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Short a word family mats

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One of my favorite things to do as a mom is teach my kids to read.  We start by reading tons of books together, work on phonemic awareness, continue by learning letters and sounds, and then move on to sounding out words.

I’m excited to share something I’ve been working on for some time — 8 short a word family mats!  I call them “Read ‘n Stick” because my kiddo reads the word cards and sticks them to the pictures using velcro dots.

Print these free short a word family mats -- then laminate them and attach velcro dots. Use Read 'n Stick mats for your beginning reader.

 

(This post contains affiliate links.)

What are word families?

Word families are groups of words that share the same ending.  For example, the words cat, fat, and mat all belong to the “-at” word family.

Please note: My word family mats give reading practice with analytic phonics instruction. Analytic phonics is when you use known words as analogies for figuring out words. Many children do well with analytic phonics instruction. However, as I learn more about the science of reading, I now prefer to start with synthetic phonics instruction. You can learn more about that in this video blog post.  

 

Word Family Mats

Why use Read ‘n Stick Mats?

1) They’re hands-on.  My son enjoys reading the words and sticking them to the pictures.  Flash cards? Not so much.

2) The visual aid of the pictures gives an extra clue for beginning readers.  It makes the reading task more manageable.

3) They’re vocabulary builders. I’d love to make all eight words familiar ones – like crab and cab.  But there aren’t enough of them! The bonus if that your child’s vocabulary expands when you teach him words like slab and gab.

How do you use them?

1) Print and laminate each mat on sturdy cardstock.  I love this affordable home laminator and laminating sheets!  Then print and laminate each set of cards. Cut them apart and stick velcro dots to the pictures and backs of the cards.

2) You can certainly print the mats and cards on plain paper, and have your child match them. However, for a more durable and lasting activity, I recommend #1.  A bonus of the velcro dots is that you can store the mats without the cards getting lost — just stick them on!

3) My mats were constantly getting misplaced until I punched holes in them and stored them in a 3-ring binder.

child with word family mat and cards

4) Take off all the cards. Have your child read the name of the family in the center of the board. Then have him read each card and match it to the picture. You will be teaching new vocabulary along the way when he gets stuck on a particular word (“What’s a stag?”).

5) After a few times of doing this with you, this is something your child might be able to do himself.  

Here are a couple of the mats in the collection:

word family mat

word family mat

Get all my Read ‘n Stick Mats

Get your free word family mats!

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Decodable Fluency Pyramids – Level 1 – CVC, Digraphs, Blends & more

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These 34 fluency pyramids will help your students read CVC words and words with blends and digraphs!

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Short vowel word family houses Beginning, middle, and ending sound clip cards How to use a running record to check comprehension

Reader Interactions

90 Comments

  1. Michelle

    Hi there,

    I just downloaded the short a word family mats and I noticed that you have the “ap” mat twice and the “at” one is missing. The “at” word cards are there though. This is a fabulous resource.

    Thank you

    Reply to this comment

  2. stephanie

    hey there! I absolutely love these! we’ll be driving about 14 hours to the gulf in a couple weeks and I want to get these ready for then!

    not sure if i’m doing something wrong but I can’t get to the short a pages… it just redirects me to the same page with the links to them all but can’t get the a’s…

    Reply to this comment

    • Kate Dowling

      Hi Stephanie!

      This is Kate, Anna’s assistant. After you enter your email address, the file should be sent to you immediately. I just tested it to make sure it works. 🙂 You’ll open the email and click on a blue link that says, “CLAIM YOUR OFFER.” If you can’t find the email right away, please be sure to check your spam/junk and promotions folders. Thanks for giving it another try!

      Reply to this comment

  3. Christina

    Hi Anna,

    I just found you and your website today whilst searching for word family printables. I am trying to work on this with my 6 yr old who is on the spectrum but is really trying his best to blend and having a little trouble. BUT he tries and I am thankful for having found your resources.
    I have a few Questions first is that : do you have printables for ax,all, and, ask word families? Maybe I missed them.
    and secondly to have the same type of images for the other word families, do I need to purchase the printables pack or have I missed those too?

    Thanks again.

    Reply to this comment

  5. Jane Smart

    Hi Anna!
    Thank you so much for these fabulous game mats. I’m a Dyslexia and Literacy specialist and games are always so much more effective for children with no literacy confidence. I’ve made a big collection of my own phonic games over the years and can’t overestimate their value.

    Wishing you all the best,
    Jane (in Scotland!)

    Reply to this comment

  8. Christy

    Of all the free, printable, homeschooling resources I have seen on the web, I find yours the most helpful! Thank you for making them available. My 4 1/2 year old is learning SO much from your word mats, and I can’t wait to start using the beginning sounds mats with my almost 3 year old. (I’m trying to hold off until he is a little more ready, but hoping it will be soon.) I love how the word mats have very simple CVC words, as well as some with consonant blends and even a few with tricky silent letters. They are are great practice for a beginning reader and a great introduction to new rules. Thank you!!!!

    Reply to this comment

    • Anna Geiger

      You’re very welcome, Christy! Thanks so much for your kind comment, too. I’m a tired and cranky mama today after being up at night with our newborn, so I needed the encouragement. 🙂

      Reply to this comment

  16. Smita Phukan

    Anna, what excellent ideas you have got and thanks a zillion for sharing them…I was groping for something like these and the family mats & cards is an amazing idea…My four yrs 9 months daughter is struggling with spellings and how to put together sounds to make words.

