Sounds at the start of words

Ages 3 to 5 Read and do together · about 10 minutes

Read together

Words are made of sounds. Listen: ball, ball, b, b, b!

Ball starts with b. What else starts with b?

Do it

1. Pick a sound, such as b. Say it slowly: “b, b, b”.
2. Look around for things that start with it: ball, book, banana, bed.
3. Play a game: say three words, such as “ball, bat, cat”. Ask which one starts differently.
4. Do not teach letter names yet. Just play with sounds. Try another sound tomorrow.

Talk about it

• What else starts with b?
• Can you find a word that does not?

For the grown-up

Hearing the sounds inside words is one of the best early steps toward reading. It is a listening game, and needs no paper.

You can play in any language you speak.

Mark as done

Next lesson →

Where this comes from

• National Early Literacy Panel, Developing Early Literacy: Report of the National Early Literacy Panel (National Institute for Literacy, 2008)
• American Academy of Pediatrics, “Literacy Promotion: An Essential Component of Primary Care Pediatric Practice”, Pediatrics 134 (2014): 404 to 409

Written with AI assistance and checked against the sources listed. Please read it before sharing it with a child.