awareness in this blog!

Edelen-Smith, P. J. (1997). How Now Brown Cow: Phonological Awareness Activities. Reading Rockets.

Gritt, A., & Standish, K. (2024). Word Play Throughout the Day: Phonological Awareness in the Preschool Classroom. NAEYC.

Paulson, L. H. (2025). 9 Easy Activities to Boost Syllable and Phoneme Awareness. Brookes Publishing.

Head Start ECLKC. Phonological Awareness: Effective Practice Guide.

Ehri, L. C., et al. (2001). Phonemic awareness instruction helps children learn to read. Reading Research Quarterly. https://doi.org/10.1598/rrq.36.3.2