Printable Phonics Scavenger Hunts

Playing is the best way to learn! You are igniting all of your senses while also learning how to spell. A fun way to do this is to go on a scavenger hunt and simply point out the sounds you hear in CVC (consonant, short vowel, consonant) words. At night or during a read aloud, you might then strategically pick a book that repeats a short vowel sound!

If you need a refresher, short vowels are the sounds you can hold - a as in apple, e as in elephant, i as in igloo, o as in octopus (the sound you make when you open your mouth for the doctor), u as in umbrella.

You can then look for digraph sounds - two letters that make one sound. These sounds are sh as in ship, ck as in duck, ch as in chip, wh as in whistle, th as in thimble.

When your kids have a firm grasp of short vowels and digraphs, they can learn the silent -e rule and long vowels. When there is a silent -e at the end of a word, the vowel says its name. Long vowels sounds are a as in ape, e as in eagle, i as in ice cream, o as in oboe and u as in unicorn. There is no need to teach vowel teams at this point such as -ea or -ee because that can be confusing at this stage. We want our kids to feel confident by mastering skills one at a time. I hope you have a great time exploring with these scavenger hunts! If you go and play, let me know. I would love to see or you can share it here.