Hearing and recognizing sounds in spoken words is called phonological awareness. It helps your child learn that words are made up of sounds, and it is the foundation of later reading success.
Phonological awareness is a set of pre-reading skills, including learning about:
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Syllables: They are the beats that make up words. For example, eye has 1 syllable, and paper has 2 syllables.
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Rhyming: Words that rhyme sound the same at the end. For example, cat and mat both end with “at.”
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Alliteration: The same sound repeats at the start of words, like the “d” in dog and dinner. Or in a sentence like "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers," the “p” sound is repeated.
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Phonemic awareness: This means understanding sounds. For example, understanding that the word bed is made up of the sounds b-e-d. This is the most challenging part of phonological awareness.
Children need practice to learn these skills. Children who have challenges with speech, language, or reading may need extra support with phonological awareness.
Activities for phonological awareness
To help your child build their phonological awareness skills, try these activities.
Read books
Reading books together is a great way to help children of all ages develop phonological awareness. Make reading a daily habit, and re-read your child’s favourite books many times.
Many books help your child with phonological awareness skills. For example, books by Dr. Suess include lots of alliteration, rhyming, and repetition.
Ask your local librarian or your child’s teacher to recommend books that help with these skills.
Songs and rhymes
Singing songs and saying nursery rhymes can support phonological awareness in a fun and easy way. Mother Goose or Raffi songs have many examples of alliteration and rhyme.
As your child learns the songs or rhymes, pause and let them fill in the words.
Play with syllables
Clap out the syllables in a word. For example, say words like magic (2 claps) and elephant (3 claps) and help your child to clap each beat.
Play syllable guessing games where you ask your child to guess the word you’re saying. For example, tell your child “Fri…day” with a pause between the beats. Then help your child put the syllables together to make the word like “Friday.”
Think about rhyming words
Help your child hear words that rhyme. Say 2 rhyming words, like “bat and mat,” and explain to your child that they rhyme. Then, ask your child to tell you if other words rhyme: “Do light and night rhyme?” or “Do light and plane rhyme?”
Help your child think of rhyming words. For example, say, “Bed and red rhyme. Can you think of a word that rhymes with bed and red?” Then help them to think of a word. It’s OK if they think of rhymes that are not real words.
Learn about alliteration
Help your child identify words that start with the same sound. For example, you can ask your child, “Do pizza and puppy start with the same sound?”
Help your child think of words that start with the same sound. For example, say, “Kite and key start with the same sound /k/, can you think of a word that that starts with /k/?” Help them to think of a word if they need it.
Talk about sounds
Break up simple words into sounds, then ask your child to blend them together or guess the word. For example, “B…i…ke—what word did I say?”
Say simple words for your child and ask them to break up the word into sounds. Like “Book. What sounds do you hear in book?”
For more ideas
For more ideas and resources to support children’s communication and literacy, visit:
Where to get help
To learn how speech-language pathologists and audiologists can help with speech, language, and hearing concerns, contact your child’s healthcare provider or visit
Pediatric Rehabilitation.
