Phonics: Environmental Sounds

To develop listening skills and sound discrimination as foundation for phonics.

Objectives

Materials

Instructions

Explain why listening matters in language children understand: 'To be good readers, we need to be brilliant listeners! We need to hear tiny differences between sounds. Let's train our ears to be super listeners!'

Start with easy distinctions. Bang a drum loudly, then quietly. 'Was that loud or quiet?' Play instruments and let children call out 'LOUD!' or whisper 'quiet'. This establishes the fundamental idea of listening carefully and noticing differences.

Use sound lotto games—either commercial ones or your own recordings. Play a sound—a doorbell, dog barking, rain—and children find the matching picture. 'Listen carefully... what can you hear?' Repeat sounds as often as children need.

Take sound walks around the setting or outdoor area. Walk in silence, stopping periodically: 'What can you hear right now?' Children might hear birds, wind, voices, cars. Record sounds on a phone to discuss and identify later.

Play 'What made that sound?' games. Close your eyes, make a sound—shake a tambourine, crinkle paper—and children guess what made it. Then let children take turns being the sound-maker whilst others guess.

Move towards finer discrimination. 'This is a high sound [play high note], this is a low sound [play low note]. Can you tell the difference?' Try fast and slow, long and short. These distinctions prepare children for distinguishing speech sounds later.

Play with vocal sounds together. Can children make a long 'aaaaa' and a short 'a'? Can they whisper, then speak loudly? Can they make their voice go up like a question and down like a statement? This voice control supports phonics development.

When children are confident with environmental sounds, begin linking to speech: 'You're brilliant at hearing sounds! Soon we'll listen to the tiny sounds inside words. The sound at the start of sun is sssss. Can you hear it?'

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