Strand A: Foundations of Language and Mathematics · Talking, Listening, Reading and WritingBeginning Sounds and Sound Play
A2.3About 20 minutes
Learning goals- I can hear the first sound in a word.
- I can find words that start with the same sound.
- I can put sounds together to make a word.
- I can change a sound to make a new word.
- I can pull a short word apart and count its sounds.
Words to know
sound
What we hear. Words are made of little sounds put together.
beginning sound
The very first sound you hear in a word. Sun begins with /s/.
ending sound
The very last sound you hear in a word. Cat ends with /t/.
blend
To push sounds together to make a word: /s/ /u/ /n/ makes sun.
Words are made of sounds
(Grown-up: read aloud. When you see a letter between slashes, like /s/, say the sound, not the letter name. /s/ sounds like a snake: "sssss".)
Say sun very slowly: sss-uuu-nnn.
Did you hear it? The word sun is made of little sounds squished together! The very first sound is /s/.
🐍☀️🧦
snake, sun, sock. They all begin with the same sound: /s/.Same beginning sound
Listen: snake, sun, sock. They all start with sssss!
Now listen: moon, mitten, milk. They all start with mmmmm. Put your lips together and hum: mmm.
To find the beginning sound, say the word slowly and stretch the first part. Notice how your mouth moves.
Moon, mitten, milk: they all start with mmm. Can you find all three in the picture? AI-generated image| Beginning sound | Words that start with it |
|---|
| /s/ (sss) | sun ☀️, snake 🐍, sock 🧦 |
| /m/ (mmm) | moon 🌙, mitten 🧤, milk 🥛 |
| /b/ (b) | ball ⚽, bear 🐻, bus 🚌 |
| /f/ (fff) | fish 🐟, fox 🦊, feather 🪶 |
Worked exampleLet's find the odd one out
Which word starts with a different sound? bear 🐻, ball ⚽, fish 🐟
- Say each word slowly. B-ear. B-all. F-ish.
- Bear starts with /b/. Ball starts with /b/.
- Fish starts with /f/. That's different!
Fish is the odd one out. Bear and ball both start with /b/.
Pushing sounds together
Now let's be sound builders! A grown-up says sounds slowly. You push them together to make a word.
/d/ ... /o/ ... /g/. Faster: d-o-g. Faster: dog! 🐶
We can also pull a word apart. Mop → /m/ /o/ /p/. Touch your head, your tummy and your toes, one sound each.
Worked exampleLet's change a sound to make a new word
Start with the word cat. Change the first sound to /h/. What new word do you get?
- Say cat: /c/ /a/ /t/.
- Take away the first sound /c/. We have -at left.
- Put /h/ at the front: /h/ /a/ /t/.
- Push it together: hat!
Cat becomes hat 🎩. Try /m/: mat. Try /s/: sat. Try /b/: bat.
The ending sound
Words have an end, too. Say bus slowly: b-u-sss. The last sound is /s/.
Say cat slowly: c-a-t. The last sound is /t/.
Counting sounds
Short words like sun, mop and pig have 3 sounds: a beginning, a middle and an end.
Say pig slowly and hold up a finger for each sound: /p/ (1), /i/ (2), /g/ (3). Three sounds!
The middle sound is the hardest to hear. Stretch the word like gum: piiig. Hear the /i/ in the middle?
| Word | Sounds | How many? |
|---|
| sun ☀️ | /s/ /u/ /n/ | 3 |
| mop 🧹 | /m/ /o/ /p/ | 3 |
| pig 🐷 | /p/ /i/ /g/ | 3 |
| up ⬆️ | /u/ /p/ | 2 |
Say pure sounds
Try to say "mmm", not "muh", and "sss", not "suh". Short sounds like /b/, /d/ and /t/ can't be stretched, so say them quickly and quietly.
Just for funWhich animal practises the /s/ sound all day long?
A snake! 🐍 Ssssss!
Hands-on activityI Spy with sounds
Play "I Spy" with beginning sounds instead of colours.
- A grown-up says: "I spy something that starts with /c/." (cup, couch, cookie)
- The child looks around and guesses.
- Switch! The child says the sound and the grown-up guesses.
Sound box: Put 4 or 5 small things in a box (a spoon, a sock, a toy car, a cup, a button). Sort them by beginning sound. Which ones start the same?
Your turn
1What is the first sound in sun ☀️?
2What is the first sound in moon 🌙?
3Which starts like ball ⚽: bear 🐻 or fish 🐟?
Bear. Ball and bear both start with /b/.
4Push the sounds together: /s/ /u/ /n/.
5Push the sounds together: /p/ /i/ /g/.
6Change the first sound in cat to /m/. What word is it now?
7Say a word that starts with the same sound as your name.
Answers will vary. Example: for Sara, "sock" or "soup". Check that the first sounds match.
8Pull apart sun. Hold up a finger for each sound. How many sounds?
More practice: warm-up
1What is the first sound in fish 🐟?
2Do milk and mitten start the same?
Yes. Both start with /m/.
3Do dog and sun start the same?
No. Dog starts with /d/ and sun starts with /s/.
4Push the sounds together: /c/ /a/ /t/.
5What is the first sound in bus 🚌?
More practice: on your own
1Which one is the odd one out? 🐍 snake, 🧦 sock, 🐻 bear
Bear. Snake and sock start with /s/; bear starts with /b/.
2Pull apart the word mop into its sounds. Touch head, tummy, toes.
/m/ /o/ /p/: head /m/, tummy /o/, toes /p/. Mop has 3 sounds.
3What is the last sound in bus 🚌?
/s/. Say it slowly: bu-sss.
4Change the first sound in hat to /b/. What word is it now?
Bat. Take off /h/ and put /b/ at the front: b-at.
5Find something in the room that starts with /c/ (the sound in cup).
Answers will vary: cup, couch, cookie, car, carpet, coat, crayon. Check the first sound.
Challenge
1Push the sounds together: /f/ /r/ /o/ /g/.
Frog 🐸. There are 4 sounds; the /f/ and /r/ go together quickly at the start.
2Change the last sound in cat to /p/. What word is it now?
Cap. Keep ca- and change /t/ to /p/: ca-p.
3What is the middle sound in pig 🐷?
/i/. Stretch it: p-iii-g. The middle sound is /i/, like at the start of igloo.
Quiz
1. Which picture starts with the /s/ sound (sss)?
2. Which one starts like moon 🌙?
3. /d/ /o/ /g/ makes which word?
4. Change the first sound in cat to /h/. What is the new word?
5. Which one starts with a different sound? (Listen to the beginning of each.)
Why this matters: Hearing the separate sounds in words (phonemic awareness) is what lets a child connect sounds to letters later. In this lesson everything is done by ear. Letters come in the next lesson.
How to help at home:
- Play "I Spy" with sounds in the car or at the grocery store.
- Use a "robot voice" to say words in parts (/b/ /u/ /s/) and let your child guess the word.
- Point out words that start like your child's name.
Common difficulties:
- Saying the letter name instead of the sound ("bee" instead of /b/). Model the sound and keep it short.
- Adding "uh" to sounds ("suh-u-nuh"). This makes blending harder. Stretch sounds like mmm, sss and fff, and say stop sounds like /b/ and /t/ quickly.
- Blending is hard at first. Start with two parts (sn... ake) before single sounds. Middle and ending sounds are harder than beginning sounds. Practise them often: by the end of Kindergarten, the 2026 curriculum expects children to blend and pull apart all the sounds in short words like sun and pig.