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Fun Syllable Count Activity

by Anna G December 19, 2014 53 Comments

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Today I’m sharing a free syllable count activity for your preschooler.  (This post contains affiliate links.)

This free syllable activity is great for kindergarten! Just have your students clip the number on the syllable cards. For 1, 2, 3, or 4 syllables.

Syllable.

How would you definite it?

Just yesterday I was having this conversation with my Seven.  As she said, “Well, I know what syllables are. They’re so easy! But I don’t know how to say what the word syllable means. That’s kind of hard.”

She’s right, I think!  Here’s one definition:

Syllable.

“a unit of pronunciation having one vowel sound, with or without surrounding consonants, forming the whole or part of a word.”

And this is a skill for preschoolers?

Thankfully, kids don’t need to know that lofty definition or even the difference between vowels and consonants to understand syllables.  They’re actually quite simple.

This free syllable activity is great for kindergarten! Just have your students clip the number on the syllable cards. For 1, 2, 3, or 4 syllables.

To introduce syllables to my Four, I used his name.  I don’t share my kids’ names on this blog, but I’ll show you what I mean using some of their middle names.

“Every word has syllables.  It’s a chunk in a word that you can count.  Words can have 1, 2, 3, or even more syllables.  How many syllables are in your name? Let’s clap them.  Ste-phen.  (clap/clap)  How many did you count?

“Two!”

“That’s right!  Let’s try Emilie.  Em-i-lie.  (clap/clap/clap)  How many syllables?

“Two.”

“Let’s try again.  Em-i-lie.  (clap/clap/clap)”

“Three.”

“Great! How about Joel?  Joel (clap).”

“One.”

This free syllable activity is great for kindergarten! Just have your students clip the number on the syllable cards. For 1, 2, 3, or 4 syllables.

He enjoyed working through a stack of cards.   As he clapped the syllables for each one, his baby sister looked on with interest.  Clapping is a skill she mastered just this week! 🙂

A tip: If clapping and counting is hard, have your child put his hand under his chin.  He can count how many times his chin lowers as he says a word.  Or use a mirror. “How many times does your mouth open when you say that word?”

Finally… if your child can’t bear sitting at the table, show him the cards and have him JUMP the syllables!  Then let him clip the syllable count before moving on to the next one.

This free syllable activity is great for kindergarten! Just have your students clip the number on the syllable cards. For 1, 2, 3, or 4 syllables.

So what’s the point of learning syllables anyway?  When I was in school we learned it later (early elementary). I remember pages of counting syllables in words in my reading workbook.  Boring, but easy.  I never understood the point.

There are good reasons this skill has shifted down to pre-readers.

    • When kids can chunk words into syllables, they can read longer words more quickly, accurately, and fluently.
    • Beginning spellers do better when they can break words into pieces.

 

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This free syllable activity is great for kindergarten! Just have your students clip the number on the syllable cards. For 1, 2, 3, or 4 syllables.

 

 

© 2014 – 2018, Anna G. All rights reserved.

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Filed Under: General, learning to read Tagged With: 3-5 years, clip cards, first grade, kindergarten, syllables

Comments

  1. Karen says

    January 2, 2015 at 12:23 pm

    I got some more great activities from your sight. The ideas are much appreciated. Above…”define” rather than “definite”:)

    Reply
    • Karen says

      January 2, 2015 at 12:26 pm

      *site, not sight lol

      Reply
      • Yara says

        September 19, 2016 at 7:43 pm

        How can I print the syllables activities cards and rhyming

        Reply
        • Anna Geiger says

          September 19, 2016 at 7:46 pm

          It says “Get your set of 60 free cards HERE.” Click on the HERE. If it doesn’t work for you, the box underneath that has tips to make it work.

          Reply
  2. Sharon says

    January 4, 2015 at 4:50 pm

    These syllable cards are wonderful. I noticed on motorcycle that the second /c/ is missing. Thank you for all your posts. I’m a Head Start teacher in my first year of teaching. Your site has been most helpful.

    Reply
    • Anna Geiger says

      January 14, 2015 at 11:35 am

      Hi, Sharon! Thanks for the correction on my syllable cards. It should be fixed now!

      Reply
  3. Suzanne says

    March 2, 2015 at 12:05 am

    Thank you for the freebie! Here’s the definition of a syllable I was taught: A small word or a piece of a word that has at least one vowel (or a vowel sound).

    Reply
    • Anna Geiger says

      March 3, 2015 at 9:57 am

      I like that definition – thanks, Suzanne :).

      Reply
  4. Dina says

    June 10, 2015 at 9:58 pm

    I just wanted to say thank you for your generosity. These clip cards are wonderful! The kids are really going to enjoy them. Bless you!

    Reply
  5. Terri says

    September 25, 2015 at 12:39 am

    Thank you so much for all these resources. My 7 year old is a struggling reader who has been resisting learning because of her delays. Added to that the anxiety because her 4 year old brother has taken to reading like a duck to water. But they love playing games together and these resources across your site have brought back the fun for her – we are making baby steps again!

    Reply
    • Anna Geiger says

      October 4, 2015 at 5:36 pm

      Oh, I’m so happy to hear that, Terri! It’s definitely hard when a younger siblings picks things up sooner. I hope you find a lot of resources here to make learning fun for your daughter!

      Reply
  6. Patty says

    January 14, 2016 at 10:03 pm

    Thank you so much for sharing all these wonderful ideas. I am extremely busy and I always find awesome ideas on your site. Thank you.

