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PSPKK12355 Comments

5 fun syllable activities

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Looking for fun syllable activities? You’ve hit the jackpot!

My preschooler had so much fun with these free syllable sorting cards. The other syllable activities are great too - especially the jumping one!

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

My preschooler had so much fun with these free syllable sorting cards. The other syllable activities are great too - especially the jumping one!

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!

My preschooler had so much fun with these free syllable sorting cards. The other syllable activities are great too - especially the jumping one!

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!”

My preschooler had so much fun with these free syllable sorting cards. The other syllable activities are great too - especially the jumping one!

 

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Looking for an easy-to-read guide to help you reach all readers? If you teach kindergarten through third grade, this is the book for you. Get practical ideas and lesson plan templates that you can implement tomorrow!

GET YOUR COPY TODAY!

 

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.

Name words that are one, two, three, or four syllables. 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.

As you say words with different amounts of syllables, have your child repeat each word and build a Duplo brick tower – one brick for each syllable.  

My preschooler had so much fun with these free syllable sorting cards. The other syllable activities are great too - especially the jumping one!

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.

YOU’LL LOVE THIS PRACTICAL BOOK!

Looking for an easy-to-read guide to help you reach all readers? If you teach kindergarten through third grade, this is the book for you. Get practical ideas and lesson plan templates that you can implement tomorrow!

GET YOUR COPY TODAY!

Get your free syllable activities!

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD

Syllable Activities

$10.00

Build the skill of syllable counting with this fun variety of printable activities! You’ll find centers, games, sorting cards, and more in this bundle of ten different activities.

Buy Now

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Join our email list and get this sample pack of time-saving resources from our membership site! You'll get phonemic awareness, phonics, and reading comprehension resources ... all free!

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Filed Under: Reading, Pre-reading Tagged With: first grade, kindergarten, syllables, phonological awareness

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Reader Interactions

55 Comments

  1. Asha

    April 20, 2025 at 8:33 am

    Thank you so much for these amazing books. I have been looking for these books. Much appreciated. You made my life so much easier.

    Reply to this comment
  2. Leanne

    March 12, 2022 at 2:42 pm

    Hi Anna, I’m currently teaching are reading skills course – I would love to give my students a link to your post and freebies, if that’s ok?

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna Geiger

      March 12, 2022 at 8:09 pm

      Yes, links to the blog posts are fantastic! Thanks so much for sharing, Leanne!

      Reply to this comment
  3. Kaltun Ali Bobe

    February 20, 2021 at 5:55 am

    Hello Anna,
    Thank you so much for putting up this activity, it helped me for planing one of my assignment in Literacy unit Primary education.

    Reply to this comment
    • Heather Groth, Customer Support

      February 20, 2021 at 5:28 pm

      We’re so glad that it was useful for you, Kaltun!

      Reply to this comment
  4. Ruth Scicluna

    September 1, 2020 at 4:38 pm

    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

    Reply to this comment
  5. Stella Ioannou

    November 21, 2019 at 3:38 pm

    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?

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna G

      November 24, 2019 at 6:03 am

      Yes, I think so!

      Reply to this comment
  6. Susan

    October 22, 2019 at 2:42 pm

    I am so grateful that you continue to offer such quality resources for free!

    Reply to this comment
  7. Robyn

    August 25, 2019 at 8:11 am

    Absolutely love your original ideas for teaching syllables! Cant wait to try the hopscotch this week. Thank you!

    Reply to this comment
  8. Emma Hernandez

    April 10, 2019 at 8:43 am

    Thank you these activity cards are awesome, my students love them and have become super supers, than you again, Emma

    Reply to this comment
  9. Emily

    November 26, 2018 at 9:58 pm

    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

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna G

      November 27, 2018 at 8:42 am

      Click the big green button that says “to get your free printable, click HERE.” It’s toward the end of the post.

      Reply to this comment
      • Lori

        September 28, 2019 at 2:17 pm

        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!!

        Reply to this comment
        • Anna G

          September 28, 2019 at 6:04 pm

          I just checked, and the link does go to the pictures of the clapping hands and picture cards. 🙂

          Reply to this comment
  10. Anjali

    February 19, 2018 at 1:16 am

    Thank you so much !For your wonderful effort.

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna G

      February 23, 2018 at 9:10 am

      You’re very welcome, Anjali!

      Reply to this comment
  11. youn

    February 18, 2018 at 7:44 am

    thank you so much ^^

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna G

      February 22, 2018 at 6:59 am

      You’re welcome, Youn!

