Looking for fun syllable activities? You’ve hit the jackpot!
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Hamburger. Ham-bur-ger.
Macaroni. Mac-a-ro-ni.
Motorcycle. Mo-tor-cy-cle.
Did you know that the ability to break words into syllables is an important part of phonological awareness? Phonological awareness. That’s a big teacher-y word, but it’s easy to define.
Phonological awareness = the awareness of sounds within words
Kids need phonological awareness before they learn to read. That’s why I’m sharing six fun ways to teach kids how to count syllables as part of our Get Ready for Kindergarten series. And here’s some great news – counting syllables is fun!
1. Jump.
First, I used painter’s tape to make a numbered ladder on the floor. My Four stood behind the first line. Then I held up a picture card (get them at the end of this post), and he jumped once for each syllable.
“Ham-bur-ger.” He looked down to see what number he was standing on. That’s how many syllables the word had.
He loved this and breezed through 24 cards in no time!
2. Sort pictures.
Next, I put the 1,2,3 and 4 syllable headers on our pocket chart. My Two handed her older brother one card at at time. He named the picture, breaking it into syllables as he did so. Finally, he filed the picture under the proper header.
I showed him how to clap the syllables, but he only needed to do that once. By saying each word slowly, he easily counted the syllables. “Cal-cu-la-tor. Four!”
3. Sort objects.
My Seven and Nine gathered toys for me that were one, two, three, or four syllables. Then I provided some sorting containers for my preschooler to sort them.
4. Manipulate.
Print these free cards from This Reading Mama. Then give your child small counters to move, one at a time, as he says each syllable. Have him count the manipulatives to see how many syllables are in each word.
5. Build.
Check out This Reading Mama’s post about counting syllables with duplo bricks – you’ll also get a set of free picture cards.
6. Clip it!
Just grab our free syllable clip cards, and have your child clip the correct number of syllables with a clothespin.
And there you have it – six hands-on ways to teach syllables!
Get the free sorting cards below. You’ll find a total of 48 cards, in three different formats – depending on how much ink you want to use. 😉 Make sure you select the pages you want instead of printing the whole document.
Get your free syllable activities!
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Your students can complete these activities in Google Slides on a computer or tablet – no printing necessary! The resource includes activities for rhyming, syllable counting, beginning sounds, and upper/lowercase matching.
Free Reading Printables for Pre-K-3rd Grade
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Thank you, Anna! LOVE the syllable cards–the one with clapping hands. So useful in my K/1 Classroom!
Yay – so glad you can use them, Michelle!
Supper ideas! You;re an angel! Thank you so much!
Thank you, Caty!
thank you sooooo much
You’re very welcome!
Hello, I am Marianthi ,a primary school teacher from Greece, Your idea with cards is excellent. I loved it. Fortunately , greek language has words with many syllabels and your idea hels students to learn easier.I wanted to use them , but I cant print them. Anyway you are very clever and excellent teacher. My best wishes let follow you!
Hi Marianthi! Underneath the post is a link that says “is the file not downloading? or is it not printing correctly?” If you click there you’ll probably find the solution to your printing problem.
Where can I get syllable pocket chart sort?
There’s a green box that says “To get your free printable click HERE.”
THANK YOU! I am new to teaching kindergarten and your resources are spectacular! Thank you for all the hard work you’ve put into them…. and for making them free 😉
You’re so welcome, Eli! I hope they make your transition to a new teaching position go a little more smoothly. 🙂
I just joined, and I love it! Thank you so much for sharing.
Welcome, Carol – so glad to have you with us!
Thank you soo much Ms Anna Geiger for the printable documents you upload.. you are doing a great job by helping the students soon to be novice teachers.
I am blown away with everything you have here! Thank you for sharing and all the time you put into everything!
You’re very welcome, Rhonda, and thank you for your kind comment!
I love these cards, thank you! If you are teaching on a carpet, you can use chalk to make the jumping lines instead of painter’s tape. I use it all the time! Another chalk activity is to make letter boxes and sort objects by their first, last or middle sound.
I’ve never tried chalk on carpet, Ann – thanks so much for the idea!
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Thank you so much for your kind words, Saleh! I’m so glad my materials are useful for your students!
These activities are enriching.I like the activites done how to reinforce or count the syllables.
I’m so glad you like them, Karen!
Thank you for the hard effort you’re putting into making teaching a little easier. I really enjoy reading your ideas. I hope you keep enriching our teaching .
Thank you so much for the encouragement, Ahmad! I hope to be doing this for many years!
your site is wonderful. thank you so much!
I’m so glad you found me, Leslie!
thank you so much ^^
You’re welcome, Youn!
Thank you so much !For your wonderful effort.
You’re very welcome, Anjali!
Hello! I would love the cards that first appear on the page- the ones that are in the pocket chart with the clapping hands and numbered heading 1-4, then the picture cards with words. I have scoured the page for the link to the them, but have only found links to the other card sets.
Thank you!
Emily
Click the big green button that says “to get your free printable, click HERE.” It’s toward the end of the post.
I would love these too! They are very well done! It would take me forever to put a set like that together! The green box (free printable) takes you to the clip a syllable cards).
Thank you!!
I just checked, and the link does go to the pictures of the clapping hands and picture cards. 🙂
Thank you these activity cards are awesome, my students love them and have become super supers, than you again, Emma
Absolutely love your original ideas for teaching syllables! Cant wait to try the hopscotch this week. Thank you!
I am so grateful that you continue to offer such quality resources for free!
Hi! Thank you soooo much ! These are great. Well done you!!
I would like to ask you, if you think that these would be any good for older children, year 3, or 4 to develop syllable?
Yes, I think so!
Hi thanks for sharing these lovely ideas. It`s very nice of you. You are an inspiration to me and many others, I work as a learning support educator in Malta and I can`t wait to use these beautiful ideas with the students I support. thanks so much xx