    Reply to this comment

    • Anna Geiger

      Somehow I missed your comment from way back in September – sorry about that, Carolee!! I am so happy to hear you are finding things on my website to use in your classroom. Love, love, love when teachers find me! I’ll be sharing short e read ‘n stick mats tomorrow and the final set before Christmas. Enjoy your December!

      Reply to this comment

    • Anna Geiger

      Thank you so much, Sarah! I actually couldn’t sell these because I used MS Office clip art. It would require purchasing clip art and recreating these in order to sell them. I hope to offer some sort of e-book for purchase in the future, but that will have to wait until I find myself a little less busy. Considering we’re expecting a baby in January, that will probably not be any time soon :).

      I hope you get a lot of use out of them!

      Reply to this comment

  20. Kristina

    I just found these a few days ago, decided to print the -at family for my son (we recently finished the -at family, so great review). Well, he loved it so much he insisted I print them all! LOL He especially liked the blends, which I hadn’t started working on with him yet. Thanks so much for this!

    Reply to this comment

  21. Janna

    Thanks for sharing these. I am a special education teacher and have little ones who are struggling readers. These are great activities and encourage the students to actually read in order to cover their match. This is a hands on activity that they love and I love too.

    Thanks again for sharing!

    Reply to this comment

    • Anna Geiger

      It’s a timeless name, isn’t it? Present in every generation and in so many cultures! “Grace and favor” is a beautiful meaning – I have always heard “graceful,” which doesn’t exactly describe me 🙂

      Reply to this comment

  23. Shonnon

    These mats are awesome just like all of your printables. As a mom with 3 active boys from 15 months to 6 with another on the way, it’s hard to find time to make up printables. That’s why I’m so grateful for amazing moms like you who can not only find the time to come up with all these wonderful ideas but offer them for free. You make me look like super mom to my boys’ speech therapist who marvels at your at handiwork and loves to incorporate your printables into their sessions.
    Thank you for all that you do!!

    Reply to this comment

    • Anna Geiger

      Thanks so much, Shonnon – your comment made my day! Making printables is kind of my brain drain – it’s a break from all the regular chaos at our house and I love it 🙂 I’m glad I found a way to share them – it also keeps me inspired to stay on task at making them for my own kids. I know what it’s like to have active kids and be pregnant! Our kids are age 18 months – 6 years and I’m pregnant too. Some days are great – and – well, some does are not. I love having a blog which gives me one part of my life which is neat and organized. 🙂

      Reply to this comment

  24. Debra

    I love these mats! They are especially nice because of the color in each one is different and a mark on the back of the cards matches up the mat to the card. Thank you so very much. Can’t wait to see more mats. Please let me know if you are selling any. Thanks

    Reply to this comment

    • annageig

      Hello, Debra!

      I’m so glad you can use the word family mats. Great idea about marking the backs of the cards so they match the boards – I hadn’t thought of that. I look forward to making and sharing more… but it might be a while. Thanks for the reminder to start working at that! I would expect some out this summer. So far all my printables are free, so no selling yet. It all just depends on how much computer time I can work in around being a mom of four little ones 🙂

      Reply to this comment

  27. Jeniver

    This looks wonderful. Thank you for sharing. I will be using these soon with my six year old to build more word families and vocab into his treasury of words he is confident in!

    Reply to this comment

  29. Sarah

    Yeah! I’m so excited to try these with my son. He is an ACTIVE 4 year old, almost 5 year old, who does not like worksheets. I have to work extra hard with him because his attention span is short. These will be perfect because we can do them together and then he can do them himself. Thanks for creating these. Since I taught Kindergarten for 5 years and I have been teaching preschool for 7 years, it is hard for me to think outside the box and be more creative with my own son. 🙂

    Reply to this comment

    • annageig

      I’m right there with you, Sarah — my 4 1/2 year is a BUNDLE of energy and has been since the very beginning! It takes some time to assemble these, but I think it’s worth it.

      Reply to this comment

  30. ellen.yucht

    These are soooo clever!!! I am a kindergarten teacher and this will be perfect to help my little ones who are struggling! I will share with the rest of my team!!! Thank you so very much for sharing this great idea!!!!!!

    Reply to this comment

  36. Ruth

    LOVE these! Thank you so much! I have recently been noticing the lack of actual simple reading games for purchase that I can recommend to parents of early readers and these are perfect…not to mention free. Thank you!!

    Reply to this comment

    • annageig

      Ruth, you made my day! You are the kind of person I want to reach… a teacher who has a connection to parents who need at-home resources. I do plan to make more reading props for parents, and they will all be free — so stay tuned! Please do share with any parents or teachers who could use them. I visited your blog and am now a subscriber. Loved your bio, by the way. The overhead projector was a big draw in my wanting to be a teacher, too. 🙂 Also the wielding of the red pen…

      Reply to this comment

  40. annageig

    Hi Sarah! I’m glad you can use them! I hadn’t thought of using them in the car — great idea! We’ll be going to CA this summer too, but we are FLYING. You will need a lot of mats for that car ride 🙂

    Reply to this comment

    • annageig

      Hi Sarah! I’m glad you can use them! I hadn’t thought of using them in the car — great idea! We’ll be going to CA this summer too, but we are FLYING. You will need a lot of mats for that car ride

      Reply to this comment

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