      Reply to this comment
  12. leslie

    August 11, 2017 at 11:27 am

    your site is wonderful. thank you so much!

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna G

      August 19, 2017 at 3:35 pm

      I’m so glad you found me, Leslie!

      Reply to this comment
  13. Ahmad

    July 31, 2017 at 2:15 am

    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 .

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna G

      August 12, 2017 at 8:50 am

      Thank you so much for the encouragement, Ahmad! I hope to be doing this for many years!

      Reply to this comment
  14. Karen

    June 22, 2017 at 10:39 am

    These activities are enriching.I like the activites done how to reinforce or count the syllables.

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna G

      July 2, 2017 at 8:43 am

      I’m so glad you like them, Karen!

      Reply to this comment
  15. SALEH MUHAMMAD

    June 4, 2017 at 3:20 am

    YOUR WORK AND CREATION’S ARE VERY HELPFUL FOR MY SCHOOL TEACHER AND STUDENTS.
    MY SCHOOL IS LOCATED IN VERY BACKWARD AREA OF PAKISTAN (QUETTA NAWA KILLI BALOCHISTAN) .WE ARE ALL VERY THANKFUL TO YOU WITH THE CORE OF OUR HEARTS AND WE ALL PRAY FOR THAT GOD GIVE ALL WHAT YOU WANT TO ACHIVE . THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU.
    YOUR BEST WISHER’S
    ALL STAF AND STUDENTS OF IQRA ISLAMI PRIMARY SCHOOL NAWA KILLI BALOCHISTAN , PAKISTAN.

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna Geiger

      June 5, 2017 at 10:34 pm

      Thank you so much for your kind words, Saleh! I’m so glad my materials are useful for your students!

      Reply to this comment
  16. Ann V.

    April 23, 2017 at 9:18 am

    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.

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna Geiger

      April 26, 2017 at 2:37 pm

      I’ve never tried chalk on carpet, Ann – thanks so much for the idea!

      Reply to this comment
  17. Rhonda

    March 16, 2017 at 6:26 pm

    I am blown away with everything you have here! Thank you for sharing and all the time you put into everything!

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna Geiger

      April 26, 2017 at 2:37 pm

      You’re very welcome, Rhonda, and thank you for your kind comment!

      Reply to this comment
  18. Carol

    January 22, 2017 at 4:30 pm

    I just joined, and I love it! Thank you so much for sharing.

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna Geiger

      January 22, 2017 at 5:17 pm

      Welcome, Carol – so glad to have you with us!

      Reply to this comment
      • Pine

        October 23, 2019 at 5:30 pm

        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.

        Reply to this comment
  19. Eli

    October 10, 2016 at 2:57 pm

    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 😉

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna Geiger

      October 14, 2016 at 9:20 am

      You’re so welcome, Eli! I hope they make your transition to a new teaching position go a little more smoothly. 🙂

      Reply to this comment
  20. Kali

    September 19, 2016 at 4:53 pm

    Where can I get syllable pocket chart sort?

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna Geiger

      September 19, 2016 at 5:06 pm

      There’s a green box that says “To get your free printable click HERE.”

      Reply to this comment
  21. Marianthi Arvanitidou

    September 17, 2016 at 3:27 pm

    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!

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna Geiger

      September 17, 2016 at 3:31 pm

      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.

      Reply to this comment
  22. afnan

    September 8, 2016 at 8:55 am

    thank you sooooo much

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna Geiger

      September 17, 2016 at 6:11 am

      You’re very welcome!

      Reply to this comment
  23. caty

    August 23, 2016 at 3:39 pm

    Supper ideas! You;re an angel! Thank you so much!

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna Geiger

      August 24, 2016 at 8:22 pm

      Thank you, Caty!

      Reply to this comment
  24. Michelle Swanson

    July 11, 2016 at 9:09 pm

    Thank you, Anna! LOVE the syllable cards–the one with clapping hands. So useful in my K/1 Classroom!

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna Geiger

      July 22, 2016 at 7:52 pm

      Yay – so glad you can use them, Michelle!

      Reply to this comment

Trackbacks

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  2. The First 4 Things I Teach my ESL Students about Pronunciation. – Think in English says:
    January 11, 2021 at 2:30 pm

    […] Show them that although REACT and SPEAK have the same letters EA, they are pronounced very differently so re-act has 2 syllables while speak has only one.  HAT and HATE have a different number of written vowels but they both only have one syllable because the E at the end of hate doesn’t have a sound but rather changes the sound of the preceding A.  For some fun games for learning syllable stress check out this blog by the Measured Mom: Tools for Teaching. […]

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