    Reply
    • Anna Geiger says

      January 15, 2016 at 5:22 pm

      I’m glad you’re finding things you can use, Patty!

      Reply
  7. jenny says

    April 29, 2016 at 6:21 am

    A fantastic resource
    Thx so much

    Reply
    • Anna Geiger says

      April 29, 2016 at 9:49 pm

      You’re very welcome, Jenny!

      Reply
  8. Ms. Debbie says

    July 26, 2016 at 5:53 pm

    Thank you so much for sharing your syllable cards. This is a great idea!

    Reply
    • Anna Geiger says

      July 31, 2016 at 1:50 pm

      You’re very welcome, Debbie!

      Reply
  9. Judy says

    October 3, 2016 at 9:16 pm

    Thank you.Cute as always

    Reply
    • Anna Geiger says

      October 7, 2016 at 5:36 pm

      You’re welcome, Judy!

      Reply
  10. Lvwenjing says

    October 6, 2016 at 11:08 am

    I am interested in this!

    Reply
  11. Stacey says

    November 27, 2016 at 3:58 pm

    Hi,

    Below is an easy definition of a syllable for kids.

    “A syllable is a word or part of a word with 1 vowel sound’. I teach this with hand actions. I learned it from the Orton-Gillingham program.

    Reply
    • Anna Geiger says

      November 28, 2016 at 11:02 am

      Thanks for that, Stacey!

      Reply
  12. Dawn says

    December 7, 2016 at 8:42 pm

    I love all of your ideas. They are so awesome! Thank you.

    Reply
    • Anna Geiger says

      December 8, 2016 at 5:03 pm

      Thank you so much, Dawn!

      Reply
  13. Lisa says

    March 5, 2017 at 5:36 pm

    Thank you, again for sharing!! I’m so excited to use these materials with the children!

    Reply
    • Anna Geiger says

      March 5, 2017 at 8:01 pm

      You’re very welcome, Lisa!

      Reply
  14. SALLY says

    April 30, 2017 at 3:26 pm

    Thank you so much .

    Reply
    • Anna Geiger says

      May 2, 2017 at 5:11 pm

      You’re very welcome, Sally! 🙂

      Reply
  15. Cheryl says

    May 18, 2017 at 11:04 am

    Thank you for sharing so much great material. I’ve learned a lot.

    Reply
    • Anna Geiger says

      May 28, 2017 at 4:02 pm

      You’re welcome, Cheryl!

      Reply
  16. Faye says

    July 7, 2017 at 4:40 pm

    I think I am going to enjoy this information. I told you in my e-mail that I am volunteering as a tutor for two adults in the local literacy program. I am always looking for material that I can adapt. One student is on a k/1st grade reading level (LD) and the other one is on a 2/3rd grade level.

    Reply
    • Anna Geiger says

      July 8, 2017 at 9:35 am

      Yay – I’m so glad you can use my resources for your adult learners! 🙂

      Reply
  17. Faye says

    July 7, 2017 at 4:41 pm

    P.S. thank you for sharing. I accidentally found your website yesterday.

    Reply
  18. Carol Eason says

    September 9, 2017 at 12:03 am

    The most precise definition of a syllable is: ‘a word, or part of a word, with one vowel sound.’

    Another reason for knowing syllables helps when students are learning to print words– they often forget the vowels, especially in syllables like ‘er’, ‘pull’, shov-‘el’, gard’en’, etc..

    Reply
    • Anna G says

      September 27, 2017 at 1:29 pm

      Thanks for that, Carol!

      Reply
  19. Betty says

    October 8, 2017 at 10:53 pm

    Thanks, I am teaching 2nd grade for the 15 year, plus this is my 29th year and I have two non-readers. The materials will really come in handy.
    Thanks,
    Betty

    Reply
    • Anna G says

      October 15, 2017 at 3:30 pm

      You’re very welcome, Betty! I hope you find many helpful resources on my site.

      Reply
  20. rab says

    November 1, 2017 at 10:01 pm

    thank you for the idea of putting their hand under their chin i think that will be more concrete for their learning.

    Reply
    • Anna G says

      November 4, 2017 at 7:19 am

      You’re welcome!

      Reply
  21. Adawiyah says

    February 2, 2018 at 6:14 am

    Thanks for freebie..i like your pages..it very help me to teach my special student n my son..Jazakallah..

    Reply
    • Anna G says

      February 3, 2018 at 4:58 pm

      You’re very welcome, Adawiyah! I’m so glad it works for you and your learners!

      Reply
  22. Jill says

    October 27, 2018 at 8:18 am

    Wow! That’s all I can say about your website. You are sooooo generous with your, time, your generosity and your talent.
    Thank you
    Jill

    Reply
    • Anna G says

      November 5, 2018 at 7:22 am

      You’re welcome, Jill!

      Reply
  23. julieta marmolejo cajiao says

    January 13, 2019 at 9:04 pm

    Buenas noches, que bueno que los comentarios estuvieran abajo lo antiguos y arriba los nuevos, así no tendría que bajar tantas paginas.

    mil gracias por sus espectacular trabajo, pero me gustaría saber como funciona el tema de los pagos
    si es en dolares y yo pago y me envían al correo la actividad para yo bajarla y hacer la respectiva impresión, por favor me comentan, muchas gracias . y felicitaciones.

    soy maestra de tercer grado de primaria en colombia,

    Reply
    • Anna G says

      January 18, 2019 at 9:12 pm

      All my products are digital – so you would get the files in your email after you purchase.

      Reply

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