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A sound treasure hunt is a fantastic way of having fun with your child and helping their early reading skills.
Ask your child to find objects around the house that begin with a certain letter sound and see how many they can find. You can also play this game when you're out and about.
This activity is great for developing your child's understanding that words are made up of lots of different letter sounds, which is a really important skill to have when learning to read and write.
Watch the video below to see how we have set up this fun game to support their learning.
Why don't we have a treasure hunt of sounds and we'll see how many things we can find beginning with the same sound? Can you find things?
Yeah.
Okay, and we can put them in the middle of the room.
Go, start! Let's see if you can find two things that begin with b?
What's that?
Baby!
Yes. b for baby. b for baby!
Is there anything else in there?
This is a ball that begins with b.b for ball.
Aha.
Walk around, see what you can see.
Block!
Oh, blocks. Well done. Okay. And what's that?
A ball!A ball.
Put it in the middle. Good boy. Great treasure hunting.
There's something else other there, by the door, Adam. What do you take to nursery?
My bag.
Good boy. Go and get it!I'll just put it鈥 That's it.
A bottle, a ball, a ball, a bee鈥 bee鈥
So what do they start with?
Umm鈥 b!
Yeah! Well done. So they all start with鈥! Well done Adam.
What fruit can you think of that begins with b?
Bananas?
Yes. Let's see what other sounds we have. What have you got on your feet?
Socks.
What does it start with?
s.
Sock! Aha. Can you do 'sss'?
sss.
Yay! Well done. Good boy. Good boy.
What are the language benefits of a sound treasure hunt?
- This activity helps your child recognise the beginning sounds in words.
- When children understand that words are made up of sounds, they are able to transfer this knowledge to their reading and writing.
- It also builds your child鈥檚 understanding of language, as they have to link the names of objects to the letters they begin with.
- Identifying objects by specific starting sounds gives your child chance to listen to how you say words and think about the sounds they are built of. This will boost both their speech and reading skills.
- Explaining their selection will help children articulate their ideas in longer sentences and therefore build essential language skills.
- Searching for the objects engages thinking and concentration skills - and it is a great fun activity to do together.
How to get the most out of your sound treasure hunt
You don't need any special objects for this activity, just everyday items and a child who is eager to play.
Ask your child to look around and find objects that start with a certain sound.
When they find an object, check that the starting sound is right by making the sound together. Make sure to praise them for all attempts, even if they get it wrong at first.
Give them time to explain why they have chosen that answer. This will help them form sentences and learn how to express their thoughts clearly.
If they get it wrong, take some time to discuss it and explain the correct answer to help them better develop their understanding of language.
Talking about mistakes is also a good way to test their resilience and patience. Can they learn from their mistakes and not get upset when they make them?
This game can be played anywhere. If you've played this game a lot at home, they might be very familiar with the objects they can find. Why not mix it up and play next time you are at the supermarket instead?
In new locations, there will be lots of opportunities to introduce different vocabulary.
Find out more about phonics around our site
- Early years practitioner Jamel Campbell explains what phonological awareness is and shares his top tips to support it.
- Discover why exploring word sounds is a key tool for language learning.
- See the science of word sounds in action in our speech lab.
- 成人论坛 Bitesize has loads of great videos to help parents and children get to grips with phonics.
