25 Ready to blend & read activities

Letter Hop: Place letter cards on the floor. Call out a letter’s name or sound, and have the child hop to it.
Word Jump: Write simple words on large cards. Lay them out, and ask the child to jump to a word you say.
Alphabet Race: Spread letter cards around the room. Call out letters, and the child runs to collect them in order.
Sound Scavenger Hunt: Hide letter or word cards around the house. Have the child find them and say the sounds or read the words aloud.
Action Words: Write action words (like jump, clap, run) on cards. The child reads the card and performs the action.

Letter Collage: Cut out letters from magazines and create a collage of words or names.
Alphabet Chalk: Write letters outside with chalk. Say a sound or word, and the child hops to the correct letter.
Sand Writing: Use a tray of sand or salt to trace letters and words as you say them.
Puppet Stories: Use puppets to read a simple story, helping the child act out scenes and repeat key words.
Playdough Words: Form letters or words with playdough while practicing their sounds.

Letter Bingo: Create bingo cards with letters. Call out a sound, and the child covers the matching letter.
Word Puzzles: Write simple words on cards, cut them into pieces, and have the child piece them back together.
Memory Match: Create a memory game with pairs of matching letter cards (uppercase/lowercase or sound/letter).
I Spy with Letters: Play “I Spy” using initial letter sounds (“I spy something that starts with b”).
Roll a Word: Use a dice and a set of letter cards. Roll the dice and pick that many letters to build a word.

Story Starters: Read the beginning of a simple story and let the child guess or create the next part.
Character Voices: Read a story aloud, using fun voices for different characters, and encourage your child to join in.
Echo Reading: Read a sentence aloud, and the child repeats it back to you, matching your tone and pace.
Label the House: Label items in the house with their names (e.g., door, chair). Encourage the child to read the labels daily.
Word Detective: Pick a book and ask your child to find specific words on the page, like and or cat.

Phonics Songs: Sing songs about letters and their sounds, like “A says /a/.” Clap along to make it fun.
Nursery Rhyme Change-Up: Read a familiar rhyme and replace words with silly alternatives. Ask the child to spot the changes.
Sound Blending Songs: Sing a word like “c-a-t” slowly, then blend it together. Have the child guess the word.
Rhyming Pairs: Say a word, and the child responds with a rhyming word (e.g., cat → hat).
Word Dance Party: Write simple words on cards. Play music, and when the music stops, the child reads the word they land on.