When my boys need to work at spelling or sounding out words, it’s important to me that I find a phonics practice activity that’s both hands-on and interesting.
That’s why I created my first set of milk cap spelling mats for short a. I took a break from those to create other materials for phonics practice – like my read ‘n stick mats and word family houses.
Today I’m back with another set of milk cap spelling mats – this time for short o.
You’ll need to collect a set of milk or bottle caps for this activity — or simply cut out paper circles with a large circle punch. Write letters on the milk caps, or print my set of letters and create your own milk cap letters with a bottle of Mod Podge. Here’s my tutorial which will tell you just how to do it and get you to the free patterns!
Once you’ve got your letters ready, print my free 24 FREE mats (get them at the end of this post). You can print just one side, or print them back to back. One side of the mats has the letters for your child to match.
Phonics practice activity for short o
I used this side with my three-year-old (almost four). He looked for the matching letters. Then I had him take off the caps and read each sound as he placed the cap on the matching letter. “/j/ /o/ /g/. Jog.”
My Five worked on the blank sides. He said the words slowly and found the correct letters.
Since I had printed the mats back-to-back, he slid off the circles and turned each mat over for self-checking.
I hope you enjoy these!
Get all of our milk cap spelling mats!
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Get your free Milk Cap Spelling Mats!
Get more hands-on practice with our mats and games!

Short Vowel Word Family Mats & Games
$10.00
This is a set of 35 printable short vowel word family picture mats with corresponding word cards. The mats come in three different versions – full color with a border, color without a border, and black and white. Each mat also comes with a worksheet and two games.
Rachel Kaylynn
What a great resource – thanks for sharing! The idea of reusing milk caps is pretty brilliant too – perfect for little hands. Sharing over on my Pinterest boards.
Anna Geiger
Thanks so much for pinning!
Jodie @ Growing Book by Book
Such a great idea! Thanks for sharing!
Anna Geiger
You’re welcome, Jodie – thanks for checking it out!
Tiffiny
Those are great! I’m going to pin for later.
Anna Geiger
Thank you for pinning, Tiffiny!
Dianna @ The Kennedy Adventures
My boys won’t be ready for this until next year, but I’m filing this away for them!
Great to see you at The Thoughtful Spot!
Jill
This is a fantastic idea! I am going to start saving our milk caps 🙂
Thank you for stopping by the Thoughtful Spot Weekly Blog Hop this week. We hope to see you drop by our neck of the woods next week!
Deceptively Educational
I cannot wait to use these milk cap printables with my youngest when he’s ready. These are SUCH a great resource! Thanks for sharing, Anna!
Anna Geiger
Thank so much! 🙂
Debs
Thanks for the great free printables and for linking this fun activity with Tuesday Tots. I’m featuring it this week 🙂
Anna Geiger
I really appreciate the feature, Debs! Exciting that your linky is for all ages now. I was wondering what you were going to do as your daughter grew up…!