Daily Pre-Phonics Skills for Pre-school Children

Preschool children are curious explorers, soaking up language and sound through everyday experiences. Embedding pre-phonics skills into their daily routines allows them to naturally develop abilities like listening and attention, phonological awareness (rhyme, rhythm, and syllables), and phonemic awareness (alliteration, oral blending, and segmenting).

Here’s how to support these essential pre-phonics skills, from arrival to departure, through engaging, natural teaching moments both indoors and outdoors. If you’re ready to advance your practice, explore our Pre-Phonics Word Recognition Confidence Questionnaire or connect with your Early Years Consultant or Start Well for tailored support.

Morning Arrival: Listening and Attention Begins at the Door

The day starts with opportunities to encourage listening, attention, and word recognition.

Skills Supported:

• Listening and attention
• Vocabulary development
• Name recognition

Ideas to Try:

• Sound Spotting: Ask children to pause and notice the sounds around them as they arrive (e.g., footsteps, car engines, or the hum of voices). “What can you hear?”
• Personal Greetings: Greet each child with a fun, alliterative phrase: “Good morning, marvelous Mia!” This draws their attention to the beginning sounds of their names.
• Name Recognition: Use name cards or a visual sign-in system. As children find their names, say the sounds in their name slowly (e.g., “M-a-x spells Max!”).

Free Play and Exploration: Learning Through Discovery

This is the perfect time to support listening, phonological awareness, and sound exploration as children engage in self-directed play.

Skills Supported:

• Sound discrimination
• Rhythm and rhyme
• Early word awareness

Ideas to Try:

• Loose Parts Play: As children explore items like buttons, shells, and stones, describe the sounds they make (e.g., “When you shake the shells, they go clink-clink!”). This builds auditory discrimination.
• Rhyming Chat: Naturally include rhyming words in your conversations: “You’re building a tall wall that won’t fall!” Encourage children to join in by thinking of new rhymes.
• Action and Sound Matching: During play with cars, animals, or building blocks, imitate and describe sounds. “The cow says moo. Can you make the sound too?”

Group Time: Phonological Awareness in Action

Group time provides an excellent opportunity for structured activities focusing on rhythm, rhyme, and sound segmentation.

Skills Supported:

• Phonological awareness (rhyme, syllables, rhythm)
• Alliteration
• Sound blending and segmenting

Ideas to Try:

• Clap the Beats: Clap syllables in names or common objects. For example, “Let’s clap: e-le-phant! How many beats?”
• Alliteration Fun: Play games like “I Spy” with a focus on initial sounds: “I spy something that starts with ‘t’ (table)!”
• Blending Game: Use real words in play. For instance, say, “Let’s sit on the /m/-/a/-/t/. What’s the word? Mat!” This builds early oral blending skills.

Outdoor Adventures: Building Sound and Listening Skills in Nature

The outdoors offers endless opportunities for natural sound exploration and phonological awareness.

Skills Supported:

• Listening and attention
• Sound discrimination
• Rhythm and beat

Ideas to Try:

• Sound Walks: Pause and listen to the environment. Ask, “What do you hear? Is it loud or soft?” This sharpens auditory discrimination.
• Rhythms in Nature: Use sticks, rocks, or leaves to create beats on natural surfaces. Encourage children to mimic or invent their own rhythms.
• Outdoor Rhyming: Play rhyming games with natural elements: “What rhymes with tree? Bee!”

Snack and Mealtime: Conversation Builds Language

These moments are ideal for engaging children in natural conversations that enhance vocabulary and sound awareness.

Skills Supported:

• Vocabulary development
• Listening and attention
• Sound blending

Ideas to Try:

• Food Sounds: Talk about how their food sounds, such as crunching or slurping. “What sound does your cracker make?”
• Rhyme at the Table: Play quick rhyming games while eating. “Who can think of a word that rhymes with ‘bread?’”
• Oral Blending Practice: Segment a word like “milk” (/m/-/i/-/l/-/k/) and ask, “What’s the word?”

Active Play and Movement: Sound in Motion

During active play, children can engage with rhythm, beat, and sound through their physical experiences.

Skills Supported:

• Rhythm and beat recognition
• Listening and attention
• Phonological awareness

Ideas to Try:

• Musical Movement: Encourage children to stomp, clap, or jump to the beat of a drum or music. Pause the music for a fun “freeze” moment to practice listening.
• Action Rhymes: Add rhymes to their movements: “Jump, hop, wiggle, and stop!” Children will naturally repeat and learn.
• Name That Sound: Create sounds with natural or play objects (like tapping a stick or ringing a bell) and ask children to guess the source.

Creative Play: Art and Sound Exploration

Art time is a chance to explore the connection between visual creation and auditory awareness.

Skills Supported:

• Phonological awareness (rhyme and rhythm)
• Sound recognition
• Name identification

Ideas to Try:

• Rhyme and Draw: Ask children to draw something that rhymes with a word you say: “What rhymes with ‘hat’? Can you draw a cat?”
• Painting with Rhythm: Play music as children paint or draw. Ask them to make big strokes for loud music and small strokes for quiet tunes.
• Name Art: Encourage children to write or decorate their name, saying the sounds of the letters as they work.

Quiet Time: Restful Listening and Reflection

Even during quiet moments, you can support listening and sound awareness.

Skills Supported:

• Listening and attention
• Auditory memory
• Rhyme and rhythm recognition

Ideas to Try:

• Calming Rhymes: Recite gentle rhymes or lullabies to help children settle. Pause for them to finish the rhyme’s last word.
• Soft Sound Games: Whisper a simple word and have them repeat it back. Try breaking it into sounds: “Let’s say /d/-/o/-/g/. What’s the word?”
• Storytime: Read books with rhythmic or rhyming text, letting children chime in on repeated phrases.

Saying Goodbye: Wrapping Up the Day with Sounds

Departure is another chance to practice recognition, rhythm, and blending skills.

Skills Supported:

• Name recognition
• Oral blending and segmenting
• Auditory memory

Ideas to Try:

• Farewell Rhymes: Use their names in a rhyme or chant as they leave: “Goodbye, Sam. Goodbye, Pam. We’ll see you tomorrow with a big hand!”
• Name Spotting: Encourage children to find their name on their cubby or coat hook, saying the sounds in their name as they go.
• Blending Game: Ask a fun oral blending question, like, “Who is taking home a /b/-/a/-/g/? That’s right, a bag!”

Take Your Practice Further

Want to deepen your understanding of pre-phonics skills? Explore our Pre-Phonics Word Recognition Confidence Questionnaire to assess your strategies and discover new approaches.

Contact your Early Years Consultant or Start Well for additional support and resources.

Start Well Service

Call: 01204 338149

Email: startwell@bolton.gov.uk